Waiting too Long to Sell
Take a closer look at the environmental factors and relationships that impact the sale of your firm.
Exit
Knowing When to Leave: The Founder’s Role in a Professional Service Firm
The early launch days of a professional service firm are often characterized by the visionary leadership of its founder.
Episode 111 – The Beginner’s Guide to the QOE (Quality of Earnings) Report – Member Case by Elliott Holland
Someday you will sell your firm. Afterall, none of us can run our firms from the afterlife. When your time to exit comes, you will need to know what your firm is worth. The tool often used to calculate a purchase price is called a QOE, or the quality of earnings report. On this episode, QOE expert Elliott Holland, Founder & CEO at Guardian Due Diligence, will help founders understand what a QOE is, when it is needed, who creates one, how it gets used, and why founders need to get familiar with it.
Episode 110 – How a Software Development Firm Structured an Equity Incentive for a Key Employee – Member Case by Michael Daoud
Hiring, or promoting, a person into an executive role often requires the Founder to offer an equity incentive to the key employee. This requirement drives a need to understand what the firm is worth today, and how much of the future value should be shared with the key employee. On this episode, Michael Daoud, CEO at Visus LLC, discusses how he valued his firm, and how he structured the equity share with the key employee.
Episode 109 – How To Avoid The Devastating Fall Out Of a Botched Reorganization Inside of a Professional Service Firm – Member Case by Mike Desjardins
The design of your boutique’s organization can either aid or hurt a successful exit. Any astute buyer will factor this into their decision-making. This is why simple integrations are attractive. They are cheap, quick, and have a high success rate. On this episode, Mike Desjardins, CEO at ViRTUS, shares their firm’s best practices for a successful reorganization, including the much-awaited backstory of how his team redesigned key roles to keep their top individual contributors.
Episode 108 – How a Brilliant Founder Expanded Margins By Repositioning His Software Development Shop Into A Strategic Consulting Firm – Member Case by Phil Alves
The quality of the fees earned by your firm is a top priority as you scale and exit. All revenue is not good revenue. Poor fee quality leads to poor margins. On this episode, Phil Alves, CEO at DevSquad, shares how he improved margins and fee quality by repositioning his firm.
Episode 107 – From Rookie to President in 7 Years: Why Digital Agencies Need To Develop The Founder’s #2 Right Now – Member Case by Amy Pyles
Acquirers buy the management teams first and the boutique firm second. The due diligence process is heavily weighted to assess the quality of the management team to make a sound investment. On this episode, Amy Pyles, President at Saxum, examines her experience as the person replicating the founder. She will share what has worked and what didn’t work and how they continued to collaborate.
Episode 98 – How the Founder of an IT Services Firm Created a Legacy – Member Case with Jay Smith
How do you successfully exit your business without sacrificing your legacy? On this episode, Jay Smith, President of Security7 Networks, talks about how he built his business to be ready to sell, and the biggest lessons learned in the exit process.
Episode 97 – How a Data Analytics Firm Developed the Courage to Charge More for Their Services – Member Case with Craig Dreiling
Innovation is a new idea. A new service. A new business model. Boutiques that innovate grow and scale rapidly. Continuous innovators become the market leaders. On this episode, Craig Dreiling, CEO at Solutions-101 LLC, shares how his firm was able to innovate and create a new product that commands a higher price.
Episode 96 – How to Make Your Firm Risk Free in the Eyes of a Potential Acquirer – Member Case with Harry Dugan
Investors’ default position is to find reasons not to buy your boutique. They are looking for the risks and approach due diligence as a way to de-risk their investment. On this episode, Harry Dugan, Managing Director at STS Capital Partners shares how to build your firm to minimize those risk for a potential acquirer.