For M&A transactions, focus and energy are often on multiples and terms. From TobinLeff's experience, if the focus is on the people, favorable terms will follow. This new video podcast, M&A is About the People, is a conversation between four of our TobinLeff Partners — David Tobin, Mary McKinney Flaherty, Roy Page, and Janet Tyler — that focuses on different points and perspectives including:

• How to establish a genuine rapport and mutual trust between buyers and sellers.
• How sellers and buyers should communicate before and during the due diligence process.
• Getting your leadership and management teams involved in the M&A process.
• Building team and cultural continuity internally when emotional stakes are high.
• How and when to communicate with clients.
• Selecting and working with a cohesive advisory team.

We’ve learned a lot from the past 15 years helping business owners maximize and monetize their business value. We hope you’ll learn something new or reinforce your beliefs from this lively conversation.

If you have any questions, TobinLeff's partners are available to help however we can: www.tobinleff.com

TobinLeff Founder, David Tobin, sat down with Jon Morris, founder and CEO of Fiscal Advocate, to discuss developing and tracking financial reports and KPIs to increase earnings and enhance enterprise value for a future sale. Jon is a proven entrepreneur. In 2004, with $10,000 by winning 2nd Place at the University of Chicago’s annual business plan competition he founded Rise Interactive. Over a 16-year period, Jon grew the firm into one of the largest independent digital agencies in the world with 300 people in 6 offices.

This episode is chock-full of tips, including the following:

• The three most important KPIs to track the success of service-based businesses.
• How to create budgets and forecasts to support goals.
• How poor financial visibility can tank M&A deals.
• How investments in marketing and innovations can impact multiples.
• How the right supportive communities, playbooks, and advisors can help you prepare for a future exit.

While many of these recommendations are geared toward owners who are about one to four years from a potential sale, these insights, when applied, will lead to growth no matter what stage of the business lifecycle you find yourself in!

If you have questions or want to learn more about what the next steps look like for your own monetization journey, contact the TobinLeff team today.

Founding Partner, David Tobin, sat down with Mike Neumeier (Co-Founder and CEO of the Arketi Group) to discuss his exit planning journey. Mike secured investments from two private equity groups to form a platform company. In this video podcast, hear answers to questions like:

• How and why did Mike decide to sell?
• With multiple offers to choose from, why did he decide to sell to a PE group as opposed to a strategic buyer?
• How did he select the buyers/investment partners?
• How and when did he communicate the selling process to employees and clients?
• What were some of the challenges he faced during the M&A process?
• What does it feel like to “take chips off the table” while still maintaining a meaningful equity stake?
• How did he juggle both exit planning and day-to-day operations?
• What advice does he have for fellow business owners who are considering selling?

Tune in to listen to the highly informative conversation. Contact our team with any questions you have after listening.

Studies have estimated that more than 50% of all M&A transactions do not achieve their expected value or never close. Even if those stats are remotely accurate, the results are disheartening because no business owner wants to go through the time, expense, and emotional drain of trying to sell their company only to experience a deal falling apart.

At TobinLeff, we pride ourselves on helping our clients get their M&A transactions closed on their terms. In this podcast, four of our partners — David Tobin, Bruce Bishop, Chuck Gottschalk, and Mary McKinney — share strategies and action steps to help avoid deal killers or reductions in purchase prices. Some of the topics discussed include:

• How to set realistic expectations on value and deal terms
• How to get in front of potential weaknesses and deal killers
• How to package and present your value proposition so buyers know what they are buying and see value
• How to approach the process from a position of strength
• How to perform reverse due diligence to qualify buyers and be confident that visions and values align
• How to control the due diligence process
• How to make sure lawyers and accountants keep the deal on track
• How to minimize deal fatigue and keep yourself and your team energized through the process

In 2022, Maura Corbett sold her company, Glen Echo Group, to Berlin Rosen, a portfolio company of the PE Group, O2 Investment Partners.

In this episode, Maura joins the TobinLeff team to discuss her selling journey and cover a number of topics, including:

• How and why did she decide to sell her company?
• What was her process for choosing an M&A advisory firm?
• How did TobinLeff prepare the company and Maura for the process?
• Why did she select Berlin Rosen and O2 Investment Partners as her ultimate buyer?
• How did she involve key employees in the process and reward them when the sale happened?
• What final advice would Maura give to owners considering selling their companies?

Watch or listen now for an inside look into M&A.

Why is it that some companies are able to sell for above — sometimes even far above — commonly accepted ballparks, or market price? Why can some companies command the higher multiple compared to others, where there’s continuous pressure on both price and the terms?

Learn how to make your business stand out from the competition so you can command top dollar for your company.

Nearly 100% of agency owners believe that an Exit Plan is an important element for their future financial security, but only 15% actually have a written Exit Plan in place. At TobinLeff, we believe that the most important explanation for this disconnect may be the most basic one of all: while the idea of an Exit Plan seems to make sense, most agency owners don’t really know what an Exit Plan is. For additional information on how to sell your company from a position of strength, visit our resources page.

You’re ready to sell your business — now what?

You’ve built your business from the ground up, poured your life into it, and now you’re ready for your next step. Maybe you want to retire, or maybe you’d like to start your next business venture. No matter your reason, selling your company is a complex road to navigate on your own — so don’t go it alone.

Join the partners of TobinLeff in this podcast where they go in-depth on four potential exit pathways. Learn how to:

• Sell to an independent agency or similar company
• Sell to employees via an MBO
• Sell to a Private Equity group
• Form an ESOP