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Have you thought about using the sale of your business as an exit strategy?
Most people who own a small to mid-sized company - like I did - would say, "No." This is because business owners - at least the good ones - are consumed with the minutiae and daily pressures first of operating a company and then of making said company profitable. Additionally, we tend to look at businesses in which we have invested blood, sweat, and tears (not to mention money) emotionally and not in a detached, business-like manner. As a result, rarely does the notion that another individual or group of investors might want to acquire what we have constructed enter our mind. This is particularly so when the business is a successful one. Why would we want to sell our successful company?
While this is understandable, it is also somewhat counterintuitive. This is because most successful business owners ascribe to the philosophy of "buying low and selling high" for all items - except when it comes to their own business.
This is why it is imperative for business owners to entertain the notion of divestiture as an exit strategy.
If you are like so many other entrepreneurs and you have worked hard building a successful business, you owe it to yourself to at least ponder the notion of selling your company. Whether the sale would be to raise capital for another investment or lead to your retirement is up to you. But it is advisable that while you are exploring your options you work with an experienced business broker or mergers and acquisitions company that can provide you with an accurate business valuation - the amount that your business is worth to a ready, willing, and able buyer in the present market. (This is another notion - the value of one's business - that so many entrepreneurs struggle with. They invariably know that they have a successful business, but oftentimes grossly underestimate its value on the open market.)
If, for one reason or another, one does ultimately arrive at the decision to sell, it is imperative to entrust the arrangement of the sale to someone who is just as professional in finding the right buyer as the owner has been in building the business. To locate the right buyer, a good mergers and acquisitions or business brokerage firm should begin by getting to know you and your business. The firm must understand what makes it unique - that is what differentiates it from its closest competition - and what makes it valuable to the potential buyer. In short, the firm must create a company profile package that truthfully presents your business in its best light. This is often done in the form of a presentation book, but video is often an added feature that assists potential buyers in seeing the value of a company.
Once that has been done, the firm of your choice should compile a discreet marketing plan that includes a search of a proprietary database of pre-screened buyers and/or investors that might be interested in taking a closer look at the company. Naturally - and this is crucial - this all must take place in a fully secure, confidential manner that keeps one's desire to sell from his or her employees and competitors. As we all know, loose lips sink more than ships - they can ruin companies.
At the time that the firm locates an interested buyer, it must remain involved in the process by assisting in the negotiation of a sales price and terms that both the seller and buyer are agreeable to. Wherever and whenever needed, the firm must be able to provide access to valuation experts, accountants, financing sources and attorneys, all of whom should have extensive business acquisition experience.
So, if you are presently operating a business - regardless of your personal opinion of its success relative to other similar businesses - it might be time to at least investigate the possibility of divesting yourself of the company. Sale prices are traditionally determined by multiples of a company's net revenue, so a company that brings in a net profit of $300,000 may very well be worth $900,000 on the market, depending upon the industry.
Steve Odierno is an entrepreneur and Partner in Ridge Partners, [http://www.ridgepartners.info], a Mergers and Acquisitions Firm as well as a Private Equity Group. He is also a Principal Owner of Eye Care Associates, LLC., operator of www.clecontactlenses.com, a Fully Licensed Contact Lens Retailer serving the online community since 1998. Steve is a graduate of Boston College and Fordham University and resides in New York with his wife and two children.
What company makes Walgreen's brand soft contact lens solution?
I am asking because of the fungal problems recently in the news associated with Bausch and Lomb products. I am also interested in the Walmart brand (Equate?) lens cleaners.
Store brands are not necessarily equivalent to the name brands. The stores buy the product from different manufacturers, so each batch of a store brand solution could come from a different manufacturer. Your best bet is to go with a brand that your eye doctor recommends. Give him/her a quick call for the best results.
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