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April 18, 2024

Sellers, Be Prepared To Bury Your Business

Forever Bride's Ashley Hawks on how sellers can set themselves up mentally for the sale of their business...

By Adam Burroughs

April 18, 2024

To Generate Value, Run The Business Like You'll Be There For 100 Years

Schumann Steier's Arthur Steier on generating value for a business...

By Adam Burroughs

April 10, 2024

Why You Should View A Deal As A Long-Term Relationship

A&R Ironworks John Chesnutt on seeing deals with a long-term view. ...

By Adam Burroughs

April 4, 2024

The Rising Importance Of People In Driving Business Value In A Deal

SolomonEdwardsGroup's Laura Kellers Queen on the rising importance of people in driving business value in a deal....

By Adam Burroughs

April 4, 2024

How to Maximize PE Value Creation by Better Assessing Growth Potential in Due Diligence

Chief Outsiders Managing Partner, Private Equity, Slade Kobran outlines and approach to value creation that starts in due diligence....

By Slade Kobran

March 21, 2024

Lessons Learned From A Sale Process

Champions Hydro-Lawn's Shea Walker on lessons learned after going through a sale process...

By Adam Burroughs

March 21, 2024

When Selling A Business, Get Help But Get Going

Red Hawk Past Owner Gillet Boyce on the advice he'd give to owners selling a business for the first time. ...

By Adam Burroughs

February 29, 2024

Inside The Thought Process Of Sell Or Don't Sell

Osage Venture Partners' Emily Foote on how she came to the decision she made with Practice, a company she co-founded....

By Adam Burroughs

February 29, 2024

6 tips a good CFO should offer business owners seeking an exit

SeatonHill's Shyamal Parikh on six things business owners should do in preparation for a sale....

By Shyamal Parikh

February 21, 2024

Sellers, Keep It Simple When Talking With Buyers

Circuit Check's Chris Scorse on the importance of clear communication between sellers and potential buyers....

By Adam Burroughs

February 15, 2024

Doing Right By Your Team In A Deal

Juvare's Robert Watson on the importance of focusing on the team during a transaction....

By Adam Burroughs

February 15, 2024

The Unexpected Sale Of A Family Business

Former Birko Corporation Owner Kelly Green on the shift to selling her family business....

By Adam Burroughs

February 1, 2024

Knowledge Is Power For Sellers

Keith Lipman on the prep work that went into the sale of his company, Prosperoware...

By Adam Burroughs

February 1, 2024

Know Your Buyer's Intentions When Selling

SupplySide Group's Ansir Junaid on the importance of understanding the different buyer types and what they mean for your business post-sale....

By Adam Burroughs

January 25, 2024

Are You Really Ready To Sell?

Big Dot of Happiness Founder and Former CEO Sherri Yukel on how she prepared herself and her business for a sale....

By Adam Burroughs

January 18, 2024

Sally Hughes On Letting Go

Sally Hughes founded Caster Connection in 1987 when she started selling chair casters out of the trunk of her car. Over 36 years, she built the business up to include some 3,000 different products,...

By Adam Burroughs

January 5, 2024

Even With Experience, Selling A Family Business Can Be A Challenge

Recently, Jeff Gershman, Chairman of the Board, of Gershman Mortgage & Gershman Investment Corp., sold Gershman Commercial Real Estate, a brokerage and property management company. Through his law...

By Adam Burroughs

December 15, 2023

A Tale Of Two Exits

Allie Danziger, SVP and GM at AscentUP and Ascent Funding, on how lessons from her first sale informed how she approached the second....

By Adam Burroughs

December 1, 2023

Level Agency's Patrick Patterson Raises The Growth Bar

Level Agency's Patrick Patterson on the management buyout, how he connected with his PE backers and what it took to close the deal, what life is like with a PE partner and the agency's plans for the future....

By Adam Burroughs

November 21, 2023

Buyer Honesty Can Mean Greater Seller Buy-In

Tendit Group CEO Alejandra Harvey Oliver on how the seller mindset can affect the deal process. ...

By Adam Burroughs

November 17, 2023

See Your Business Through Buyers' Eyes

The advice to business owners looking to exit is often to get the right advisers and plan well ahead of going to market. But for many, that's not always the reality. "We deal with the business owners...

By Adam Burroughs

November 17, 2023

How Buyer Type Affects Deal Prep

When running businesses for private equity groups, Kevin Matkin, CEO of Maysteel Industries LLC says what's often important when preparing for a sale depends on the buyer type. For a financial buyer,...

By Adam Burroughs

October 13, 2023

When Selling, Ask Many Questions

As he was looking into selling Insight Publications, Publisher Brian Rasmussen had a lot to think about. Given his age, energy level, and a sense that, given the nature of his business, he wasn't...

By Adam Burroughs

October 6, 2023

The Million-Dollar Question When Considering A Sale

Knowing when to sell a business is challenging, says Richard Hamlin, executive vice president of The Reserve Group, a family office and management company. While much depends on the owner's personal...

By Adam Burroughs

September 29, 2023

The 15-Year Process Of Selling CollabraSpace

CollabraSpace Co-Founder Ray Schwemmer says he would get cold calls all the time from people looking to buy his software company. "We basically just ignored them," he said at the Baltimore Smart...

By Adam Burroughs

September 29, 2023

Transparency Is Needed When Selling A Family Business

Multigenerational family businesses, says Richard J. Wolkowitz, CEO and Family Advisor at Xylogenesis | Family Office Advisory, are tough. The family working in the business may have a different...

By Adam Burroughs

September 22, 2023

Selling Sgt. Clean

Two years ago, Brian Krusz, co-founder and director of growth and development at Sgt. Clean Car Wash, brought on a financial partner, Prairie Capital, who he says has helped the decade-old,...

By Adam Burroughs

September 15, 2023

4 Tips For Preparing To Sell Your Business

Northern Lakes Capital partner Joel Grebenick share what sellers should consider when thinking about an exit....

By Adam Burroughs

September 14, 2023

For A Successful Sale, Know What You Want

With early-stage tech companies, it's important to figure out what the entrepreneur wants because often the entrepreneur is near burnout, says Sig Mosley, managing partner of Mosley Ventures....

By Adam Burroughsd

September 14, 2023

Candid Reasons Not To Pass Your Business To The Next Generation

How — and why — Thomas J. Young sold Arrowhead Systems, a business he had no intention of selling....

By Adam Burroughs

August 25, 2023

From Sell To Sell And Buy

General Die Casters has been in business since 1957 making high-pressure aluminum die castings of parts for everything from automobiles to chainsaws. About a year ago, CEO Brian Lennon says the...

By Adam Burroughs

August 25, 2023

Take The Stigma Out Of The Exit Talk

CEOs are often hesitant to talk about exits because there's a stigma attached to it, says MATH Venture Partners Managing Director Mark Achler. "There's a concern that if you start to talk about an...

By Adam Burroughs

August 4, 2023

Deal Close Is Not The End Of The Marathon

Rendia, founded by an eye doctor and his three children to help doctors and patients understand each other better, was sold to a strategic buyer, PatientPoint, this past October. To personally prepare...

By Adam Burroughs

July 21, 2023

Lessons Learned From Selling A Business ... Twice

Bruce Milen, Chairman of the Board of Jax Kar Wash, first sold his business back in 1998 during a period of consolidation and roll ups. He had and took the opportunity to buy it back three years later...

By Adam Burroughs

June 29, 2023

Prepare At The Beginning For The Best End

Harold Green launched Chamberlain Contractors, an asphalt paving company, back in 1975, and sold it to Pavement Partners, a portfolio company of Shoreline Equity Partners, in January 2022. While he...

By Adam Burroughs

June 23, 2023

Exiting Is A Juggling Act For Owners

After a stint practicing law, Ron Cundy decided, during the depths of the Great Recession, to start a company. He and a partner launched recteq, a business that made grills, but couldn't get a product...

By Adam Burroughs

June 16, 2023

Authenticity, Transparency Key In Deal Negotiations

When preparing to sell a business, Womble Bond Dickinson LLP Partner Scott Anderson says it's best not to hide anything because the buyer, through diligence, is going to find it. "So, you might as...

By Adam Burroughs

June 16, 2023

Life After Selling

Jai Shekhawat founded Fieldglass, a cloud-based VMS platform, in 1999, grew it to be the largest vendor management software firm in the world, then sold it in 2014 for $1 billion. He's raised capital,...

By Adam Burroughs

June 9, 2023

Selling To Make The Business Better

Having sold his business, the once-high-growth startup focused on high-acuity homecare programs, Contessa Health, Co-Founder Travis Messina says when they ran their process, they used an investment...

By Adam Burroughs

June 9, 2023

To Enhance Value, Start Early

When it comes to building the right team around a family business to help create value, not every company has the right people in their family tree to do that. That, says Messerli Kramer Attorney and...

By Adam Burroughs

May 19, 2023

Sellers Should Be Clear About What They Want In A Deal

Gridiron Capital Managing Director Joe Saldutti says, as a private equity investor, what attracts him to businesses and helps him prioritize investing in one company versus another is when it's a...

By Adam Burroughs

May 12, 2023

Best Practices in Preparing for a Sale

As business owners begin preparing their company for sale, something to consider is how much time it would take to fix a problem if one is found. "The way we thought about it is, what are the things...

By Adam Burroughs

May 5, 2023

Facing Economic Headwinds, Deal Math Changes

Several area dealmakers chimed in on how they see the current market; how buyers, sellers and entrepreneurs are faring; and their expectations for how the remainder of the deal year plays out. Check out what they have to say....

By Adam Burroughs

April 6, 2023

Hugh Slater on Buying, Building And Selling EGC Enterprises

Slater Capital Managing Partner Hugh Slater on buying, building and growing EGC Enterprises....

By Adam Burroughs

March 24, 2023

Working Capital’s Vital Role in M&A

Tony Montanaro, partner in the forensic, litigation & valuation department at Louis Plung & Company, on working capital’s role in an M&A transaction. ...

By Dan Pender

March 24, 2023

How Buyers Leverage Weaknesses In A Deal

Guardian Capital Partners Managing Partner Peter Haabestad on the ways buyers pick apart deals and how business owners can maximize the opportunity of a sale....

By Adam Burroughs

March 17, 2023

Selling means more than just money

Marcum LLP Senior Partner Greg Skoda on why money might not be the most important part of a deal. ...

By Adam Burroughs

March 17, 2023

How preparing to sell your company is like a bike ride with friends

Justine E. Tobin, founder and managing partner of Tobin & Company Investment Banking Group, on how starting with the end in mind can maximize a sale opportunity and speed up the process....

By Adam Burroughs

March 17, 2023

Andrew Bennett on Provide's Sale To Fifth Third Bank

Provide Chief Business Officer Andrew Bennett spoke on the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast about Provide's sale to Fifth Third....

By Adam Burroughs

March 10, 2023

Data, Transparency Play Large Roles In A Deal

Highwood USA CEO and Founder John Quarmley talks through the company's recent sale process....

By Adam Burroughs