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Guests: Brenda Jacobsen, former CEO of Lakeside Occupational, and Jay Reid, Coach at CEO Coaching International
Episode in a Tweet: A CEO and her entrepreneurship coach collaborate on strategy and end up selling her company for much more than expected.
Quick Background: Brenda Jacobsen started in the family business right out of college and eventually rose to CEO of the company. After a “type-A driven business woman” told Brenda about the coach she was using and raved about the tremendous results she was getting, Brenda decided to contact the coach. Shortly after hiring CEO Coaching International coach Jay Reid, Brenda’s company got an unsolicited offer to buy her company. The timing was perfect. Working with Jay and the team at CEO Coaching, Brenda was able to bring in another buyer to the table, play one off the other, and get a much higher sale price–all while negotiating a good payout for herself. This is the behind the scenes story of a business sale that can benefit all small to mid-size companies when it comes time to sell your company.
Transcript: Download the full transcript here.
Key Insights on How to Sell Your Company
Brenda Jacobsen: It was really important for me to create awareness around there being multiple bidders.
1. Don’t forget to grow the company while you’re trying to sell your company.
Brenda originally hired Jay to help her improve the company’s sales results. And after the company was put in play, Jay continued to work with Brenda on growing revenue because if the deal fell through, they had to have a good sales plan in place to fall back on. Brenda and Jay were working on new sales plans and sales team bonus structures up until the day the deal closed to sell the company.
2. Take the time to meet the senior management of your potential acquirer and make sure you feel good about them and the culture.
Brenda was surprised that despite all the deals one of her potential acquirers had done, she was the first seller to request an audience with the entire senior executive team of the acquirer. Her relationship building had a side benefit, too. Had the deal to sell to company A fallen through, Brenda and Jay were confident that the relationship they built with company B was strong enough that company B would have stepped in and bought her company.
3. Keeping excellent accounting records will make your sale much smoother.
It’s easy to think of accounting and finance as overhead but having detailed, up-to-date financial reports will help make the sale smoother and possibly even raise the sale price. Brenda said the acquiring company asked for an extensive list of due diligence documents. Her company was able to comply with the request quickly because their books were in order. Her numbers were so clean, there was no opportunity for the acquirer to come back at closing time and say, “Well, we need to drop 5 percent off this, or 10 percent off that because your final numbers aren’t what you said they were.” The auditors at the acquiring company continued to compliment Brenda on how organized her company’s records were. It inspired confidence in the acquiring company.
4. Maintain transparency and authenticity throughout the sales process.
So many things can go wrong when you’re trying to sell your company. Trying to get “too cute” or slick is something you want to avoid. Brenda said it’s critical to be transparent and authentic. If you try to pull a fast one on the acquirer, it will likely come back to bite you.
Sales Process Takeaways
1. Don’t take your eye off running your business during the sales process. Jay helped Brenda stay focused on continuing to drive the company, continuing to drive sales, and continuing to make improvements within the organization up until the day of the sale.
2. Take the time to meet the senior management of your potential acquirer. The best deals are more than just a transaction. Make sure there’s a people fit, too.
3. Keep excellent accounting records. This is a critical, but often overlooked tip that will help ensure a smooth sales process and may even lead to a higher price.
Transcript: Download the full transcript here.
