Business Exit Stories

Why the FBI, DEA, and state regulatory agencies descended on a business and why this didn’t bother the right buyer.

How the wrong business intermediary can create mistrust and derail a deal in the blink of an eye, making it impossible for a buyer to acquire the business, even though it was a great business. 

A multi-million-dollar liability that the seller didn’t know existed was uncovered in due diligence and how the buyer structured the deal to mitigate this liability to get an impossible deal done.

A deal went from the first phone call to closing in 10 days flat. Why motivation is the grease that oils the skids to get deals done when there is a deadline.    

Dennis Buck
Chapman & Associates
Baltimore City, Maryland
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The post How Holding on to Your Business Too Long and Not Selling Can Cost Millions appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

A family operation with three kids never had a disagreement while mom, the matriarch of the family, was around. However, when she unexpectedly passed away, the kids spent the next 10 yrs. and $5M in legal fees trying to sort out their differences.

A rags to riches saga where a family business, again with three kids, was devastated when the US Gov’t facilitated the confiscation of their business. 

Sometimes succession planning is just not possible because of the personalities that exit within the family – and in this case, how a sociopath can create a literal wall to getting any succession planning done.

Why 50/50 partnerships are not so nifty and how to avoid a deadlocked decision-making situation that can destroy a business.

Lloyd & Champ Rawls
Rawls Group
Orlando, FL
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The post 50/50 Is Not Always Nifty – Partnerships That Don’t Work appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

A business card in a shirt pocket that was visible to others, helped dramatically increase the value of a deal when one of the buyer’s realized that their major competitor was bidding on their deal. Within 24 hours after they realized this, an offer was submitted that was substantially higher than anticipated. 

How Covid has altered how deals are getting done and how smart sellers are stepping back and realizing that it is a different day today and that deals can still get done if you can work through deal structures that are tailored for both buyers and sellers.

How smaller companies can add huge strategy value to larger companies with their value proposition and why it’s important to understand what value you bring to the table because this understanding can dramatically increase your company’s value.

Why it’s important for sellers to realize what they do well and not so well and if what they don’t do well can be done better by someone else, it may be time to sell.

David Kauppi
MidMarket Capital Inc.
Chicago, Illinois
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The post How a Competitor’s Business Card Dramatically Increased the Value of an Acquisition appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

A 4th generation business started in the 1890’s. As you listen to this deal story you will learn how the new owner was able to double the business in less than a year. 

A lower valuation on a business appraisal can dramatically change the economics of a deal, but how, if you understand the reasons an appraisal comes in lower than anticipated, you can actually get the appraiser to change their valuation, something that rarely happens. Knowing how the valuation was arrived at can actually help you in presenting a case for a higher valuation.

One of the things that all sellers and buyers need to be aware of when selling or acquiring a franchise business. Knowing some of these issues in advance can actually avoid a lot of problems when dealing with a franchise business during the sales process. 

A business that was acquired seven years earlier as an asset sale, which means that the business was purchased for pennies on the dollar for the discounted value of assets, and how the owner returned seven years later with a business that had grown 100x in sales and sold to a buyer who was going to take the business to the next level again.

Haroon Bhatti
Capital Business Brokerage
Farmington Hills, Michigan
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The post How a 4th Generation Business Doubled Their Sales After It Was Sold appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

A family run business with decades of a history with an elite clientele that provided cleaning concierge service for Broadway theaters by cleaning stage garments and costumes for all of the theaters in the Broadway Theater district. The family grew the business to a nearly 8-figure a year business and was flying high until COVID hit and most of their clientele left the city and all of the theaters closed. The pandemic hit the business hard eventually forcing it into bankruptcy.  Yet with the right help a deal was structured to not only salvage the business from the brink of extinction, but to generate millions for the family on the sale of the business. 

The importance of having a management structure in place can facilitate a deal by creating a demand for the business. 

A transaction that created millions of additional value by structuring a deal that not only increased the initial exit value of the business but double that amount again by allowing for the preverbal second bite. 

This was made possible by having the right buyer and structuring and aligning the interests of all parties to achieve the eventual exit of a private equity buyer. 

We often hear of sad stories that are driven by the unexpected illness or death of a business owners that don’t turn out well. In this case, because of the skill of an attorney that was able to convince a family to retain an M&A Advisor, they were able to create an exit versus closing the business.

Anthony Citrolo
The NYBB Group
Manhattan, New York City
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The post From Flying High to Bankruptcy to a Successful Exit appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

A founder who was selling his business had the absolute criteria that he did not want to remain working in the business after it was sold. He was burnt out and wanted to move on. So, what do you think happened and what you should be prepared for when you sell your business?

How important the terms outline in a Letter of Intent are and if a key deal point is included may save your deal, if you get it right, and if you don’t, may derail your deal.

What not to do when you have a buyer at the closing table that has you made a good offer. Too often entrepreneurs get greedy and try to squeeze a little more out of the deal.

Why business owners insist that their business is worth a lot more than what all of the offers presented. There is an accounting term called “Sunk Costs” that these sellers didn’t understand.

Dave Marx
Front Runner Consulting
Cincinnati, Ohio
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The post What Do You Mean My Business Is Not Worth This? appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

How buyers will often research a market segment to identify companies in a specific industry or niche that is under served or has consolidation opportunities and then decide to create a platform. Building a platform is a strategy that is becoming more popular today for buyers as they seek out companies to acquire.

Small insignificant revenue sources can become a big headache in deals as well as how regulatory issues need to be taken into consideration when positioning a company for sale

Timing is a crucial issue when thinking of selling a business and how 50/50 partners that couldn’t stand each other and in fact were at a point in their relationship where they wouldn’t be in the same room together managed to sell their business.

Bob Zelinger
Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP
Hartford, Connecticut
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The post How Partners that Couldn’t Stand Each Other Managed to Sell Their Business appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

An entrepreneur in a service sector identified a need where the sales, operations, and finance departments of his clients always seemed to be relatively inefficient. He conceptualized a customized solution that could revolutionize the service and hospitality industry. Little did he realize how perfectly his company would be positioned when COVID hit.

A young husband and wife team launched a business in the asbestos abatement industry, and again they benefited from have a business that was COVID resistant. Yet, they made crucial mistake.

A business owner that thought his landlord, and close personal friend, would renew his lease like he had multiple times over a 25-year period. Only to find out that money makes people, even close friends, do the unexpected.

A business that ran a tight ship and was organized which is unusual in the construction industry, because contractors are notorious for less than perfect operational, HR, and financial record keeping. When it came time to sell, right in the middle of Covid, the deal went smoothly when many other deals were struggling to get done.

Jay Offerdahl
Viking Mergers & Acquisitions
Charlotte, North Carolina
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The post People Get Funny When It Comes To Money appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

A financial services company that was a few weeks away from being sold. As the final draft of the Letter of Intent was being reviewed, after all of the terms and conditions had been agreed to by the buyer, there was just one more term to discuss with the client – a term the client wouldn’t agree to.

A technology company founded by a tech genius got right up to the closing table with all of the terms agreed to that created an opportunity for generational wealth for the founder and his family, but then the buyer and seller went out for diner to celebrate consummating the deal. That dinner turned out to be a game changer for the founder.

An entrepreneur founder was approached by a strategic acquirer. It took months for the founder to negotiate a deal only to have his attorney suggest talking to Jim before doing anything. That conversation turned out to be the most profitable phone call he ever made. 

How a business worth less than $20M turned into a cash deal of $120M. You won’t want to miss this story.

Jim Afinowich
IBG Business
Scottsdale, Arizona
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The post How Does a Deal Go From $20M to $120M Without Breaking a Sweat? appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

A transaction involving a successful residential HVAC company, which is one of those industries that hasn’t been impacted a lot by the pandemic because people still need their furnaces and air conditioners. The business had a number of offers but when it came time to close, the seller had a change of heart. 

A great idea doesn’t always translate into value that can easily be monetized.

A retired military serviceman started a business and hit a home run. Interestingly, the real home run was not in the actual business that was listed for sale but in what happened during the sales process. It isn’t what you might expect from a deal that didn’t initially get done. 

A transaction where the seller was talked out of selling, which doesn’t happen all that often because the job of an advisor is to help entrepreneurs sell their business. This decision resulted in tripling the exit value a few years later when it finally was the proper time to sell.

Mike Feinman
Texas Business Brokers
Austin, Texas
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The post Are You a Seller or a Seller? How to Know Which You Are. appeared first on Business Exit Stories.