In my search for investment targets, I am industry agnostic, but I have a slightly higher interest in and affinity for service-based businesses (please, no franchises) that are complementary to each other (I’m scratching my own itch here), like:
- Hospitality services – Bakeries, Caterers, Wineries, Restaurants, Hotels and Resorts, Florists
- Staying healthy – Health food stores, Organic groceries
- Legal services – Accountancies, CPAs, Lawyers, Tax services
- Business services – Employment & Temp Offices, Printing, Laundry & Dry cleaning
- Residential services : Carpenters, Electricians, Plumbers, HVACers, Landscaping, Home restoration (period pieces)
Why services-based businesses? Because they offer a higher potential for growth, have the ability to adapt their offerings to meet specific client needs, which allows for tailored solutions and potentially higher customer satisfaction and possibly higher customer loyalty, they can also offer flexibility in work hours and location and quickly adapt to changing market conditions by modifying service offerings. The key reasons to invest in service-based business outweigh the challenges (competition, client retention, marketing & sales efforts) that these businesses pose.
I have a network of relationships with investment bankers, business owners, attorneys and accountants that serve as an advisory board where we discuss interesting investment opportunities.
Exit Strategies
An exit strategy is a plan that allows a business owner or investor to sell their ownership in their company. It outlines actions to optimize their financial positions, minimize losses and ensure the success of the company upon their departure.
Example strategies:
- Liquidation exit
- Legacy exit
- Acquihire
- Buyout
Growth Strategies
Growth through acquisition or a merger is a common tactic used to achieve diversification and market positioning. It can help increase market share and expand the workforce.
Example of merger growth:
- Reduce competition
- Open new territories
- Newly acquired expertise
Whether large or small, all companies typically have an aspiration to pursue growth strategies.
Carve-out Solution
A company can choose to divest in a subsidiary through a carve-out for various reasons. The meaning of carve out in business is the separation of a subsidiary from its parent company, whereby the subsidiary becomes independent while the parent company retains a majority stake in it. Also known as an equity carve-out.
It allows a company to capitalize on a business segment that may not be part of its core operations.
Valuation Services
There are 3 main valuation methods:
- Market based
- Income based
- Asset based
Each has its own advantages and limitations, so it’s best to use a combination of them to get an accurate view of the target company’s value.
Market-based methods use the prices of comparable companies or transactions to estimate the value of the target company.
Income-based methods use the future cash flows or earnings of the target company to estimate its value (DCF and LBO).
Asset-based methods use the net assets or book value of the target company to estimate its value.
Restructurings and Turnarounds
Companies that struggle to achieve organic growth can resort to an acquisition as a growth strategy to expand market share, gain access to new markets, customers and new products and/or services. Turnaround strategies turnaround the target company performance to add or improve value.
When successful, the outcome is higher “Total Shareholders Returns” along with higher market share and growth.
Success factors for a turnaround strategy:
- Have a short and long term vision
- Have a major definite purpose
- Act quickly
Some of the common turnaround recovery strategies used by companies include a change of leadership and return to core business activities.
Joint Ventures and Strategic Alliances
In today’s corporate world alliances have become an important strategy. Strategic alliances are agreements between two or more independent companies to cooperate in the manufacturing, development, or sale of products and services. Great emphasis is placed on the issue of cultural compatibility.
There are 3 types of strategic alliances:
- Joint venture
- Equity strategic alliance
- Non-equity strategic alliance
Alliances can be an effective way to embrace new opportunities and pursue new sources of growth.
Operations are improved due to:
- Economies of scale from successful alliances
- The ability to learn from the other partner(s)
- Risk and cost being shared between partner(s)
What does it look like to work with me
For starters, I help you with preserving (and/or growing) your legacy without any obligation on your part and at no charge, ever. Also, the whole process will be on your timeline and at your convenience. No rush or push on my end.
There are dozen’s of M&A strategies and these journeys can be complicated, but working with me shouldn’t have to be. While every business is unique, there are a few threads that are common to each of these journeys we follow:
- At each introductory call I introduce myself and let you talk about your business.
- At the end of this chat I should have a good view of your business and your legacy.
- At this point we both should have a good feel of whether we want to work with each other or not. We might part ways or
- We’ll have several follow-up calls with lots of mutual questions and answers to build mutual trust.
- Things like NDA, due diligence, checklists, spreadsheets and expectations will come up.
- From here, the path towards a successful closing is paved differently every time.
I approach this process as one of questioning and conversation. Having a meaningful conversation, that leads to other meaningful conversations, that leads to a mutual beneficial transaction. It’s about asking the right questions and knowing when I’ve asked enough questions so they will never be seen as a commodity or even a nuisance.
Together we can craft a plan for whatever it is that started this conversation and then that customized plan is executed.