One Day Workshop: Maximizing the Value on Sale of Your Business

Maniac thumbs up!

"I attended Tom’s one day workshop, Proactive Exit Strategies, in February of this year (2005). As founder of ITmaniacs I went along with an open mind and the view that if I took one piece of information away of value it was money well spent.

After finishing the course I came away with far more than that! Tom took us through, what I consider a very simple set of rules and processes to apply to our business, all accompanied by an easy to follow tick list. As a business owner and entrepreneur who generally “flies by the seat of her pants” I found Tom’s approach invaluable and something that I could easily implement and work to.

Since February, it’s now September, Maniacs have completed 95% of what’s required to gear a company for the ultimate buyer. We have just completed our first KPMG audit, all our contracts have been double checked by lawyers, all systems and processes are documented, all growth plans are in place and all staff are pumped up and ready to rock and roll.

At this stage we are operating more efficiently than ever before and going forward we may decide to sell one day, or we may not. The beauty of it is when we do get that knock on our door from a strategic buyer we call the shots and we decide when and for how much.

I can’t rate Tom enough, if you get the opportunity to attend one of his courses, the Maniacs opinion is you’d be MAD not to take it if you are serious about your business."

Sarah Lee
Mother of all Maniacs
EO Auckland Chapter, NZ
sarah@itmaniacs.co.nz

Presenter: Tom McKaskill, CPA, Ph.D

Few owners prepare their business for sale and yet increasing the value of a conventional business by several times is highly achievable. For businesses based on intellectual property, achieving 10 to 20 times a conventional value is highly probable.

Professor McKaskill has developed specific value creation strategies for the two types of buyers. Financial buyers purchase companies based on their inherent profitability so the strategy for increasing value works on risk reduction, increasing the revenue horizon, improving profitability and building growth potential. Included in this group of businesses are retail, services, consulting, light manufacturing, distribution, professional practices and other common businesses. Strategic buyers are large corporations who purchase firms which have assets or capabilities which the corporation can exploit over a large marketplace. This group of businesses typically includes companies in information technology, telecommunications, scientific research, biotechnology and companies based on strong brands, intellectual property or deep expertise. These businesses increase their value by finding the right buyer and developing a scalability capability.

This workshop assists entrepreneurs to develop a specific strategy for selling their business. The process includes aligning stakeholder interests, understanding value creation, reducing risks and developing additional value in the business, identifying buyers, engaging buyers, creating competitive bidding, using professional service providers and structuring a deal.

This workshop will dramatically change your view about what your business could potentially be worth and give you the opportunity to create a personal strategy to maximize the value in your business in preparation for an eventual sale.

Duration: Full day with breaks for coffee and lunch.

Attendees: Entrepreneurs, Business owners and their Directors, business advisors and the senior management team. The workshop provides an opportunity for each attendee to score themselves on a planning worksheet (financial buyer or strategic buyer worksheet) which sets out the actions they need to take to enhance their sale readiness. Each attendee needs to acquire the appropriate book before the workshop and should read Part A before attending. The book provides the detailed questions for the worksheet. This format can be used for up to 200 attendees.

Format: Lecture style with attendees grouped on tables of 4 – 10. Time is given for worksheet completion and questions and answers at each stage.
Further Information: Participants should download the ebook written by Professor McKaskill on this strategy.

Book: McKaskill, T, (2010), Ultimate Exits – The secret behind selling entrepreneurial ventures at staggering prices , Breakthrough Publications, Australia (available free at www.drexit.net)