The Portfolio Partnership

Reimagining The Exit Process – Building Businesses Buyers Love To Buy

by Ian Smith | Aug 27, 2024 | Entrepreneurship, Exiting your business

During the next three years many companies across the globe will come to market to exit with the help of an Investment Bank and most will be disappointed with the results. Many will receive an underwhelming offer, many will not receive any offer at all, and many will...

Entrepreneurship

by Ian Smith | Jul 9, 2024 | Uncategorized

40 years scaling 17 businesses teaches you some hard lessons. Here are a few on 7 slides. I hope it saves you time. Entrepreneurship Ian@TPPBoston.com Ian Smith is the founder of The Portfolio Partnership, a Value Creation Company. We build businesses buyers love to...

Get Ahead of AI

by Ian Smith | Jul 1, 2024 | AI

The power of AI is no longer reserved for the world’s biggest brands, and incorporating AI as a foundational component of your marketing operations is no longer optional. Knowing this, many of our clients have reached out to us asking where to begin. You called, we...

The Essence of M&A

by Ian Smith | Jun 20, 2024 | Acquisitions

As the volume of M&A picks up, it’s always worth a quick recap of what’s important. The research still points to failure between 50% to 70% of the time. I thought you might enjoy the Essence of M&A in 6 slides. M&A in 6 slides Stay in touch....

Scaling For Safety – 20 Point Plan

by Ian Smith | Jun 17, 2024 | Scaling, Value Creation

It might feel counterintuitive but staying small can be risky. And small is where most US firms are! There are 5.4 million companies out of 6.1 million with 20 employees or less. That’s 89% of US companies. At that size it’s tough to make money. However...

Operations For Exit – COO – Manufacturing Case Study

by Ian Smith | May 8, 2024 | COO, Operations For Exit

As you scale your manufacturing business beyond 30,40,70 employees it is essential that the role of the COO is identified. The key responsibility of the COO is to align all efforts towards a common cause. This is not just an Operations Director overseeing the...

Operators – You Are Seen

by Ian Smith | Apr 22, 2024 | Operational Alignment, Operational Excellence, Value Creation

The spotlight often falls on the CEO as transformations take place: WSJ – Ferrari’s new CEO Benedetto Vigna and his transformation plan. Forbes – How GE’s CEO used a Japanese manufacturing tactic to turn the company around—and got the stock to outperform...

10 Missed Opportunities To Create Value

by Ian Smith | Apr 12, 2024 | Value Creation

In our experience over the last 30 years, working with entrepreneurs, there are ten initiatives that are missing from their action list. These missed opportunities are the cause of disappointment when it comes to the exit process. These areas are heavily scrutinized...

Successful Sales Processes Understand Procurement

by Ian Smith | Mar 27, 2024 | Sales Process, Sales Tips

At TPP we’ve embedded world-class sales processes in dozens of businesses. I’ve covered the details of that process in previous posts. The process is based on Jeff Thull’s books and process. But the success of that process depends on a deep understanding...

Operator Tips to Align Your Team

by Ian Smith | Mar 19, 2024 | Scaling

You may have heard of the term zero-based budgeting. The basic thesis is to look at your business through the eyes of a start-up. If you were starting today from scratch, what would you spend money on? Costs creep on over time and before you know it your business is...