Thinking about an Exit Strategy for your Family owned Business?…Stuart J. Brady joined Elizabeth Gordon in the studio at 200 Peachtree to discuss the process involved in strategically selling your company.
Stuart is a Senior Business Analyst with the Business House, INC., a boutique mergers and acquisitions (M&A) firm in the southeast. Mr. Brady specializes in developing and facilitating exit plans for the business owners that are fast approaching retirement. In this interview we discuss developing an exit plan to help you sell your business.
Stuart shared with us that there are 2 major fronts to the Business Brokerage or M&A game … the business owner’s personal agenda, and the viability of the business. When you own a business, at some point in time, you will need to consider your options: Closing the biz, turning it over to family members, selling it to your management or key employees, selling it to a financial buyer, a strategic buyer, or a private equity group.
Stuart recommends business owners looking towards retirement spend 20 minutes a day thinking about their exit. Selling your business is a process. Personal elements to consider include:
- Do you an up-to-date well crafted business exit plan? The sooner you put a plan in place, the more exit options you will have
- Do you have a contingency plan for death or disability.
- Can you visualize what you will be do after the sale of your business? starting another venture?
It is a very personal having built a business over years and in many cases over decades. However, most business owners today approaching retirement do not have an exit strategy. The Business House Inc takes the emotion out of the business transfer by guiding the owners through a structured process, including a competitive bidding process. You must have a competitive bidding process in order to maximize your business value.
Second, how will your business be valued in the marketplace?
- To a buyer, Profitability and Scalability are the most important factors
- Management team (second in command and head of sales are crucial) and of course customer relationships
- recurring revenue
- small market share to potential customers
- low customer concentration
- minimize dependency on suppliers
Have you developed a proprietary product or service that is scalable and transferable?
“With over 10,000 folks in the United States turning 65 every day, there are many successful business owners who do not have a well-defined exit plan.” Mr. Brady continues, “We take the emotion out of the selling process. My goal is to help the business owner maximize their single largest asset and reap the benefits of having built a successful enterprise, so that they may now enjoy the next chapter in their lives.”
For the last 15 years, Mr. Brady has also owned and operated Kirkwood Car Wash, a self-service car wash located in Atlanta’s historic Kirkwood neighborhood. For more information visit: www.thebusinesshouseinc.com
You can reach Stuart directly at: sjb@thebusinesshouseinc.com
