Tag: strategic growth

Categories
Authentic Business Relationships Authentic Deal-Making Deal-Driven Growth

Strategic Planning for Entrepreneurs

strategic planning for entrepreneurs: person working on white board

John Bly is an amazing deal-maker, as well as a returning DealQuest guest! (You can also hear from him in Episode 7, Acquisition: Not Just for the Big Guys.) He specializes in tax planning, mergers and acquisitions, business valuation, strategic planning for entrepreneurs, and more! In addition, John is the author of Cracking the Code: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Growing Your Business Through Mergers and Acquisitions for Pennies on the Dollar.

Listen in to hear about what’s happening in the M&A market, as well as what kinds of strategies John’s firm is using today

Bringing Entrepreneurship to Accounting

As a kid, John shares his dream actually was to be an accountant. That passion got his education started, and was the foundation of his career. Now, however, John notes that he might barely qualify as being an actual accountant.

Instead, his day-to-day work is as an M&A consultant and advisor. He’s made accounting much more entrepreneurial than it is sometimes thought of. Along the way, he’s loved what he’s been able to accomplish.

In 2004, John did a major deal that got him out of the corporate world. (For context, he notes that this was way back in the day, when Yahoo was the search engine of choice!) He happened to see an ad in the back of an accounting journal that was advertising the sale of an accounting practice. He had no idea that was an option, but it’s what got him started with his first acquisition. (Learn more about that in Ep. 7!)

As John and his wife grew their practice and continued building with acquisitions, they realized that other small businesses were not growing in the same way. They recognized that they were leveraging something that not everyone was. As a result, they were able to use that for phenomenal growth.

A Growing Financial Career

As a founding Member of LBA Haynes Strand, PLLC and LBA Haynes Strand Capital Advisors, John Bly’s entrepreneurial leadership propelled the CPA firm’s growth. As a result, LBA Haynes Strand ranked as one of the Charlotte Business Journal’s Top 25 CPA Firms in the Charlotte Region and a Inc. 5000 Company. In November 2019, they successfully merged with Aprio. John is now the Regional Managing Partner of the South Atlantic.

His far reaching professional influence also expands into the business community. John is a frequently requested speaker who is called upon to share business ideas and growth strategies. John’s emphasis on proactive strategic growth has earned him a reputation as a thought leader in the business community for a wide range of entrepreneurial and business topics including taxation and mergers and acquisitions. He has a passion for listening, learning and transferring knowledge through consultations with corporate clients to benefit the firm, our clients and others. In addition, his leadership, both locally and globally, in the Entrepreneurs’ Organization has earned client and peer accolades.

Deal-Making Success

Understanding your WHY, articulating your value proposition, and identifying your deal model are three of my first five steps towards deal-making success.

John shares that these steps impacted his own business’ growth and development. For instance, understanding the deeper why behind their geographic location, and knowing that building talent within the industry as a whole was an important outcome, helped to steer the deals that were made throughout his career.

Now, Aprio deals are heavily hinged on talent acquisition and the people who are in existing potential acquisitions. They’ve found that the passion and talent acquired through the M&A process are an invaluable part of the deal-making process, and connecting with the right people is a major driving force behind the desire to build industry talent.

This wasn’t always the case. In fact, John noted that, early on, he was more likely to seek businesses with retiring leaders. Now, however, passionate leaders who are doing good work are valuable assets. After all, talent acquisition has become a major driver for deals, now more than ever.

Neither John or I see that changing in the near future. True deal-making success will need to take that into consideration.

Strategic Planning for Entrepreneurs

John brings his entrepreneurial spirit to his work with Aprio in a major way. From sitting on boards to providing mentoring to having a strong hand in ongoing deal-making — he plays a major role in strategic planning and ongoing growth.

One way that he’s ensured this has been able to happen is by ensuring that, with every new season of growth, he’s been able to take on more of what he’s passionate about. He also takes on less of what he’s not passionate about. This connects directly with what I call “highest and best use”. That a reference to when we’re spending every minute we can doing the things we are both great at, and that are highly leveraged.

When you’re able to bring your passion to the table and really use it in the ways that make the biggest difference to your company, good things happen!

John notes that this strategy is something he brings to his teams as well. As they are able to also focus more on their strengths and what they are best at, the quality and level of their work goes up as well. Strategic planning around talent acquisition and development can lead to strategic growth!

Speciality Services for Firms: Aprio & RSM

John is excited to share how Aprio, in a recently announced deal, is adopting RSM’s Firm Foundation Program in order to offer services for a variety of firms that need speciality consulting and advice.

Over the last few years, many small and mid-sized firms have experienced an increased need for support and guidance. This is especially true as it pertains to scaling and growth. Now, this new deal allows John and Aprio to really tap into the power of licensing and productization. They’ll be able to offer an all new, enhanced level of service within the profession as a result.

From professional conferences to technical support, mentoring to leadership, this partnership is a powerful deal. It will continue to feed into Aprio’s passion for growing talent!

Listen in to learn more about M&A, deal-making, and what it means to be an entrepreneurial accountant!

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. He is deeply 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!

Categories
Authentic Deal-Making Authentic Leadership Authentic Negotiating Deal-Driven Growth

Post Merger Integration

post merger integration
Matt Sonnen is the founder and CEO of PFI Advisors. He provides strategic operational consulting in the RIA industry. In addition, he helps existing RIAs tackle various operational and strategic issues that they encounter as they grow. Matt emphasizes how important it is to think through post merger integration as part of deal-making. The work is not done when the deal has been made!

Early Deal-Making Experiences

At age 8, Matt wanted to be the third baseman for the CA Angels. By age 18 he wanted to be Eddy Van Halen. He certainly hadn’t considered being a strategic operational consultant in the RIA industry!

An early deal he remembers is baseball card trading during recess. His deal-making prowess has certainly grown since those days.

Now, Matt is deeply involved in the RIA industry. PFI Advisors first went to market as breakaway specialists helping advisors start RIA’s. Recently, Matt noted that they’ve been receiving a lot of traffic from buyers who have just closed their first large RIA deal, and who don’t know what to do next. Billion+ dollar firms are buying million+ dollar RIAs, and finding they don’t know how to integrate. Systems are difference, specializations are different, and there are many details that aren’t considered until after the deal is done!

This is also the result of diversification. Large firms are looking to bring on RIAs that offer something different….but then find that almost everything is so different that integration becomes challenging. Matt sees this trend continuing into the future.

After The Fact Issues

Many firms report that just getting the deal done is often perceived as the challenge. Unfortunately, however, this means they are prioritizing the “yes” without considering the “how”. Once the deal is done, this leaves all sorts of issues on the table!

Matt notes that the actual work begins when it comes to fully integrating the new acquisitions. I see the integration conversation as being a fundamental part of due diligence, and encourage firms to be forward-thinking when considering possible deal opportunities.

After all, a successful outcome will mean you MUST successfully integrate. It makes sense to consider the logistics of that before you finalize a merger or deal.

Preparing for a Smooth Post Merger Integration

Matt suggests that firms can ask questions on the front end to help minimize back-end problems during a post merger acquisition process. Often, he notes that the buyers avoid in-depth questioning. This is often attributed to not wanting to “scare” the seller away by appearing bureaucratic or demanding.

However, forward thinking firms understand that the two sides do need to get on the same page. A mutual understanding of what changes might be coming around the bend, and what an integration may look like, create a foundation for a strong transition.

Operationally, things like branding, emails, tech stacks and more might all be on the table. Post merger integration really can come down to nitty gritty details. These are things that people hardly think about day-to-day. If asked to change, however, they may feel resistant, even after the deal is done.

Minimize Client Pain Points

Matt notes that core technology changes that are often connected to post merger integration include performance reporting tools, CRMs, financial planning tools, and client portals.

For efficiency’s sake, its preferable to choose a single platform/tool that each company will be using. That way employees and owner of each are familiar with the language and user experience, and are sharing a common experience.

Buyers who want to get in the M&A game really should be in relationship with the major custodians. That way the seller is able to keep their clients in the systems they are already using. (This applies in RIA-to-RIA deals). That prevents the need for the seller to repaper all their clients, which can be a huge sticking point.

Finding out during the post merger integration that repapering is going to be required is extremely frustrating. Ideally, this would be avoided!

Biggest Lessons Learned

Matt shares one major lesson he’s learned is that outsourcing is somewhat of a myth! What he’s found from experience is that, even when outsourcing, it is vital have someone in-house who understands what was outsourced and how it works. Your team needs to know how the data and systems work, and what options you have.

You can save yourself a lot of time by knowing how the major functions that you outsource actually work. Somebody (often the COO) needs to know how every system works! Ensure that an outside firm isn’t the only one who knows what you have going on.

Also, there are somethings that need to happen in-house or on-site. Practical, day-to-day implementation, monitoring, and application shouldn’t be so fully done be an external agency that the COO doesn’t have clarity around what is happening, and how. This is especially true when it comes to compliance and audits.

Strategy & Operations

If you want to get to the next level, your strategy and operations have to evolve. Matt notes that right after launching PFI Advisors, he read The Emyth Revisited. (He wished he had read it BEFORE he launched!) He recommends checking it out. You can listen in to some of his favorite examples from the book by listening to our full interview!

Owning an advisory business is a whole skill set onto its own. From tech stacks to workflows to management – Matt often sees that these areas get pushed to the side in new companies. This is partially because actual revenue generating activities are being prioritized. This is why, at some point, he often recommends bringing in a professional management company to ensure that all angles are covered. Matt finds this is especially key during times of growth.

Feel that administrative tasks are slowing things down, or that client needs are slipping through the cracks? It’s probably time to let your advisors focus solely on client services and business development. Obviously administration and management is still required! That’s where a professional management company comes in.

Sacrifices and Growth

In the RIA space, there is money to be made as a lifestyle business. If that’s your desire, you may not need to reevaluate your management needs. However, if you’re saying you want to grow and you’re serious about it…you may need to make some sacrifices. This is also something to consider if you’re looking to sell down the road.

Matt shares a great example of an owner who described the scrambling of the first year. That was followed by the up-leveled investments (using most of their profits) of the next years. Those were sacrifices that came into play before they finally started seeing huge growth. Short term sacrifices are often required before true, sustainable growth is achieved.

Listen in the full interview for more from Matt Sonnen!

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!

 

Categories
Authentic Business Relationships Authentic Deal-Making Authentic Leadership Deal-Driven Growth

Mindset of a Deal-Maker

Mindset of a Deal-Maker

Daryle L. Johnson is the president and co-founder of SmartIT Mobility. He’s also the owner of Ideation to Valuation. Daryle is responsible for setting overall sales, partner, and supplier alliance strategies. He’s also empowered to leverage corporate assets to deliver value with integrity and quality. With the mindset of a deal-maker, he is an innovative, energetic, creative, and very charismatic intrepreneur AND entrepreneur. 

He brings over 20+ years of market, business, and solution development experience to the DealQuest show today! Partners and customers include Google, T-Mobile, Sprint, and HP. In addition, he serves on several boards including Doorways, Mobil Trackr, STEMnasuim Learning Academy, and AIS Solutions. 

Mindset of a Deal-Maker

As an entrepreneur, Daryle believes in taking 100% ownership of his destiny and work. This requires effort, passion, and flexibility. It also requires the powerful mindset of a deal-maker. It’s this mindset that enables him to leverage partnerships, relationships, and opportunities within his business.

Daryle notes that being a deal-maker isn’t just a skill. It’s truly a mindset. 

It is absolutely vital that entrepreneurs understand that deals aren’t a one time event that happen. In fact, often amazing deals are disguised as “sales”. Entrepreneurs may not even realize how many deals they make, simply because they don’t think of them that way. They also may not realize how much power they have to create deals all the time. You must recognize that every sale has the potential to be a deal. When you grasp that, you can influence those outcomes with the mentality you bring to the table, and you have more power in your business.

K-12 Deals

Daryle shares about a deal he negotiateted for schools that took all of their needs into account. From pricing to software, he covered every possible problem that could have created issues for the school board. He partnered with T-Mobile (for both software and sales teams). Then, he brought in a training company to work with teachers, and he leveraged long-term marketing strategies to bring up front costs to the school down to $1 per device.

He also anticipated parent issues, teacher frustrations, and student needs. The final deal was the result of dozens of smaller partnerships, leveraged resources, and connections. Also key? His mindset. Rather than seeing the problem as too big, the partnerships as too complicated, or the schools as too difficult to negotiate with, he chose to see the possibility. 

Every challenge was faced, and solutions were created. Why?  Because he believed that it could be done. Ultimately, the program provided technology to over 60,000 students. It also spawned other local deals for Daryle, as a result of ongoing negotiations and collaborations.

In theory, Daryle could have gone into the school and said he had a solution he was selling for X price. If he had, he wouldn’t have been successful. Instead, his deal-maker mindset enabled him to create a full package. He provided a comprehensive solution in a way that made sense for his audience, and they bought it.

At the end of the day, that deal was all about the impact.

When he looks back at that deal, Daryle sees how powerful the subsidy of the carrier commission was for driving down the prices and making the product accessible. He’s the first one to say that they didn’t make much money on it. Instead, they made an impact. Although his strategies could easily be used in a more financially lucrative way, in this case he wasn’t looking for profit.

Follow the Process

In complex deals and negotiations, there are a lot of parties involved. It can become difficult to manage personnel and expectations. Daryle acknowledges that there are challenges. Over the years, he’s developed a process that works for him and keeps things moving forward.

The first thing he focuses on when making a deal is relationships. He wants to know what kind of relationship businesses or possible partners are open to having. Will it be transactional, strategic, temporary?

He’s open to any answer, but he wants to know up front what the situation is.

Next, he wants to know about the budget. If the numbers are off, it’s better to stop up front. It’s vital to have a money conversation before any party is in too deep. 

From there, clarity on what is being solved is key. Daryle also pushes that “what” one step further. He asks: If we solve that, what happens? What is the impact? What changes?

Once clarity is achieved, he finishes his process by asking how others envision this all happening. It’s key that everyone on the team or involved in the deal has an understanding of what it’s going to take to make it happen. They also need to be onboard with doing what needs to be done.

If someone is still standing, then it’s time to get started! And if the process has eliminated other parties? He can walk away and save a lot of time and trouble.

Strategic Deals

In a strategic deal, each party should understand the potential for something larger than just a single transaction. It’s not about just that one agreement; it’s about the potential of what could occur in a continued relationship.

In addition, Daryle shares that strategic deals have a functional fit. Value for value, every party is fully engaged. There is no one making money or getting paid that isn’t providing value as an essential part of the process. There’s also an understanding about who is taking the risks and where the costs lie.

Daryle prefers to keep a few deals moving at all times.

He’s always looking for ways to expand, grow, and build up credibility. Part of this is in building value equations. It’s not about his name, or a partner’s name. It’s about having something that has value on the market and that can be repeatable, scalable, and sustainable. Rather than one off deals that may or may not go anywhere, Daryle works hard to create deals he can leverage in the future to continue building on his past success.

On a closing note, Daryle suggests that audacity and out of the box thinking are key. Always be looking for new ways to add value, and don’t be afraid to push the envelope. You never know what you’ll get when you ask for the mildly ridiculous!

Listen to the full episode to develop the mindset of a deal-maker today!

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!

Categories
Authentic Deal-Making Authentic Leadership Authentic Negotiating Deal-Driven Growth

Strategic Business Growth Leads to Deals

Strategic business growth

Lately you may have noticed that we’re having some guests on the podcast that are speaking about things you need to do in your company to prepare yourself for deal-related opportunities. This includes strategic business growth decisions like building teams and putting processes in place. It also includes building a company that’s less dependent upon you as the founder.

Strategic Business Growth Positioning

It is a myth that you need to be a huge company with huge resources and major capital to do deals. Why? Because deals are not only about financing. We’ve covered everything on the show! From joint ventures and strategic alliances, licensing deals, affiliate deals online, sponsorships and business partnerships. Everybody at any size can do a deal.

However, it does take some level of resources. In the very least, you need somebody with the time and focus and energy to get deals done. Are you in a position where you are working in your business as the founder, and you have to be there every single day? Is your presence required to make sure that the sausage is getting made, so to speak, or the products are going out? Or are you the one actually delivering the services to the clients? If so, then you don’t have the time to work on any kind of deal!

If you’re not doing those things and you haven’t built a team and you haven’t put systems in place, your ability to do deals successfully is extremely limited.

Scalable & Saleable

You’re probably familiar with the concept of scalable and saleable. You know that those principles ring true whether you’re ever going to sell your business or not. But even if you don’t plan to sell, why not be in a position where you can monetize at the end? Too people get to retirement and their business just sort of goes away.

No matter what your business is, ultimately there is a way to monetize it in some way that lasts beyond your ability to run it. But you have to be sure that it’s not solely dependent upon you, and that you build it in such a way that it has value beyond you.

When you build processes and systems and shift your mindset to build a team, that’s when you truly build a brand and something that has value beyond your own efforts.

So many experts and entrepreneurs have experience in doing that, which has allowed them to not only be in a better position to do that ultimate exit deal at the end, but also freed them up and made the company more valuable with increased profits while they were running it.

It also ensured they had the power to do deals during their operations, not just at the end when they were phasing themselves out.

Working On Your Business

The fundamental level of this is the concept of working on the business and not in it. People have to figure out what their highest and best use areas are. That means what it is that you are great at, and what you love doing.

And too many people stop there. But just because you love it and you’re good at doesn’t mean it is highly leveraged. It may not even make a big difference in your organization.

You have to assess whether it moves the needle. If you’re not doing stuff at that level, then that’s your first problem.

Second of all, build a team. I’ve built this phenomenal team. They do a lot of the work in the areas that they’re more talented in than me, or that are not in my highest and best use areas. It’s their highest and best use areas, though, and that allows me to leverage the high level things that I do.

I’ve had entrepreneurs tell me that they can’t do that because they haven’t got the right people. Usually they say things like, “I’m kind of a perfectionist”, or “ I don’t think anybody’s going to do it as good as I do”. Well, those are problems. Both the perfectionist thing, and also the lack of trust in other people. Ultimately you can find the right people out there, but some of that is a mindset thing. When you believe they aren’t there, and that no one could ever do the job right, you’ll always have a reason to turn potential candidates away. Or a reason to critique and run off the people you do have.

Trust Me – 80% Works for Strategic Business Growth
So here’s something to keep in mind. Some people do it differently than you. And it doesn’t seem like it is as good, but you know what, maybe it is as good, sometimes even better. If they can do it 80% as good as you, let them do it. Even if that means you come in at the end and tweak that final 20%, you’ve saved a significant amount of time and started the process of training someone who will get better and better at understanding what 100% looks like.

When you’re in a position to have a successful business that’s grown organically and that scales in a way that’s not dependent upon you, you get to have a better lifestyle. You’re not working 20 hours a day, you’re not under extreme stress all the time, and you’re bringing in expertise and surrounding yourself with people who are better at certain things. If you have systemized things so that you’re acting in your highest and best use areas, you’re now leveraging what you’re best at. That means that you’re going to be producing more revenue. And then you start to build this team. They are either producing revenue, or helping get the work done. Not only are you going to have more time, but you’ll also be more successful.

And then of course that increases your enterprise value and valuation on the back end.

In your business, that can look like whatever makes the most sense for you. There is no one right way to scale or grow, or to run day to day operations. And you certainly shouldn’t feel obligated to grow past the point that you want your business to be at. What’s important is that you have clarity about what you’re seeking in your business.

I’m speaking from experience here and saying that it starts with us. It starts with addressing our own limiting beliefs and our own willingness to be open to learning and growth. All of that mindset work is stuff that we need to learn as entrepreneurs. This is especially true if we want to continue to develop in a way that will allow our businesses to scale.

Grow Your Mindset

Over on my website I have a whole list of mentors and leaders in the mindset and development space. Want to be able to grow more and experience more deal driven growth? It’s vital that you get your business running in such a way that it’s organically successful. That makes it less dependent upon you. That starts with a mindset shift and a willingness to do the personal growth work to make that shift. And that feeds back into your ability to continue to scale, build your team, and put new processes in place. Those components are key when you get to that next level.

What I am committed to is not only deals and growth, but really entrepreneurial freedom. I think you’ll see that in some of the stuff we’re doing with our upcoming Entrepreneurial Freedom course. If you have any questions about that, definitely reach out. At the end of the day, I love working with entrepreneurs. I love helping people achieve their dreams and visions. It can be some tough work, but it’s always easier when you have guidance and support.

Listen in to the full episode here!

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!