You might’ve thought about your exit strategy from your business. But have you thought about what the perfect exit strategy would really look like to you?
For Philip Williams, past partner at hydroGEOPHYSICS, his exit strategy was about being approached by Schlumberger with a generous offer to purchase his geophysics consulting company.
Philip and his team, including several other shareholders grew their business. They made a name for themselves in their sector. They worked on two of the 8 value drivers:
Recurring revenue: becoming less reliant on the traditional consulting model of one-off projects. They added a service that had regular monitoring reports for clients. Philip reached about 25% recurring income.
Monopoly control: differentiating yourself in the market. Philip and his team worked on their brand and added some Intellectual Property to their monitoring service.
Not so perfect
The Schlumberger acquisition of hydroGEOPHYSICS deal came into fruition and was moving full steam ahead until closing day took a strange turn. Williams and his partners soon learned the obstacles that can be thrown at you during a sale. More importantly, the biggest mistake you can make during the process.
Philip was interviewed by John Warrillow, author of Built to Sell: Creating a business that can thrive without you. John is also the host of Built to Sell Radio, a regular podcast revealing the stories and advice of business owners who have sold their businesses.
Listen to Philip
The link below takes you to the full interview with Philip where you can learn what the mistake was, and how to bounce back (before it’s too late).
http://www.builttosell.com/biggest-mistake/
How do you build a business that an industry giant like Schlumberger wants to buy?
Start by understanding the 8 Key Drivers of Company Value and getting your Value Builder Score and then you can start to visualise your picture-perfect exit strategy!