Good morning!
Here are today’s highlights:
Has AI already rendered focus groups obsolete?
Despite the risks, business owners are increasingly turning to alternative lenders.
It required many bureaucratic battles, but an abandoned garage has become an incubator of small businesses.
As the economic outlook turns less certain, owners focus on reducing expenses.
SELLING THE BUSINESS
Josh Patrick says making the sale is often the easy part: “Let me tell you about a deal that haunts me. A business owner I’d been working with for six months decided to sell. He hired an M&A advisor I’d never worked with before. Top of their field. Impressive track record. The first meeting, I explained my role: I work with the owner on the transition side – the identity piece, the reinvention work, making sure he’s prepared for life after the business. The M&A advisor nodded along but I could see the dismissiveness.”
“Second meeting, I wasn’t invited. I reached out to the advisor. ‘I think it would be valuable for me to be in the loop. Sometimes issues come up that affect the owner’s readiness.’ The advisor cut me off. ‘Josh, we need to keep things simple. Too many voices creates confusion. Let’s just focus on getting this deal done, and then you can work with him on whatever comes next.’”
“I tried a different angle. ‘I’m trying to make sure he doesn’t get cold feet halfway through.’ ‘Josh. I’ve closed over a hundred deals. I know what I’m doing. What I don’t need is someone making my client anxious about life after the sale while we’re trying to negotiate terms. So with all due respect, let me do my job.’”
“The deal progressed. Terms were negotiated. Due diligence happened. Everything was moving toward closing. Then, about 10 days before closing, my phone rang. It was the owner. In full panic mode. ‘I can’t do this. I don’t know what I’m going to do after this. Who am I if I’m not running this company? What am I going to do with my time? I’ve been so focused on the deal that I never actually thought about my life after.’”
“We talked for two hours. But you can’t do in two hours what should have been happening over six months. You can’t build a vision for your next chapter in an emergency phone call 10 days before closing. He pulled out of the deal.” READ MORE
