How does this sound? You will leverage your business to fund your retirements, leave your family financially secure, and create a legacy within the organization committed to serving clients and employees as part of a vibrant community. I think it sounds great. And, doable.
Owners know that the right M&A transaction can be a great way to jumpstart growth, eliminate competition, gain market share, obtain intellectual property or proprietary systems, and feed their SWAN fund. (Sleep well at night fund-thank you, Ebony!)
An M&A transaction is like planning a marriage ceremony to publicly pledge your business life to another organization/person. And it’s to be taken very seriously!
Or, taken another way- it’s like your business is your baby and you are getting ready to walk that “baby” down the aisle! But, we all know people who run off to Vegas, or take an Ad Hoc approach to the M&A transaction, and they don’t always turn out so well.
With weddings we know that the ceremony is a tiny piece of the marriage. It is like the ownership transition in buying or selling a business. The transaction is the very beginning. It is a tiny piece of the joining of two cultures, sets of systems, operations and groups of people.
In families, two people bring their experiences, beliefs and work to merge the two.
Each represents a type of merger. Business owners are called to adapt to change and transform, as are families. Then, the owner’s transformation prepares him or her to lead the management team to transform and then that sets the stage for the organization to follow. Same with any family.
This type of transformation can create a legacy that will last for generations. In families and business, a successful transaction can play a major role in how long each lasts. Plans provide the foundation to transform that vision of the future, to become reality.
