In my experience, within the SMB world, some Owners are definitely looking at buying up their competition in order to grow or to eliminate them altogether. It might be that you are a $3-10 million company within a narrow specialty niche. Your competitors could be 3 or 4 players, also with boomer aged owners, all doing the same amount of business as you or a little less and all wanting to get out.
Bob is 53 years old and his company has sales of $4 million annually. They have remained at this level for the past 10 years mainly because he and his partner were comfortable, made a good living and didn't need the perceived headaches of running a larger company. So little effort was made to grow the company.
He believes his operations skills are superior to his competitors and he could therefore run their businesses better than they could. His partner Joe is 68 years old and wants out. He is not interested in growing. Bob thinks differently, he has another 10 years or more in him and the idea of going out on a high has gotten him re-energized about his own company. So Bob now has the opportunity to fast forward growth by buying out his partner and his competitors.
Here are the next steps highlights as we have outlined for Bob to create an Exit Plan that will allow him to retire on a high note. Possibly with greater success than he had ever imagined.
- Bob has to first buy out his partner. To do this he needs advice and capital that we will provide.
- Bob now has 100% of his company and makes decisions as he sees fit. So growing and acquisitions are definitely on the agenda.
- Before he can think about buying his competition and growing he needs a plan. We will help him develop and execute a plan.
- He needs to buy out 3 of his key competitors. Two have annual sales of $2 million dollars and one is at $1 million in annual sales. To do this he needs advice and capital that we will provide.
- Now Bob is running a $9 million company post purchase and likely has some new challenges that come with larger organizations. We will provide him with our team members who possess the skill sets he requires to run and grow the larger company. Bob can run this as a $9 million dollar business or he can choose to grow it further before he exits. He may choose to grow it to $15 or 20 million or more and then sell. It's up to Bob and how much work he is willing to put in.
- In order to exit successfully Bob will need an Exit Plan. We will develop that plan with him and help execute it.
- He will require a buyer(s) and we will identify them. He will also require our team to represent him in the sale.
- Bob will have now taken a lifetime of experience and grown and sold a company worth significantly more than the company he was running with his partner when we first met. Quite an achievement and a great way to go out on top. Not to forget he will be significantly better financed for his retirement.
Interested in talking about this kind of legacy for you? Contact Us