Mark Deutschmann started Village Real Estate in 1996 and grew his residential real estate brokerage to 350 agents and $30 million in revenue – then, he heard some disturbing news. One of his agents and five former colleagues had been secretly planning to launch their own agency to compete with Deutschmann. Rather than steeling for a [...]
Glenn Grant started G2 Technology Group which was in the business of helping website developers host their sites with Amazon Web Services (AWS). By 2018, Grant had built his company to 30 employees and was planning to grow further by acquisition. That was around the same time he began fielding calls from Private Equity Groups (PEGs) [...]
It can be tempting to offer shares in your company to finance its growth. These days, there are plenty of investors chasing promising new companies and, in today’s tight labour market, employees are getting more brazen in their demands for equity-based compensation. However, using equity as a form of currency dilutes your position and may not [...]
Tommy Berretz co-founded Texas Aquatic Enterprise (TAE) in 2005 to maintain commercial swimming pools for condominium groups, apartment buildings and schools. The business grew to more than 200 employees on the back of Berretz’s sales skills. That's when he hired an accountant to value TAE. Berretz waited patiently as the accountant ran the numbers but was [...]
John MacInnes ran Print Audit, a printer and photocopier management software, for 20 years. In 2012, the company suffered a rude awakening when its biggest client – who made up more than two thirds of their revenue – dropped their monthly spend by 90%. MacInnes had to pivot… quickly. He evolved Print Audit to a subscription-based [...]
From a standing start, Dinesh Dhamija grew European online travel agency eBookers to more than one billion in sales in just five years. After two successful financing rounds, Dhamija still owned 40% of eBookers stock which represented virtually his entire net worth. Dhamija decided it was time to sell. He quickly got six acquirers interested, and [...]
Cross selling new products and services to your existing customers may be a great marketing strategy, but if your goal is to increase the value of your business, the added revenue may do nothing for your company’s value – and may even lower it. In order to be acquired for a premium, consider committing to a [...]
James Roman founded iVelocity, a digital marketing agency for healthcare professionals. With a goal of getting on the Inc. 500 list, he wanted to scale quickly – and he did. Between 2013 to 2016 the company grew 10 times and increased its gross revenue by 1000%. …But it was the stress of a big company that [...]
Darby founded customer software consultancy Matched Pattern in 2017 but had become exhausted by the hamster wheel of constantly chasing new business to keep his consultants busy. As a project-based consultancy, Darby’s exit options were limited so he decided to swap his equity in Matched Pattern for shares in Matched Pattern, a company with a desperate [...]
One of the trickiest components of selling your business is deciding when to inform your employees that your business is for sale. The best answer is to wait until you’ve closed the sale and the money is in the bank. If you tell your staff your exit plans, they may start looking for work elsewhere. They [...]
