Many entrepreneurs experience extreme anxiety whenever they think about selling their businesses—to the point where they won’t even pick up the phone or answer an email from a potential buyer. Have you ever stopped to think about why this is? On today’s show, my business partner here at Arkona, Pat Hobby, and I talk about ways to mitigate this anxiety through intelligent and intentional planning. We also discuss why you should be prepared for an out-of-the-blue offer—even when you’re not considering selling—since potential buyers are reaching out to business owners with increasing frequency. Do you want to miss your multimillion-dollar deal? Of course not. But if you have no plan, you’re not going to get what you want out of an unsolicited offer (or even a solicited one!). This isn’t an episode you want to miss if you’ve ever wondered what you need to know to be ready for any outcome, or even if you just want to give your future more choices.

What You Will Learn In Today's Podcast Interview

• Why private equity is raising so much money right now
• Where investors are looking to commit their capital and how you can capitalize on that
• What a prepared business owner can do with an out-of-the-blue offer
• The rise of platform companies becoming involved in M&A
• When it’s better to buy instead of building from the ground up
• The spread between intrinsic value and transaction value
• Why you need to layer in a buyer’s intention when thinking about selling
• What common risks you need to address to strengthen your valuation
• The value of understanding what really drives you, especially in terms of life planning
• Planning creates choices and decreases anxiety
• Why you do need to build a support network of trusted, knowledgeable advisors before you sign away your company
• What seller’s favor is and how to protect yourself from it
• How net proceeds factors into what ends up in your bank account when selling
• When to disclose your financials to potential buyers and what to include
• Why an LOI can gaslight you into a poorer deal than expected

Are You Growing The Value of Your Business

Take The 2-Minute Assessment To Get Your Intentional Growth Score™ And 1-Page Vision Board.

• Are your company's current initiatives intentionally designed to increase the value of the business?
• Do you know what you want from your business long term and why?
• Do you know what your company is worth?
• Do you know the differences between Management, Family Transitions, PE Firms, ESOPs and Strategic Buyers?
• Does the business have a written strategic plan on how to achieve the desired normalized EBITDA and valuation?

About the Guest:

Pat Hobby started his career as an auditor at EY and over the years held various finance positions before launching his own outsourced CFO services company. As one of his clients continued to grow and needed more assistance, he joined the company full-time for more than 20 years. He helped the company grow significantly, do acquisitions and eventually sell it to the employees via an ESOP. Two-and-a-half years later, he led the sale of the company to a PE firm—with tremendous benefit to the employees. Since then, Pat helped co-found Arkona to help change how owners grow and exit their businesses.

Quotes:

06:00  - “There’s a lot of money looking for a place to get a return.” – Pat Hobby

06:43 - “Right now, in the private equity world,