Feb 22, 2022

How To Prepare a Business for Transition – Build Value By Choice

Laurie Barkman is a “business transition sherpa.” With her firm, SmallDotBig, she advises owners on having more valuable, sellable businesses. And as a Partner with Stony Hill Advisors, a mergers and acquisitions firm, she guides them through the complex process of letting it go.

She joins host Nana Bonsu on Build Value by Choice to give you advice on preparing your business for transition.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • 80% of business owners want to stop working in their business in the next 5-10 years, but most have not planned for that transition. Many need to improve the business first.
  • If your business has a lot of risks, it makes it a less attractive prospect and will be harder to transition.
  • The earlier you make the decision to work towards transitioning the business, the more time you have. Having more time means you have more options. More options means you can find more value. And value doesn’t have to be the highest offer, the right offer for you might not be the highest one.
  • You can create different exit options depending on your goals. For example the paths of passing your business down the family line is very different to a management buyout.
  • Financial buyers are long-term investors interested in the return that they can get by buying a well-managed company and looking to generate cash flow by boosting revenue, cutting costs, or creating economies of scale by buying similar companies. Strategic buyers are often bigger companies that are well capitalized, able to spend more, and less focused on whether a company can generate quick cash flow. The strategic buyers tend to pay more than financial buyers.

Watch How to Prepare for a Business Transition on YouTube

BEST MOMENTS

‘When you have time on your side, you ultimately have more options’

‘I was selling my business but I was also selling myself’

‘You only get one change to land a plane on the Hudson’

‘3/4s of owners have regrets 1 year after their exit’

EPISODE RESOURCES

Get more resources on infhorizons.com/podcast

www.meetlauriebarkman.com https://thebusinesstransitionsherpa.com/ www.linkedin.com/lauriebarkman/

www.twitter.com//LaurieBarkman/

www.facebook.com/SmallDotBig/

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and share it

New Episodes Available Weekly On:

           

Get Succession Stories in Your Inbox Free

Case studies, examples, templates, and tools for business transition, plus notification of new episodes.

The Business Transition Handbook

The Business Transition Handbook

Preparing owners to navigate the emotional and practical nature of the transition process so you can exit on your terms and avoid succession regrets.

“A game changer to help you win in your exit and in life.”

 

Browse More Episodes

114: Automate Processes to Create Value, Shanice Miller

114: Automate Processes to Create Value, Shanice Miller

Automation can free up hundreds of hours per individual employee every year. Better systems create operational efficiencies that make businesses more scalable. Shanice Miller is a business productivity consultant, specializing in project management, who helps clients ranging from small startups to m...
Listen
112: Challenges of Entrepreneuring Families, Tsitsi Mutendi

112: Challenges of Entrepreneuring Families, Tsitsi Mutendi

Succession Stories host Laurie Barkman talks with Tsitsi Mutendi about addressing the challenges of Entrepreneuring families. Two past generations of her family were entrepreneurs but faced various challenges. Tsitsi did not inherit financial wealth but did inherit the entrepreneurial spirit to buil...
Listen
111: Don’t Wait To Plan Your Exit Strategy, Bill Prinzivalli

111: Don’t Wait To Plan Your Exit Strategy, Bill Prinzivalli

Executive coach and organizational consultant, Bill Prinzivalli, joins Succession Stories host Laurie Barkman to discuss why your entrepreneurial journey is not just the start but also the exit. Bill grew a software company to a $30 million valuation but eventually, the doors of opportunity closed a...
Listen
110: Next Generation Disruptive Successor, Jonathan Goldhill

110: Next Generation Disruptive Successor, Jonathan Goldhill

Innovation, transition, growth. These are the key drivers of disruptive succession that help businesses evolve and continue to thrive. This week on Succession Stories, Jonathan Goldhill joins Laurie Barkman for a conversation on moving businesses forward in the face of change.
Listen