by Ian Smith | Nov 18, 2012 | Building Business Value, Exiting your business, Maximize exit proceeds, Strategy
You see we are told in articles, blogs, seminars and books to strike a balance between our personal life and our business life. We are told to not to let work take over our lives. Google allowing staff to work on pet projects for 20% of the time is an example of...
by Ian Smith | Apr 19, 2012 | Maximize exit proceeds, Selling Out
As the owner of a private business you must wonder from time to time what your business is really worth. I’ve blogged before about the valuation of private companies. In the end it comes down to beauty is in the eye of the beholder as Facebook proved buying the...
by Ian Smith | Jul 15, 2011 | Conglomerate Discount, Grooming For Sale, Maximize exit proceeds, Positioning drives growth, Repositioning
Global divestments hit a record 50% of all M&A deals this year as large public companies rushed to tidy up their portfolios and focus on their core businesses. Many businesses including Ebay, Fortune Brands, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Sara Lee, ITT and Marathon Oil...
by Ian Smith | Jan 28, 2011 | Exiting your business, Maximize exit proceeds
The next 5 years are an unreasonably attractive time to build a remarkable business for sale. There is strong evidence to suggest we are already 18 months to 22 months into a bull market. The average bull market lasts 67 months. However before you rush off to sell...
by Ian Smith | Dec 24, 2010 | Compelling Stories, Maximize exit proceeds, Positioning drives growth, Repositioning
Confusion This post was inspired by the recent WSJ article of the same name. Of course it’s a question we are constantly asked. In fact it is a deceptively important question that extracts some pretty weak answers. Ask a panel of CEOs at a conference to...
by Ian Smith | Oct 15, 2010 | Exiting your business, Management Help, Maximize exit proceeds, Mentoring, Operational Tips, Strategy
As my friend Jane Johnson wrote on her blog last year – the majority of boomer wealth in the US today is held in 12 million privately owned businesses and 70% are expected to change hands [or try to change hands] in the next 10 to 15 years! With the economy...
