Everyone will exit their business someday. While most business owners are looking to understand how to get the highest valuation and how to position themselves to get the best deal structure with the right buyer, Thomas Kereszti spent most of his career on the other side of those discussions, figuring out whether your business was worth the investment in the first place.

Hear directly from a corporate M&A buyer on what he looks for in acquisitions, how he structures deals, and what a strategic acquirer may find important that you might overlook. Tom talks through several business acquisitions, including his own where he shares his learnings from both ends of the table.

Connect with Thomas Kereszti

Website: https://www.leadershipdisciples.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomaskereszti/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Tom-R-Kereszti/100010386214692/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Tom_Kereszti

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0fQk8ge__WLTOjGJsAN_NQ

Get a copy of Tom’s book, ‘C-Suite and Beyond’: https://www.leadershipdisciples.com/purchase-book/

Connect with Simon Bedard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/

Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

There are two options for growth – organic or through business acquisition. Each one comes with its own set of challenges, but for Wendy Pease, growth through acquisition made more sense. She didn’t have a ‘business-worthy’ idea and instead, bought a small, zero-employee translation service that turned over around $100K in revenue.

Eighteen years later, Wendy grew Rapport International to a global translation and marketing company that has $5M in revenue and around 10-15 employees.

This episode is great for potential business owners who want to enter the market by either starting or acquiring their first business rather than growing it from scratch.

Connect with Wendy Pease

Website: https://www.rapporttranslations.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RapportInternational/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RapportIntl

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0Nfd_jjzeNI8pzsSPMr0dg

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/wendypease

Get a copy of Wendy’s book, ‘The Language of Global Marketing’: https://www.rapporttranslations.com/the-language-of-global-marketing-sample

Connect with Simon Bedard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/

Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

After leaving successful, high-paying jobs in the corporate world, Michael Spinosa decided to strike out on his own by founding Unleashed Technologies, a digital marketing agency that specialised in application development. However, there was one problem: No one in his life thought he had what it took.

While he bootstrapped his business from the ground up, it was not all sunshine and lollipops. Michael struggled financially, and he also struggled to find his market fit to truly grow the business. This led him on a journey of self-discovery about what it takes to be an entrepreneur.

After several key shifts in the business, a lightbulb seemed to go off with the company scaling rapidly. Michael never even thought about an exit until he received a Letter of Intent that he just couldn’t ignore.

Connect with Michael Spinosa

Website: https://shield7.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikespinosa/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Shield7Consulting

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MSpinosa

Connect with Simon Bedard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/

Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

Gabriela Isturiz did the impossible. She built a high-growth SaaS company and sold it to a Fortune 500 company for a huge multiple…twice!

Her legal tech business, Bellefield Systems, grew to 45 employees over 7 years. Not to mention enjoyed 99% recurring revenue, 93% gross profit margins, an EBITDA margin of 38% as well as a whopping retention rate of 102%.

All that is to say is that Gaby built a very successful software company, and she lays out not just how she did it, but how you can too.

Connect with Gabriela Isturiz

Website: https://thefund.vc/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielaisturiz/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gabrielaisturiz

Connect with Simon Bedard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/

Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

Nick Gray didn’t like museums.

That dislike spurned the birth of ‘Museum Hack.’ A new way of touring museums led by scientists, actors, and comedians in an engaging and interactive way. Starting the business predominantly for his friends, Nick was able to grow ‘Museum Hack’ to a $3 million a year business.

From a young age, he had the entrepreneurial drive after helping the family business in the avionics industry. That entrepreneurial nature helped him to create an extremely successful business where he eventually exited through a unique shared equity model and retained 15% of the company.

Nowadays, Nick is busily creating a blueprint for hosting the perfect cocktail party and helping others expand their networks through casual events.

Connect with Nick Gray

Website: https://nickgray.net/

Website: https://tripeak.com/

Website: https://party.pro/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickgraynews/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/newfriend

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickgraynews/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nickgraynews

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/nickgray

Join Nick’s Friends Newsletter: https://nickgray.net/signup-for-email-updates/

Get a copy of Nick’s book: https://party.pro/book/

Connect with Simon Bedard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/

Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

Your business is your baby, so what happens when you must let someone else make the decisions?

Whether you have a business partner or a range of investors, there is always going to be someone with a different opinion on what you should do with the business. The problem lies when you don’t hold enough clout and their opinions are what go ahead.

This is the trap of a minority shareholder, and something Erik Rind can speak in-depth about. Having been building software since before the dawn of the internet, Erik has found himself a few times in a minority shareholder role – once being forced to sell a company to another company he didn’t want to, and once being forced to step down as president.

While these were some harsh lessons, it gave Erik clarity on how to approach business sales as a majority shareholder and come up with a number (and an ethical outlook) that takes care of his other partners.

Connect with Erik Rind

Website: https://imaginebc.net/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-rind-0aa415b/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imaginebcapp

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imaginebcapp/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/imaginebcapp

Connect with Simon Bedard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/

Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

Businesses with purpose can create much bigger opportunities.

This episode centres around an entrepreneur who managed to put community first, carve out a significant market differentiator, and because of this, grew his real estate business to $1B in annual turnover before selling to newer, younger agents for almost $10M dollars.

Mark Deutschmann is a real estate entrepreneur who operated in a scant one-mile radius in Nashville, Tennessee. His business, Village Real Estate could have gone national, but instead, they funnelled money back into the community and created a thriving place to live that attracted more people (and agents) to the area, which then fuelled more growth for the company.

It was a win for Mark, a win for the community, and a win for the city that saw new life breathed into it over the two plus decades he was in operation.

Connect with Mark Deutschmann

Website: https://www.villagerealestate.com/

Website: https://corenashville.com/

Website: https://nashvillecityliving.com/

Website: https://onemileradius.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-deutschmann-b999a027/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mark_deutschmann/

Connect with Simon Bedard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/

Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

For Ryan Tansom, his professional life started at 19 when the family business came knocking. He put on a suit and hit the pavement to start selling, starting his 18-year journey of growing and eventually selling the business.

After navigating tricky situations in dealing with his father in the family business, Ryan grew the company to new levels before his father decided that he wanted out.

Selling the business to a competitor meant gutting all of things he had helped to implement, but it was a formative experience that provided Ryan with crucial know-how. This experience is what he now calls upon when coaching and mentoring other entrepreneurs looking to sell.

Tune in to hear what lessons Ryan has learned from his successful and entrepreneurial career thus far and how they could help save you time, money, and effort if you’re looking to sell.

Connect with Ryan Tansom

Website: https://arkona.io/

International Growth Financial Statement: https://arkona.io/intentional-growth-financial-assessment/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-tansom-4a440710/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RyanTansom

Connect with Simon Bedard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/

Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

Landscaping is a tough, not-so-glamourous business, but it’s one that Tom Farinacci cracked early on with his entrepreneurial drive and penchant for hard work.

After selling his first business, Tom completed a college degree, worked at national landscaping business with the sole purpose of learning their trade secrets, and then returned to what he does best. Building his own business and propelling its growth forward.

Focusing solely on strategic acquisitions from competitors in his area, Tom grew the business to achieve comfortable EBITDA margins of 15% a year.

Tune in to hear why he prioritised strategic acquisitions over organic growth, how he knew the time was right to sell, and what his motivations were for exiting the industry.

 

Connect with Tom Farinacci II

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-farinacci/

Connect with Simon Bedard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/

Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

As most marketers will tell you, Search Engine Optimisation is a long game. It requires hard work, patience, and most of all, a keen eye for the changes in the industry. In fact, SEO is much like owning a business.

These parallels culminated in the journey of Eric Enge, a 20+ year veteran in Search Engine Marketing and a savvy business owner. Eric was the founder of the award-winning SEO agency, Stone Temple Consulting, and by 2018, the marketing services business had almost 70 employees, $9 million in annual revenue, and counted fifteen Fortune 500 level among its client base.

However, just like in SEO, there exists a ceiling, and it was around this time that Eric decided it was time to exit. See how it ranks here.

Connect with Eric Enge

Website: https://www.pilotholding.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericenge/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/stonetemple

Connect with Simon Bedard

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/

Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/