Taking The Mystery Out Of Selling A Business

Taking The Mystery Out Of Selling A Business…How To Use A Consultant or Advisor In Your Business When You Are Ready To Sell Or If You Are Thinking About Selling

Along with all the M&A activity in the pest control and lawn care industry, there is also no shortage of articles being written, webinars being held and conferences with much in their schedules on the subject of selling and buying businesses. All this is good. One of the things I like to accomplish for potential clients is to take the mystery out of the process of selling your business. It should not be a mystery. The driving reason to using a consultant to sell your business should not be because it is mysterious or not understood. I want sellers to fully understand the selling process along every step of the way. I am happy to completely share that process with them before any agreement is made to advise them and assist them along the way. My business cell is 407-948-0897 and since the business of The Clendenin Consulting Group is nationwide, text or call me anytime. Happy to help. www.theclendeninconsultinggroup.com
Keeping the seller/owner of the business updated at all times is important throughout the entire process. It is the consultant’s job and priority to not just keep the process moving along but to promptly speak with the seller along every step of the way and, in the critical times, get the owner’s blessing to continue to move forward on the mutually agreed-upon path of progress from step to step. I believe that the process, if conducted properly, should come with minimal angst and worry and move along in an efficient manner. In the end, it should be looked upon as a great experience for all parties involved after the closing is complete.
Encouraging the seller to feel completely free to discuss anything and everything with you regarding the ins and outs of their business is equally important. The more detailed these discussions are in the beginning stages of the process; the better. There should be great trust and confidentiality between the consultant/advisor and the seller/owner of the business being sold. At the same time, all the information that a buyer would want to know should be fully disclosed and confidential. This is one reason for non-disclosure agreements or confidentiality agreements.
Having said all that, it is important to know how to get your business ready for sale and in such a way so that you get the best price for it and so that all parties walk away feeling good, post-closing. Thinking about selling? Is your business set up to be sold so you get the best price for it? Whether your ready to sell your business or not or if your business is ready to be sold is something we can talk about.
I want to take a moment to invite you to tune into PCT’s Virtual M&A Conference on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 21. I will be presenting on the subject of “An Integrated Strategy, On-Purpose Path and Practical Tips to Drive Business Growth and Profit and to Powerfully Position Your Company For Sale”. August 21 is a ways away but there is no time like the present to begin this work in your company. Among many other things, I will be sharing how, as CEO of my company, I led the organization to grow from $8 million dollars in annual revenue in 1997 to $35 million in 2005 with no acquisitions. We added $27 million dollars in just nine years and it was all organic growth. At that time, we were the number 14 company in the PCT Top 100 list in the country. We were a full-service company with about 50% of our business being pest control and termite and about 50% being lawn spray and fertilization. We had also become the 5th largest lawn care company in the country. I also love the lawn care business and believe in it and the value of it. The multiples in the lawn care business are better than some might think. If you have lawn care as one of your lines of business, we can help you to build it in a profitable way and help set it up for sale. I hope you will plan on attending the virtual conference. In the mean time, if you are really looking to ramp up your CAGR and significantly increase your operating margin, contact us at The Clendenin Consulting Group. I guarantee you that we can assist you in achieving both of those goals and it may not take as long as you might think. Also, check out our web site. See what others have to say about us in the testimonials section. Read our blogs from the past, too.
-Greg Clendenin