OUR APPROACH
1. We provide foresight from the buyer’s perspective.
“We think like a buyer, not an owner” by applying our unvarnished perspective and experience to overcome obstacles, and improve your business’ focus, operating performance, financial profile and Market Value. If you want to sell, our analysis acts as a dress rehearsal to improve your Market Value before you sell, and if not, you will have an easier to manage, more profitable, and faster growing business.
Our process identifies and fixes the negative and accentuates the positive aspects to increase cash flow and Market Value. By analyzing your numbers, operations, culture and management team, we’ll provide a straightforward, objective point of view that allows you to get past any blinders that oftentimes prevent you from achieving your goals. In other words, we think like a buyer, not an owner.
2. We maximize the Market Value of your business.
Focusing on the Market Value of your business will lead to improved:
- Operating performance and EBITDA
- Decision making
- Competitive positioning
- Owner satisfaction, employee morale and company culture
- Risk tolerance
Sustainable increases in revenue, EBITDA, margins and the EBITDA market multiple will increase Market Value. Our work positively impacts all four.
3. We deliver expert guidance and navigation.
Long-term strategic direction is the alignment of your personal objectives and risk tolerances with the realistic strategic alternatives for your business. We help you define the optimal growth story for your business, consistent with the amount of business and financial risk you will tolerate. We align the growth story with your goals for the business and your life, as well as the company’s realistic strategic alternatives which may include:
- Sell control to strategic, PEG (Private Equity Group) or Family Office buyers for liquidity and / or to fund growth
- Sell a minority equity stake to fund liquidity and / or growth
- Grant / sell ownership or income percentages to senior managers
- Use minority equity, debt, ESOP and / or existing cash to achieve liquidity to fund a recapitalization of a) dividends for all shareholders, b) stock buy back from all shareholders, and c) stock buy back from certain shareholders
- Accelerate the optimal growth story without a transaction in mind
- Hire a professional management team and remain CEO / owner
- Replace yourself as CEO and remain owner
- Pass the business to the next generation
- Go public
4. We calibrate risk to produce real opportunities for growth and Market Value.
We customize your optimal growth story with the facts and circumstances of your business and personal objectives. We calibrate your risk appetite relative to the realistic growth strategy options available to the company. We also gauge which growth strategy options best match the company’s core competencies and how much capital / infrastructure / resources are required to accomplish them. Last we overlay the expected rate of return / Market Value needed to compensate for the expected level of execution risk.
The result is the growth story for the next two to three years that will determine where you are headed and what you need to get there.