From M&A Lawyer To Escape Room Mogul - Lessons From My $26M Exit | Raleigh Williams

Summary:

In this episode, Todd Sullivan interviews Meighan Newhouse, the co-founder and former CEO of Inspirant Group, a management consulting firm that was acquired by 10 Pearls. Meighan shares her journey as an entrepreneur and the decision-making process behind selling her business. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the why and the end goal of the sale, as well as finding a buyer that aligns with the company's culture and values. Meighan also discusses the challenges and considerations during the due diligence process and the post-acquisition experience.

Takeaways:

• Before embarking on the journey of selling your business, pause and reflect on your why and the end goal of the sale.
• Find a buyer that aligns with your company's culture and values, and consider strategic acquisitions that can help accelerate growth.
• Prepare for the sale process by organizing your documentation and seeking advice from experienced M&A advisors.
• During due diligence, focus on maintaining confidentiality and consider the impact on your team and their day-to-day work.
• Negotiate the deal structure, including earnouts, to align incentives and ensure a smooth transition post-acquisition.

George Sandmann shares his thoughts on: 

• Creating business engines that deliver predictable profits, cash flow, and sustainable growth
• Driving predictable, transferable value and a more lucrative M&A transaction

GUEST BIO:
George Sandmann is an entrepreneur turned growth advisor.  An attorney by training, George is an entrepreneur with almost 30 years experience starting and growing companies. After a lifetime of startup success and challenges, George founded his current company, Growth Drive, to deliver tools and technological support to advisory business delivering client wins and M&A success.

George's professional vision is for Growth-Drivers to increase Strategic Capacity for $1 Trillion worth of middle and pre-middle market businesses.

George is a speaker, board member, and author of a Forbes #1 New Release Book. 

LinkedIn
X (Twitter)
The Growth-Driving Advisor: Proven Strategies for Leading Clients from Stuck to Best-in-Class (Forbes 2023 Book by George Sandmann)

Mike Finger highlights the three elements all small business owners should focus on when building a company for a future M&A exit:

• Are your business results desirable?  Will an acquirer see value and opportunity in what you have built?
• Can a buyer duplicate your results?  Can the buyer run the business without you?
• Can you document your results?  Is there a playbook written that can be followed once you are gone?

GUEST BIO:
Mike Finger is a serial entrepreneur and business advisor who's built and sold four companies.

His first exit was not for the faint of heart and provided expensive lessons for the rest of his entrepreneurial career. Mike built his first company to 50 people, and after ten years of growth, he decided to sell. However, after several attempts to work out deals with multiple buyers, Mike's investment bank told him that his business was just not in a position to sell.

Although this is something any decent investment bank or M&A Advisor should know before taking a company on as a client, Mike spent the next four years fixing the mistakes in his business and eventually sold the company.

Resigned to not letting other small business owners go through his pain, today, Mike shares with us how to position small businesses for successful exits at Exit Oasis.

We hope you enjoy the conversation with Mike Finger.

WHERE TO FIND MIKE FINGER:
LinkedIn

EPISODE 64: THIS WEEK'S GUEST - CHRIS WISE
In this episode, Chris talks about:

• Asking for help when building your company for the future
• Coaching founders on how to remove themselves from their businesses to create transferable value
• How taking care of yourself as a founder or business owner can significantly increase productivity and prevent burnout

GUEST BIO:
Chris Wise is a seasoned business advisor with over 30 years of experience and the founder of Wise Profits.

With a notable track record that includes 14 successful exits, 34 M&A transactions, and 2 IPOs, Chris and his team at Wise Profits have consistently delivered exceptional outcomes for their clients. Specializing in guiding $1M - $20M revenue companies, Wise Profits excels in scaling businesses, preparing them for optimized exits, and providing comprehensive M&A operational and integration services.

WHERE TO FIND CHRIS WISE:
LinkedIn
X (Twitter)
YouTube

EPISODE REFERENCE AND READING MATERIALS:
Four Hour Workweek (book), Timothy Ferriss

EPISODE 63: THIS WEEK'S GUEST - ROBB GREEN
In this episode, Robb talks about:

• His evaluation criteria for starting eCommerce brands
• How he decides when it's time to sell a business
• How he brings his teenage kids into these companies and exposes them to the highs and lows of the life of an entrepreneur

GUEST BIO:
Robb Green is the owner and visionary behind the formulation and execution of strategies aimed at mastering the art of e-commerce brand establishment. Solving Alpha has founded 9 total brands with a focus on e-commerce.

Robb has a real passion for business, putting deals together and is always looking for business to buy, optimize, and grow. He helps owners of e-commerce focused brands exit their business while preserving their brands.

Robb utilizes his skills and time as an investor & advisor to help others in the industry continue to learn and grow.

WHERE TO FIND ROBB GREEN:
LinkedIn
I'm The One Podcast
I'm The One Podcast (YouTube)
Twitter

EPISODE 62: THIS WEEK'S GUEST - WAYNE PARRISH

In this episode, Wayne talks about:

• His early beginnings as a student journalist at the University of British Columbia
• Becoming the CEO of Canada Basketball and his relationship with Jerry Colangelo
• A history lesson of SPORT Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Sports Insider, and ESPN The Magazine
• How he purchased the most significant collection of images related to 20th century sport anywhere in the world
• Finding the next owner for The Sport Collection

GUEST BIO:
Wayne Parrish is an award-winning reporter, editor and digital media leader with a passion for sports and journalism.   Wayne, who has won two National Newspaper Awards as a sports reporter at the Star in the early 1980s, has held executive leadership positions at Postmedia Network, Quebecor and Sun Media.

He was CEO of Canada Basketball for eight years. And most recently, he worked on digital transformation and merger-acquisition media projects in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Australia with FTI Consulting Inc.

Parrish’s digital experience includes launching CANOE, which became Canada’s premiere internet network-portal and top news and information site for more than a decade.

He launched Postmedia’s digital subscription program, consulted on a sports-only digital subscription business in the U.S., and developed the new media unit of Quebecor.

Wayne and partner, Marc Appleman, also own The Sport Collection, the largest collection of images related to 20th century sport anywhere in the world.

WHERE TO FIND WAYNE PARRISH:
LinkedIn

EPISODE REFERENCE AND READING MATERIAL:
The Air Up There: How Canadian basketball has grown and where it’s headed
The Sport Gallery (Toronto Location)
SPORT Media Entertainment

EPISODE 61: THIS WEEK'S GUEST - CHRISTINE NICHOLSON
In this episode, Christine talks about:

• The three things that every founder needs to focus on when building their business
• The difference between exit planning and succession planning
• What a perfect succession plan look like

GUEST BIO:
Christine Nicholson is a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits under her belt, who has now turned her attention to helping fellow business owners with succession planning before the sale of their businesses.

Christine sold her first business just 12 months after launching. She then helped a client sell a distressed business, which led her to help a family office sell off over 40 businesses. Christine knows a thing or two about the exit process and believes the number one piece of advice for business owners preparing to exit is to hire people to take over each of the business owners tasks over time.  This will leave the business owner in a place to oversee the growth of the business and walk away when it's sold.

WHERE TO FIND CHRISTINE NICHOLSON:
LinkedIn
Get Exit Ready - Business Mentor

EPISODE REFERENCE AND READING MATERIALS:
How To Sell A Business Using An ESOP (Exitwise blog)
Are You Prepared to Sell Your Business? (Exitwise blog)
Selling 1-800 Hansons | Brian Elias (Cashing Out podcast)

EPISODE 60: THIS WEEK'S GUEST - EDIN BASIC
In this episode, Edin talks about:

• The importance of understanding market trends to know when to invest and when to sell 
• Understanding your exit strategy to make the right decisions while you're building your business, and;
• How to be ready when your ideal buyer comes knocking

GUEST BIO:
Edin Basic began his journey as a refugee from war torn Bosnia, leaving school before completing his final exams to escape to London with no money in his pocket (and not able to yet speak English).

After years of searching, surviving and gaining different experiences in the restaurant industry, Edin's entrepreneurial mindset led him to start his own company, Firezza.  Along the way he raised money from VC funds and angel investors, scaled up his business to 17 locations, and eventually sold to his largest competitor, Pizza Express.

Since then, Edin is a headline speaker across Europe, hospitality consultancy, has started multiple food & beverage concepts in the UK and abroad, and supports founders on their journey with his own "been there done that" experience.

WHERE TO FIND EDIN BASIC:
LinkedIn

EPISODE REFERENCE AND READING MATERIALS:
Hony Capital-backed PizzaExpress completes acquisition of Firezza
Beyond Venture Capital: Exploring Funding Options for Entrepreneurs in 2023 (Exitwise blog)

EPISODE 59: THIS WEEK'S GUEST - SARAH GREIFENBERGER
In this episode, Sarah talks about:

• The various reasons that a business owner considers a business valuation
• The difference between fair market value, and valuing a business for sale
• Becoming an Exitwise Ambassador and referring Fathead.com for sale in October, 2023

GUEST BIO:
Sarah has been a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) for over 10 years and is also a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA).

Prior to becoming a CVA, Sarah was Director of Financial Planning at United Technologies Corporation. She performed many valuations in that role to support the corporation’s mergers and acquisitions activity as well as for purposes of international tax planning.

Sarah also prepared financial information for the divestiture of UT Automotive to Lear Corporation for $2.3B.

She received an MBA with distinction from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and is a magna cum laude engineering graduate of Duke University.  In addition to her expertise in finance, Sarah has held positions in product development, manufacturing and strategic planning.

She currently serves on the education committee of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts. In addition to her involvement with NACVA, she is a member of Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Detroit, the Michigan Business Brokers Association and the Exit Planning Institute’s Southeast Michigan chapter.

Sarah is committed to helping clients across many industries with their valuation needs. She is also interested in working with family enterprises on succession planning and exit strategies.

WHERE TO FIND SARAH GREIFENBERGER:
LinkedIn

EPISODE REFERENCE AND READING MATERIALS:
Arbor Valuation & Consulting
Q5 Experience
4 Ways to Calculate the Value of Your Company (Blog)
How Much Is My Business Worth? (Blog)
Exitwise Valuation Calculator

EPISODE 58: THIS WEEK'S GUEST - JEAN ANNE BOOTH
In this episode, Jean Anne talks about:

• Having multiple strategic investors on your cap table
• Being prepared for your buyer to change the terms of your exit days before signing
• Knowing what you should say no to when raising capital or selling your company

GUEST BIO:
Jean Anne Booth is a serial entrepreneur with a number of successful exits, including selling Luminary Micro to Texas Instruments in 2009 and Intrinsity to Apple in the early 2000's.  Her background spans from P&L business unit management to marketing; product definition; systems, software, and applications engineering; silicon development engineering; and operations and product engineering. 

Jean Anne has over 30 years of experience in high tech ventures and has raised over $100 million in venture capital for her companies. Now on her fourth tech startup, Jean Anne is building UnaliWear, a wearable “OnStar for people” watch to provide discreet support for falls, medication reminders, and to guard against wandering. 

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jean Anne Booth. 

WHERE TO FIND JEAN ANNE BOOTH:

LinkedIn
X (formerly Twitter)

EPISODE REFERENCES AND READING MATERIAL:
Texas Instruments Acquires Luminary Micro, Expands MCU Lineup
Apple buys chipmaker Intrinsity
Mythic.ai