Author: coreykupfer

In the most recent episode of the Fueling Deals podcast, I had the incredible opportunity to sit down for a conversation with Brian Smith. Brian is the founder of UGG, and today he is a highly respected and sought-after business speaker and business growth mentor.

Brian had the spark of the idea that would become UGG when he was surfing in California and realized that there were no sheepskin boots readily available in the United States. Brian reached out to an Australian supplier and became a distributor, and from those humble beginnings UGG began its ascent to an international billion-dollar brand.

Throughout UGG’s early years, Brian turned to deals many times to fuel the company’s growth. He traded equity in the company for investment financing many times, until he had no equity in his company at all. But a series of events involving a death, a rival brand, fantastic timing and incredible good luck saw Brian restored to 100% control over UGG.

Brian was able to use inorganic growth to help bring UGG to consumers’ attention, fueling its growth and going from $20,000 in startup capital to more than $1 billion in annual sales every year. Brian shares how deals helped him not only grow his company but also overcome the challenges and obstacles he faced time and time again. Listen to the episode and learn how deals helped put UGG on the international map.

The Right Place and the Right Time

As Brian’s story illustrates, sometimes the secret to a great deal lies in recognizing the opportunity when it knocks. Time and time again, Brian saw opportunities for partnerships, trading equity for financing, entering into key strategic alliances and navigating dark waters through deals. Many of these opportunities could have been easily missed if Brian had not been paying attention, and the legacy of Brian’s time at UGG could have turned out very differently.

Brian had to develop a keen sense of business strategy and knowing when to take a deal and when to walk away. The UGG story does a wonderful job illustrating the big lessons I want you to draw from the Fueling Deals podcast: that inorganic growth through deals can be a powerful way to grow your business.

Bad Deals?

During our conversation, Brian shared a profound story of a deal gone wrong. The details, while interesting, don’t matter as much as the lesson the story contains, however. Brian explains that, although the deal worked out poorly for him, he doesn’t blame the other parties for ripping him off or trying to take advantage of him. Instead, Brian sees things differently. Brian recognizes that the other parties were looking out for their own interests, and that Brian himself should have been more diligent in ensuring that his strategies, goals and expectations from the deal were aligned with his deal partners.

This is a powerful takeaway, and it illustrates one of the primary ways that a deal can turn sour. Doing your due diligence and making sure that the deal benefits everyone involved is an important step that can strengthen your good deals and warn you away from the bad ones. Brian learned this lesson the hard way, but through good luck and strategy he was able to continue to steer UGG on its road to astonishing success despite this rough period. Brian was able to right the ship after a bad deal, and later sell his company in what he considers to be the best deal he ever made.

Learn more about From Startup to Billion-Dollar Brand by listening to my episode on Fueling Deals podcast.

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Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.

If you want to find out how deal-ready you are, take the Deal- Ready Assessment today!

In the latest episode of the Fueling Deals podcast, I spoke with John Bly about the advantages and disadvantages of using deals to grow inorganically.

John is an expert in dealmaking, both for his own CPA firm and for the clients he advises. When John first left his Big Four job to start his own firm, he quickly turned to acquisitions as a way of fueling the growth of his business, with the intent of expanding rapidly beyond small-business levels. He closed five acquisitions within a short amount of time, pushing his firm to the next level.

On this episode of Fueling Deals, John and I discuss both the incredible advantages and challenging disadvantages of growing inorganically. John shares how his own experiences with acquisitions inform his work with his clients. We also discuss the importance of finding the right deal, doing your due diligence, and ensuring that the firm you are looking to acquire is a good culture fit for your organization. John is a living example of how a small business can use deals to rapidly expand far beyond what could happen organically over time.

Deals are High-Octane Fuel for your Business

In John’s case, acquisitions within the CPA space were generally considered to be the exclusive domain of the Big Four firms. However, John’s experience working for one of the Big Four made him realize that he could use their strategies to grow his own small firm. Shortly after setting out on his own, John’s firm acquired five other small CPA firms and rapidly grew as a result of these deals.

The opportunity to grow inorganically, acquire new clients and new talent through mergers and acquisitions, and expand your reach are compelling arguments for finding worthwhile deals… regardless of your industry or how large your business is. The idea that mergers and acquisitions belong exclusively to large organizations is a pervasive myth, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Avoiding the Potholes While Your Foot is On the Gas

It is important to remember that, while inorganic growth can be a powerful stimulant for your business, the wrong deal can be potentially dangerous. There are often unseen challenges as John experienced in his fifth acquisition. That is why it is important to do your research and be sure of the firm you are looking to acquire. When John bought the firm, he was unaware that the previous owner had checked out on the business and stopped working on their clients’ behalf months before, and John had to spend a large amount of time and money cleaning up the mess with the IRS.

Another thing to be mindful of is that the culture of your existing business and the firm you are wanting to acquire should be a good match with a lot of overlap, or chaos could result. Small cultural differences are to be expected, but if you acquire a team that is dug-in and set in their ways and lack the willingness to be flexible, you could easily find yourself in the position of regretting your acquisition. In the worst case, separations (and all the hassles, headaches, and client issues that come with them) could result.

However, as long as you keep these concerns in mind, do your research, fully understand the benefits and liabilities your acquisition partner brings to the table and plan for unavoidable challenges, the benefits of the deal will almost always outweigh the negatives.

Learn more about Why Acquisition Isn’t Just for the Big Guys by listening to my episode on Fueling Deals podcast.

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Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.

If you want to find out how deal-ready you are, take the Deal- Ready Assessment today!

In the latest episode of the Fueling Deals podcast, I share some of the more newsworthy deals of 2018. In the last year, there were a plethora of corporate partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions between major companies. Big deals can teach us big lessons.

Whether we’re looking at a deal like Oracle’s acquisition of DataFox or AlienVault being purchased by AT&T, there are approaches being used on the billion-dollar level that can help the inorganic growth of your business, no matter how large or small.

As you consider how to take advantage or source inorganic growth opportunities for your company, studying the reasons for, types of and strategies underlying the deals that that the big guys do is a smart thing to do.

What can you take away from the biggest deals of 2018?

• Grow through strategic acquisition. Your company doesn’t have to be as large as Gannett or IBM to make a strategic move forward. Bringing on a company whose skillset will compliment that of your company can provide an accelerated path of growth.
• Partner to keep up/outpace a competitor. Walmart and Microsoft seemingly have their sights on Amazon when they partnered for the purpose of being more competitive in e-commerce. Who can your company collaborate or partner with to increase sales?
• Boost internal operations. The best deals can help you strengthen where your business needs some support. With AT&T’s purchase of AlienVault, they boosted their infrastructure and added value for their clients.

There are many differences between all these deals, and by evaluating them, you can use their proven strategies to grow your success.

Make sure to listen closely to this solocast to not only learn about some of the biggest deals that were made in 2018, but also to understand how to apply the philosophies to your own deal-making.

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Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.

If you want to find out how deal-ready you are, take the Deal- Ready Assessment today!

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In the latest “solocast” episode of the Fueling Deals podcast, I discuss some of the bigger, higher-profile and more newsworthy deals of 2018, and I highlight the lessons that can be drawn from these deals and brought into your business and its own deals, no matter how large or small your business may be.

By analyzing the inner workings, strategic motivations and structural differences of these deals, I believe we can take away some powerful lessons and information about the making of a deal. Through reviewing what the “big guys” are doing, we can apply their philosophies and successful strategies to our own businesses.

There are as many reasons for doing a deal with another business as there are types of deals that can be done. We can learn a great deal about the motivations behind these deals, what the deal partners expect to gain, and even when deals with competitors are appropriate and beneficial. Listen to the episode and apply these lessons to your own deal-making.

The Motivation Behind Deals

As we analyze 2018’s biggest deals, consider the motivation behind them. In some cases it is obvious; IBM’s acquisition of Red Hat positions the company to be the #1 hybrid cloud provider in a rapidly growing market. The benefits of the acquisition are clear, as the deal helps IBM cement its dominance in the market.

Other times, the advantages aren’t as obvious. Why would Apple partner with one of its primary competitors, Google, for the purposes of cloud-based web services? Apple and Google are rivals in many other areas, but this partnership makes sense for both companies as it helps pressure their other main rival, Amazon. Since both companies benefit from the deal, the partnership is worth pursuing despite their ongoing competition in other areas.

The Key Lessons

Even though we are talking about multi-million and billion-dollar deals between huge, dominant corporations, the lessons we can take away from our analysis of their deals can be scaled and applied to businesses of any size. Just like with Oracle’s acquisition of DataFox, you can turn to deals to become even stronger in the areas of your business in which you’re already succeeding. Or, like with AT&T’s purchase of AlienVault, you can acquire a company that will help you boost your internal operations.

There are many other reasons to consider deals as a powerful tool for inorganic growth. The recipe for a successful deal involves having a clear understanding of what your deal partner is bringing to the table, how it will benefit your organization, and whether the deal will be more cost-effective and timely than trying to grow organically in that same direction. It is for this reason that I believe there is much value to be found in analyzing the deals of others and looking into the deeper truths and the nuts and bolts of those deals.

Learn more about Finding the Right Deal by listening to my episode on Fueling Deals podcast.

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Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.

If you want to find out how deal-ready you are, take the Deal- Ready Assessment today!

The landscape of the wealth management field is ever-changing, and the changes in the industry have affected the deals as well. In my latest installment of the Fueling Deals podcast, I spoke with Mindy Diamond, CEO and founder of Diamond Consultants, specializing in recruiting and placing financial advisors, on this subject.

Through Mindy’s work in the wealth management field, she has helped facilitate numerous deals between buyers and sellers. She is a true expert at identifying potential deals for her clients, and she is also excellent at identifying weak points when the deal partners aren’t a good match.

On this episode of Fueling Deals, Mindy and I talk about what differentiates a good deal from a bad one. Mindy shares her strategies for identifying when a buyer is ready to buy, and her thoughts on the ever-evolving financial advisor field. Listen to our conversation and learn how a facilitator like Mindy can simplify the sometimes confusing process of finding and closing a deal.

A Complicated Process in a Changing Field

The work Mindy does helps grease the wheels for deal partners within the financial advisor industry. She has worked with big firms like Merrill Lynch, as well as independent, boutique, and specialty firms. One of the major changes Mindy has identified in recent years is the industry’s move to toward independence.

Not only does this create more possibilities and avenues for deal-making, it has also served to complicate the process. There are many more things to consider when structuring a deal now than there were ten years ago. Finding the right partner is critical, but it can be a challenge with the buffet of options available.

Looking to the Heart of a Deal

One of the most important aspects of finding the right deal is self-awareness. The buyer needs to understand specifically what it is looking to get out of the deal, what needs can be met and what challenges can be addressed through acquisition. The buyer needs to also understand what differentiates it in the industry and makes it a more attractive proposition for the seller than its competitors.

It is also important to look at the bigger picture. A deal can have immediate benefits but sour over time. By looking past the instant gratification, you can get a better sense of how your deal will affect you in the long term. That long-term approach is an important aspect of the evaluation process, and an experienced consultant like Mindy can help you with that process.

Learn more about Finding the Right Deal by listening to my episode on Fueling Deals podcast.

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Corey Kupfer is an expert strategist, negotiator and dealmaker. He has more than 35 years of professional deal-making and negotiating experience. Corey is a successful entrepreneur, attorney, consultant, author and professional speaker who is passionate about deal-driven growth. He is also the creator and host of the DealQuest Podcast.

If you want to find out how deal-ready you are, take the Deal- Ready Assessment today!