Ashish: I think you had mentioned earlier that you read this book about selling and getting an outrageous price for your business. So you interviewed a few bankers.
Client #1: Yeah, without a doubt. Um, the book was very educational and it explained a proactive sales process that you used to prepare your business and even talked about questions you needed to ask investment banking firms when you’re interviewing them to see who’s gonna be the right fit for representing your company.
Client #2: When I started this process to sell the company, somebody said to me, Karen, you know this world so well, you might not need a banker, and your numbers are so good, you might not need a banker. And I’m so thankful that I did not follow that advice because one of the best parts about having the banker is just all the negotiation of so many details beyond the purchase price. There is no way I would’ve had the same deal as good of a deal without you all as part of the team.
Client #3: Uh, I think what I learned through some of those groups were, “Hey, if you’re gonna sell a company, uh, as an owner, don’t ever sell it by yourself.” And so I really took that to heart because I had been through one or two smaller steps to selling, um, with two other companies that were interested in us. And it was not a, a good time to sell, but I didn’t know. And I definitely want to go into selling hand in hand with someone that really knows what they’re doing and can, can kind of have my back.
Client #1: You know, I learned that having a single buyer, um, puts you in a very weak, bargaining position. And so, you know, you put all your energy into growing this business, you don’t just want to give it away to one competitor that says, Hey, we’ll give you a good offer. You know, so, uh, you work that hard to grow the business. I figured out we needed to work that hard to get a decent price for the business as well. And that’s when I reached out to your company.
Client #3: And I felt like brokers were just too focused on maybe the small, more of a smaller type, company. And I felt like I wanted a company to come in, one because I wanted my people to be taken care of. And, the other piece too was I, I was looking to, to do more of a, an exit and not stick around. And so I thought that that would be a good way as well. And so I thought going with a banker, would be better.
Client #2: I was nervous about the process going in because the day-to-day job was already so overwhelming. Certainly, you know, like many CEOs and entrepreneurs more than, certainly more than 40 hours a week. And so I was very nervous that this might put a crushing amount of additional work, and it didn’t. I think that you Ashish and, and team were really good about using my team and our, my time and our leadership’s time very wisely. And so that we kept our eye on the business and growing the business and running the bottom line as you all worked to sell the company.
Client #3: We were a boutique company and, it’s way different when you’re dealing with more of a boutique sort of company than, I feel like when you’re dealing with a massive, um, organization, you get lost. I didn’t wanna be a number and, I knew it was going to be from everything that I had read, one of the hardest things that you go through. And so I just wanted to make sure I was taken care of and that I had a direct line of communication with someone daily if that’s what was needed. That was, that was really important to me.
