Nearly every market is experiencing consolidation in some form. Every day, we feel the effects of this in our lives. Buying and selling a business has numerous twists and turns, especially if it’s been in the family for three generations.
Consolidation is a regular occurrence when you have mature markets. Traditional business models, that were once pillars of profits, morph into new entities. Others die, adapting to the realities of the day. Some die a slow death while others plunge must faster. Some thrive and find new opportunities in the changing markets.
From longstanding empires, new kingdoms are created. Traditional markets get disrupted. New competitors emerge that was not heard of before. Technology and the Internet create new streams of potential revenue. Controlling data becomes a big deal. From automotive, airlines, banking, and newspapers, consolidation affects our lives in some way every day.
In my career, we taught the steps and process as an educational pathway that an owner group uses to buy or sell their business. Annually, we handled several projects from start to finish, with some taking a few years to complete. They were intense with varied emotional and technical issues we had to work through. We were quite successful in assisting clients in achieving their goals to buy, sell, or merge. I called it “Shark or Bait.”
Shark or Bait: Get Bigger, Get Better or Get Out
- Decide to scale your organization and acquire or merge with similar businesses.
- Decide to get seriously focused on the existing operations so you can compete with larger complexes.
- Create an exit plan to sell the business.
The experiences all help me to be a better coach today. I use many of the strategies and knowledge to coach clients in achieving their goals.