Rules to Help Companies Remain Successful After an Acquisition
We see a lot of business opportunities cross our desks. Some of the businesses we see are highly successful and often run by small, very technically-focused teams. When companies are acquired no one involved would like to see the company meet an untimely demise. In fact, we do what we can to ensure the company remains successful for years to come. While much of the eventual success of a company rests on the acquiring entity or individual, the ultimate success of any business after the business has been sold can be traced to at least one of the following characteristics.
- Focus on the unique value that drives the business in which you may be engaged. Know your product, know your customer and how it all fits together. Never stop trying to be the best in the value sector you represent.
- Maintain a 30K foot view of how to adapt, change and grow faster and more efficiently than the competition.
- Stay aligned with investor goals by treating all company cash as if it came from your own bank account. In short, be judicious with limited resources.
- Stay up-to-date. Keep your business model, equipment, personnel and process on the cutting-edge. Don’t slack on understanding profitability and how to use your processes and model to improve cash flow and other efficiencies.
- Companies grow in spurts through creative solutions and creative partnerships. Keep creativity alive by broadening synergies between employees and strategic partnerships.
- Communicate regularly with all stakeholders including customers, employees and company shareholders. You’ll be surprised how you can obtain rapid feedback so as to improve and pivot quickly.
- Prioritize activities, always keeping an eye on profitable growth. Refocus energies until profitable growth increases and improves.
- Build a strong, positive culture. Improve employee culture so as to maximize creativity, employee mind-share and cumulative power.
- Be #1 or don’t compete at all. Like GE, you can choose to either be the absolute best at what you do or choose to compete elsewhere. It’s a great mantra, especially for small companies that dominate the worlds’ niches.
- Have fun, work hard, work smart, be positive and maintain realistic expectations for growth.
Maintaining a business long after the founder has left is the ultimate goal of any company seeking a business as a target for acquisition. The preceding list is helpful in ultimately succeeding once the founding owner has left the business and moved on. Successful companies are not as plentiful as many think. Those that are the most successful are judicious with resources and are able to find ways to grow even in tepid market conditions. Sell a business through one of our expert business brokers.
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