We welcomed long-time EO member and co-CEO of Herman ProAV, Jeffrey Wolf to the stage to talk about his experiences in exiting enterprise. We got down and dirty, talked through the “learnings” and failures, as well as the successes.
Below find the highlights of our session with Jeffrey Wolf. You can also listen to the full session above!
This week’s show concentrated on the dos and don’ts for exiting your business with insights from a number of successful entrepreneurs.
For an entrepreneur, exiting your business can be an exciting and potentially nerve-wracking experience. With that in mind, here are some top-level things to consider when embarking on the exiting process.
Experts
Surround yourself with experts in things that are outside your wheelhouse. Hiring a banker, lawyer, or facilitator with a successful track record in concluding company sales should help with a smoother transition for everyone involved. The transaction details of a company sale take a lot of time and attention and that can distract an entrepreneur from the important day-to-day operations of their company. If you are focusing on the sale, you are most likely not focusing on the business and that can derail a sale.
Emotional Impact
There’s also an emotional impact when selling the company that you’ve put your heart and soul into and having outside help from experts that aren’t emotionally involved can keep the sale moving in the right direction. Having outside help to focus on the important details of the deal can potentially ease some of the emotional impacts that an entrepreneur and the company’s employees feel during this period of transition. It’s also helpful to be as honest as legally possible with your employees during this potentially stressful time. You want your employees focused on their jobs and not on what might happen after the sale.
Right Buyer
Moreover, finding the right buyer is also important when selling your company. If your company systems, culture, and employees don’t fit with a potential buyer, this can lead to difficulties when negotiating a sale. If a potential buyer shares your same or similar core values and also shows that they value your employees, this can result in higher value exits.
Relationships
In addition, when another company buys your company, they are also buying your relationship with your partners, customers, suppliers, and employees. So having solid and positive relationships across the board can be key to concluding a sale.