"Sell Your Professional Service Firm: A Primer"
I’m so excited to announce the release of Selling Your Professional Service Firm: A Primer. I’ve chronicled the writing process along the way, so it’s not like it’s a surprise that I was working on a book, but it’s finally completely done and now released in all three formats:
Those links will take you to Amazon, but US buyers can get a paperback version directly from RockBench Publishing Corp. The Audible and Kindle versions are available worldwide (from Amazon).
Book’s Promise
This book exists because selling your business is quite possibly the biggest financial transaction of your entire life, and you’ve never done it before and will likely never do it again, and you really need to be smart about this.
This is not a textbook, though, and it doesn’t cover some of the deeper intricacies of the legal and tax implications of a transaction. It’s just a handbook to help you think differently about your options. You’ll buy and sell more houses than you will businesses, and even though you’ll need to hire professionals to help you, it’s very much in your own best interest to understand the lingo and basic concepts so that no one takes advantage of you. So why not educate yourself?
Wherever you are on this adventure—just starting or wanting to do the next transaction without getting burned—enjoy the journey to one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make.
The information in this book is designed roughly for firms in the $5–$50M range. Selling a smaller firm than this carries some unique challenges (which can be overcome), and firms bigger than this range have many more options. For example, the role of the principal and the nature of the earnout isn’t nearly as important, there are more financing options, and there is generally less risk. So understand that the principles in this book apply most everywhere, but they are particularly apt for firms in that $5–$50M range.
How The Book Came to Be
After writing Secret Tradecraft of Elite Advisors: Covert Techniques for a Remarkable Practice, I told my inner circle that I wasn’t sure that I had another business book in me, and I assumed that was it. I began working on a novel, my first, which I’m very excited about, but then I went to Chicago.
It was a long weekend with Blair Enns, April Dunford, and Joanna Wiebe, where we each transparently shared about our respective businesses and gave each other advice on where to head next. (I also got to meet Andy Crestodina at dinner, which was great.)
Our M&A practice has been thriving over the last half decade, and one of them recommended that I write a book about it. I said, “the world doesn’t need another book on M&A” (I could have said the same thing about multiple topics, of course, including branding). The retort was a serious reply: “Yeah, but they would read one on that subject written by you.” Hmm.
I guess we’re about to find out!
How The Process Unfolded
That weekend was in May of this year. I was immediately captured by the idea of a book on M&A. So much so that I took a first pass at outlining it on the short flight home. I landed in Nashville, totally transfixed with the idea, and any fears about being sufficiently engaged in the process quickly melted away. I couldn’t wait.
We’ve done M&A work for 25 years, nearly 200 equity transactions, 400+ valuations, buy- and sell-side searches, internal sales, of every kind imaginable, and with a heavy international element to it. So the subject matter is very comfortable for me and Jonathan, who is actually Practice Lead over that area while I work with clients primarily on the New Business Audit and the Total Business Reset.
So it was really about including all the information you’d need in a “primer,” arranging it in an interesting way, and then crafting each chapter in a way that you’d want to keep reading it.
Next was scheduling nine separate three-day writing trips in the RV (and my office) to Ellijay (GA), Adairsville (GA), Lexington (KY), Chattanooga (TN), Elm Hill (TN), and Crossville (TN), visiting several of those places multiple times. I was alone on each trip, and I’d get up early and start writing by 7a and finish up by 2p. I can’t write at home or in the office, so this was the adventure that made it fun.
Then send the manuscript to Bryn Mooth for editing and Emily Mills for the illustrations while I caught my breath and caught up with clients.
Next was clearing my schedule for the final week and recording the audio in the studio before sending it off to Marcus dePaula for final editing.
The folks at Faceout Studio had already designed the cover, so it was simply a matter of using Vellum to create the printer files and Kindle version, concurrently, before handing it off to Pollock Printing for the paperback production.
Seven weeks later, it was using the tractor to unload the first 6,000, with more on the way.
What’s Covered
The chapter titles are meant to be descriptive and not tacky cute, so you’ll probably get enough information with this list:
- Introduction
- Pretend You Can Never Sell Your Firm
- Why More Firm’s Aren’t Sold
- Always Be Open to Selling
- Defining Success Correctly
- That Tricky ‘Timing’ Question
- Ten Major Options
- Reasons a Buyer Might Want Your Firm
- Consider Opportunities & Manage Distractions
- Dealing with an Interested Buyer
- Key Questions They’ll Ask
- Assessing Buyer Fit
- When to Bring Others into the Loop
- Assembling the Team
- Working with an M&A Advisor
- Understanding How Your Firm Is Valued
- The Role of Goodwill
- Contesting the Valuation
- Terms and Other Elements to Negotiate
- Preloading the LOI
- Crafting a Reasonable Earnout
- Understanding Your Leverage
- Due Diligence
- D-Day: It’s Time For a Decision
- Flipping the Process: Buying a Firm
- Your Role After the Transaction
- Loopholes To Maximize an Earnout
- Prepping For an Eventual Sale
- Glossary of Key M&A Terms
More Details
- Trim Size: 5.5 x 8.5”
- Page Count: 231
- Word Count: 56,600
- Illustrations: 54
- Glossary Entries/Definitions: 42
- ISBNs:
- 978-1-60544-100-9: Paper
- 978-1-60544-101-6: Kindle
- 978-1-60544-102-3: Audible
Invitation to Free M&A Webinar
Hey, do you have questions—any questions—about valuations, acquisitions, sales, etc.? Join us in a free webinar on Tuesday, December 10, at 3:30p ET. Send your question in advance, or ask it that day. Register here.
Working With Us
There are a couple of firms that are pretty good at search, but then you’re kind of on your own in terms of the all-important negotiation. On the other end, there are a dozen or so firms who are great at negotiating but often need you to bring the buyer or seller to the table. We do all of it, but we only take a small number of engagements, and each of them receives our full attention.
Please reach out to set up a call and learn more.
If you’d like either one of us to speak on anything M&A related at your event or on your webinar or podcast, let us know.
