Today I’m talking with returning guest and the CEO of Prairie Capital, Dave Deihl. Prairie Capital is one of the leading ESOP, mergers and acquisitions, and business valuations firms in the country. Dave and his firm have eight locations across the country, perform about 400 valuations annually, and are major leaders in the ESOP community.

In this episode, Dave will share his thoughts and opinions on business valuations now and in the near future, what uncertainty can do to an economy and business valuations, and how all of this compares to third-party sale evaluations.

 What You Will Learn in Today’s Podcast Interview:

Thoughts Dave on the economy based on 350+ annual valuations

Will COVID-19 be an add back in valuations or not?

The difference between financial valuations vs. strategic valuations

The practice of valuations and ESOPs and what the pandemic has done to it

The major concerns that people are looking at as they’re looking at the ability of a company to borrow

Dave’s thoughts on the current state of uncertainty when forecasting business revenues

When is the lack of consumer spending going to catch up to us?

The building blocks that Dave recommends working on right now to build a healthy business

How uncertainty in our economy, banking, and the American consumer impacts business valuations

The impact of COVID-19 on financing merger & acquisition transactions

What Dave thinks the M&A market will look like in the next six to twelve months

What the word “intentional” mean to Dave

Podcast Summary:

COVID, the nationwide quarantine, social unrest and supply chain issues are easy-to-understand examples of how unknowns directly impact business valuations. So far 2020 has really taught us what truly sustainable, predictable, and transferable cash flow looks like.

My guest today is Dave Diehl, CEO of Prairie Capital  – one of the nation’s leading ESOP and M&A firms.

 

Dave and his firm have 8 locations across the country and perform over 400 business valuations annually, many of which are repeat ESOP valuations. Dave is the perfect guest to talk on this topic because of his company’s exposure to a huge variety of industries and hundreds of annual valuations. They have a real live look into how COVID is impacting balance sheets and future forecasts. ​​Dave also shares with me some great insights about how 3rd party strategic buyers, Private Equity Firms and banks who finance transactions are viewing the market and how that is impacting deal structures and valuations. 

 

This is a great episode to help shift your mindset to rebuild or refocus on strategies that will de-risk your future cash flows, grow value and build a business that gives you options do