Business Exit Stories

Business Exit Stories

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Business Exit Stories episodes

  • How Things Getting Personal Can Cost You Millions

    Most business owners don’t fully appreciate how important it is to know who is buying your company and what their motivations are. 

    How a transaction can get thrown out the window when the key people and both the buyer and seller get along well and build a lot of trust during the due diligence process. You might assume this is a good thing. It isn’t what you might think. 

    How when things get personal it can cost the owner the deal and potentially millions of dollars. 

    The problem with business owners valuings their business not on what the market values it, but on things such as what a friend’s business sold for, and how destructive this can be. The market will always set the value of the business and what you think the business is worth is irrelevant.  

    How not having a handle on validity of revenue can wipe millions of profits off of the books with a stroke of a pen. What a quality of earnings report is all about and why it is important.

    Eric White
    EBB Group
    Dallas, Texas
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    The post How Things Getting Personal Can Cost You Millions appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

    52 min
  • How an Entrepreneur Took a Business from a $35M Offer Down to $2M in a Few Months and What You Can Learn From This.

    A company walks away from an offer of $35M and months later is forced to accept a $2M offer.

    A niched business is not necessarily always a good thing, and not being able to forecast trends may be the difference between an exit or having no exit at all.

    Why properly positioning a company in the market is important and can, and often does, make millions of dollars difference in what the entrepreneurs are able to put in the bank, and why companies are willing to pay more than a company is worth – sometimes a lot more. This is one of those episodes that can literally make an entrepreneur a million dollars of extra profit on an exit if they understand and apply these concepts when exiting their business. 

    Jeff Rich
    Touchstone Advisors
    Windsor, Connecticut
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    The post How an Entrepreneur Took a Business from a $35M Offer Down to $2M in a Few Months and What You Can Learn From This. appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

    1 hr 1 min
  • Why a Manufacturing Business Was Able to Be Sold to a Strategic Buyer During the COVID Pandemic Lockdown

    A transaction which took place during the height of the Covid Pandemic Lockdown. While delayed by a few months, it was able to be closed while most of the country was still under lockdown restrictions.

    Two companies which had similar issues during the sales process which resulted in neither of these transactions closing. Both sellers were ready to retire but were unable to consummate their deals, even when both buyers made full asking price offers.

    How having an expertise in valuation methodology helped a buyer find, vet, and eventually buy a company for 30% less than the offering price.

    Brad Scoffin
    Calder Associates
    Portage, Michigan
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    The post Why a Manufacturing Business Was Able to Be Sold to a Strategic Buyer During the COVID Pandemic Lockdown appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

    45 min
  • A Buyer Paid $1M More for a Business Than Other Offers and Why They Thought the Business Was a Steal.
    A transaction that involved a nationally based multi-unit weight lost franchisee that had accepted a multi-million dollar offer on its business only to have the franchisor kill the deal by restricting the new buyer from opening up more new franchise locations.
    A transaction of when even though you have an accepted offer how an appraisal can kill a deal and when this happens, what a business owner did to get the deal closed. 
    A business owner, who received a diagnosis of terminal cancer and had an accepted offer for less than half of the business’s intrinsic value, managed to get $2M more for the business.
    A skilled intermediary was able to create an auction for a business that enabled an entrepreneur to position the business strategically and have a buyer outbid others by more than $1M and the buyer thought he got a steal even though their offer was so much higher than other offers.






    Cress V DiglioCalder AssociatesOrlando, FloridaVisit WebsiteSend E-mail



    51 min
  • How Buyer and Seller Chemistry Created the Deal Dynamics where 1 + 1 = 3

    A founder of an IT based company had an unrealistic expectation on the valuation of his business solely based on his internet research. The business was most likely overvalued as much as 75% to 100%. How this potentially deal breaking fact was negated when buyer/seller chemistry created a situation where 1 + 1 actually equaled 3. 

    A $12M revenue company, with five equal owners, never could come to a mutual agreement on the urgency and the reasons to exit their business. While they all agreed to sell the business, they had completely different motivations and reasons for selling the business. This ended up driving six highly motivated strategic buyers away from the table. Without a consensus, the deal was abandoned due to the hopelessly divided opinions of the owners.

    An ESOP – Employee Stock Ownership Plan and how an owner’s illness caused a huge drop in the value of the business and consequently the valuation of the ESOP. This ultimately ended in the termination of the ESOP when the business was sold. 

    A founder of a business, who absolutely loved what he did, was forced to sell his business because of pressure from family. The importance of structuring a business becomes evident to allow for either a transition where there is a meaningful life after their exit or that your business can operate without you.

    Bill Vinck
    Chapman Associates
    Scottsdale, Arizona
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    The post How Buyer and Seller Chemistry Created the Deal Dynamics where 1 + 1 = 3 appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

    47 min
  • How an Avoidable $35,000 Mistake Cost $2,000,000 Loss in Cash

    How a $35,000 decision ended up costing a business owner $2,000,000 in cold hard cash at closing.

    Customer concentration cost a seller a $7,000,000 deal that was almost across the finish line.

    How positioning a company with strategic buyers can create a buyer’s auction that can dramatically increase the value of a business.

    Sam shares how he sold his own business and how a deal was structured that benefited all parties creating a win-win situation.

    Sam Thompson
    Transitions in Business
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
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    The post How an Avoidable $35,000 Mistake Cost $2,000,000 Loss in Cash appeared first on Business Exit Stories.

    47 min
  • How an Avoidable $35,000 Mistake Cost $2,000,000 Loss in Cash
    How a $35,000 decision ended up costing a business owner $2,000,000 in cold hard cash at closing.
    Customer concentration cost a seller a $7,000,000 deal that was almost across the finish line.
    How positioning a company with strategic buyers can create a buyer’s auction that can dramatically increase the value of a business.
    Sam shares how he sold his own business and how a deal was structured that benefited all parties creating a win-win situation.






    Sam ThompsonTransitions in BusinessMinneapolis, MinnesotaVisit WebsiteSend E-mail



    48 min
  • How Seller Financing Can Save Deals in Uncertain Times and Reap Sellers Millions
    This episode is being recorded shortly after the Covid – 19 worldwide shut down of businesses in the US and countries around the world.
    Deals that couldn’t have been closed without a keen understanding of how to properly use owner financing in structuring the transaction that benefited both buyer and seller. Why businesses need to use this type of financing because of how businesses sometimes stumble before being positioned for sale. 
    How sellers need to be opened minded on how to structure deals that may have never happen if there is not a willingness to consider creative deal structuring which can reap sellers millions in the sale of their business.






    Matt ColettaM&A Business AdvisorsCalifornia & NevadaVisit WebsiteSend E-mail





    49 min
  • Why a Founder Went from Having Over 50M Website Visitors to Zero and Having to Close Up Shop
    A CEO that sold a business becomes a director of an investment bank and show how understanding both sides of an acquisition can teach you how to better position your business for a successful exit.
    A cautionary tale of a self funded company that utilized Facebook as its main marketing platform and the risks involved in relying too heavily on a single entity for your business versus taking outside investments to diversify your marketing strategy.






    Gretchen TibbitsProgress PartnersNew York & Boston, MassachusettsVisit WebsiteSend E-mail



    43 min
  • What Happens When the Bank Appraisal Comes in at 50% of the Sales Price?
    A transaction involving a lighting equipment rental company that provides to the entertainment industry for companies involved in movie and TV production. However, when the bank’s appraiser valued the business 50% less than the sales prices the deal fell apart.
    A primary care physician who was nearing retirement and wanted to sell his practice to an associate had to engage a tax specialist to restructure the transaction to make it feasible for the doctor to sell. All because he had a C corporation and the adverse tax consequences of selling a C corp such as double taxation.
    A nutrition manufacturing company that was very marketable due to fast growth. The first buyer that surfaced was a Search Fund which can come with downsides.
    An office specialty equipment manufacturer was able to structure a deal with a strategic acquirer. The seller was able to completely eliminate a large owner carry back. The acquirer was willing to do a cash deal after making an offer that included a 20% owner carry back. 







    Adriana Smith & Lana HoutFirst Choice Business BrokersLos Angeles, CaliforniaVisit WebsiteSend E-mail





    49 min

About Business Exit Stories

From the publisher's feed

Hosted by Marvin L. Storm, the Business Exit Stories Podcast shares dramatic success as well as unfortunate horror stories of business exits, and in collaboration with BxAdvisors assists…