Posts Categorized: Seller Articles

How Re-Modeling A Swimming Pool Business Led To A 7-Figure Exit

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… Read more »

How To You-Proof Your Business

In 2007, David Heimlich started a recreational sports league for adults, Nation Leagues, with nothing more than a $60 loan from his father. After 11 years, he fell ill and needed to sell – but his hard work over the years amounted to a business of no value. Why? Heimlich ran every aspect of the… Read more »

Was The Inc. 500 The Reason For This Founder’s Exit?

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… Read more »

Dealing with Inexperience Can Ruin the Deal

  The 65-year old owner of a multi-location retail operation doing $30 million in annual sales decided to retire.  He interviewed a highly recommended intermediary and was impressed.  However, he had a nephew who had just received his MBA and who told his uncle that he could handle the sale and save him some money. … Read more »

5 Lessons from Game of Thrones for Exiting Business Owners

written by Jane Johnson, Business Transition Academy Were you – like hundreds of thousands of fans – unhappy with the finale of Game of Thrones (GOT)? According to a number of news outlets, more than 50% to 60% of viewers were dissatisfied or even outraged at the outcome. There was even a petition circulating that… Read more »

The Variables that Drive and Influence Business Valuations

If you’ve never bought or sold a business before, then the factors that drive and influence business valuations likely seem a bit murky.  In a recent Divestopedia article from Kevin Ramsier entitled, “A Closer Look at What Drives and Influences Business Valuations,” Ramsier takes a closer look at this important topic.  Business brokers and M&A… Read more »

How One Bad Boy Clause Landed an 8-Figure Deal

Can you actually thrive in an industry you don’t know much about? According to Erik Van Horn, former franchise owner of Sola Salon Studios, you sure can. Achieving his success as a franchise owner always looking for the next deal, Van Horn stumbled across the salon industry in 2014. Though a new-found territory, Van Horn… Read more »

Wisdom From Wall Street: How To Buy, Then Sell

Matt Slaine is an investor who grew up on Wall Street. In pursuit of his next move (and an intent to own), he decided to purchase a company, instead of starting one. What followed was a journey of identifying his perfect candidate (Progressive Business Media, a B2B media and communications company in the home furnishings… Read more »

Is Your Business Really Worth Handing Over to the Next Generation?

Before you begin your business, you should be thinking about how you will hand that business over to someone else.  No one runs a business forever.  Whether you sell your business or let a relative inherit it, at some point you will need to step away.  When you finally do separate from your business, it… Read more »

When It Makes Sense To Accept Equity Instead Of Cash

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… Read more »