We turn Entrepreneurs into Millionaires
What Drives us to Excellence
Buying & Selling Companies
Our passion is buying & selling individual businesses and portfolio businesses. It’s the most exciting part of the process and we’ve gotten exceedingly good at it.
Negotiations
Getting a business sold is one thing. But negotiating a deal that makes the seller a multi-millionaire under ideal terms? Priceless. Leverage our skill set to sell your business for peak value.
Accelerated Growth
Sometimes addressing a few blind spots can allow an owner to double or triple their revenue, often in a short period of time. People call it “growth hacking,” but for us it’s simply pointing out the most elegant way to achieve an ideal exit.
Helping Business Owners
Feeling stuck, like you’re all on your own with the weight of the world on your shoulders? You’re not alone. Every entrepreneur feels that way. Working in an alliance allows you to brainstorm and network with other like-minded people. This leads to unexpected breakthroughs.
Deal Flow
Our team has pioneered a unique, powerful way to drive global deal flow across a variety of countries. Why look in your back yard for the best deal when there’s an entire world of opportunity out there?
Victory
Getting the best deal for the business owner and beating out the “big guys” in the process – there’s nothing like it. We like winning. So do the business owners we partner with.
Joint Ventures
Have a deal on the horizon, but missing some skill sets? Perhaps we can do a joint venture and tackle the company together. Our team can secure financing, implement turn arounds, find strategic buyers, negotiate the deal, etc.
Mastermind Collaboration
We’re looking for motivated, driven individuals that are ready to take their lives to the next level buying and selling businesses. If you would like to join our alliance, reach out to us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tell me more about your company and your process?
Are you an M&A firm or a broker?
What’s the cost?
Our business occupies a rather small niche. What can you bring to the table?
We are not looking to sell right now; we are in a growth stage.
What separates you from others that can help sell my company?
Contact Us
We Create Spectacular Exit Events for Business Owners
2019 is the best time in over a decade to sell your business. Our team utilizes over 20 specialized strategies – customized by industry – to deliver 25% – 40% more value upon the sale of your company.
Sell Your Business / Exit Event
IPO for Small Businesses
Find Investors / Equity
- ENGAGE STRATEGIC BUYERS – Leverage our global network and proprietary processes to find more strategic buyers than other firms in the M&A space. Up to 75% of prospective buyers may come from global entities unknown to you today, which can dramatically increase the number of offers on the table.
- NEGOTIATION IS KEY – Leverage expert transaction negotiators with a track record of 10X multipliers across their portfolio of businesses sold over the past 20 years. We are passionate about getting you top dollar for your company. Our proven system can increase the final sale price of your business by 25% to 40%.
- SPECTACULAR EXIT EVENT – Tap into proven exit strategies that have worked for companies worth $1M, $10M, $75M, and even north of $100M. This is the most important transaction of your life – don’t leave it to chance.
- PAY ONLY FOR SUCCESS – Our fees are based on the sale of your company, not recurring monthly charges. We believe that you should only pay if we’re successful in selling your company. This makes Stone Peak a risk-free way to sell your business.
Exit Event
Fact – 88% of businesses that get listed for sale never sell. It takes a skilled partner to guide the sale of a company, and it takes an exit event specialist to maximize its value.
Let us unlock the wealth in your business.
- OWNER-CENTRIC VALUATION STRATEGIES – Our team calculates your company’s valuation using multiple methods, cherry-picking the best approach to use for your exit. This includes Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Revenue & Profit Multipliers, Net Present Value, and others. This is a free service to qualified companies because we believe you should never have to pay for a valuation.
- STRUCTURAL PERFECTION – M&A firms and brokers only focus on selling your company, which is only part of the equation. From the start we look at tax implications, structural engineering, and financial approaches to maximize the most important part of the transaction – the after-tax number that you, the owner, gets upon the sale of the business. Many business owners leave millions of dollars on the table by skipping this critical step – don’t be one of them.
- FOCUS ON STRATEGIC BUYERS – We conduct a global search for strategic buyers for all exit events. While other firms simply rely on their rolodex of contacts, we understand your business is unique and that it deserves a thorough global vetting of potential buyers coupled with a tireless attention to all the important details. Our goal is to find between 50 and 150 potential buyers in our search and narrow that list down to serious buyers.
- NEGOTIATION MASTERY – The most important part of the transaction is how masterfully it’s negotiated. Our team has taught classes on corporate negotiations, sales negotiations, and contract negotiations for companies like Computer Sciences Corporation and Accenture. We understand how to position your company for the best possible exit – whether it’s a $1M transaction or a $100M transaction. This process alone can improve a valuation by 10% to 40%.
- OBJECTION HANDLING – Our team understands the typical – and often random – objections that can surface during the sale of a business. Often times owners can address questions during the due diligence process and unknowingly hurt their valuation. We help owners proactively navigate these land mines and make the due diligence process smooth.
- BIDDING WAR – We have a proprietary process for creating a bidding war for businesses in specific industries that are in demand. This technique alone can boost the sale price by 30% to 50%, if not more. Leveraging this very powerful technique can add millions to an owner’s pocket.
ACHIEVING A PEAK EXIT EVENT
The most important transaction of your life
Selling your business is the most important deal of your life. If executed well it will set you and your family up for life. If executed poorly you will regret it until the day you die. Our team has been on both sides of that transaction, having learned from massive successes and painful failures. These experiences ignited our passion to help others achieve wealth through the sale of their company. Now, we work with business owners to ensure their ideal exit is not just a dream but becomes a reality.
Selling your company is a big decision
Deciding to sell is a gut-wrenching decison. We know because we’ve been there many times. It may feel counter-intuitive, but the best time to sell your business is when things are going well. A new buyer wants to know the business has room to grow and additional upside. This allows them to buy into the excitement of untapped potential. Unfortunately, most people wait until after their business is declining to start the exit process which hurts the valuation. It’s never too early to start looking at your options and planning for the future.
Strategic Buyers
There is a massive difference between a financial buyer and a strategic buyer. Financial buyers assess your business very scientifically – they only look at the numbers to determine the value of your business, then negotiate downwards. Strategic buyers, however, embrace the untapped potential of the business and are willing to pay much more for your company. That’s why our process involves a custom-tailored, global search for strategic buyers for each and every company we touch.
Negotiation is key
The difference between a stellar exit and an average exit often comes down to negotiation. But an exit event is unlike any other type of sales process – you can be the best salesperson in the world and still negotiate a poor exit as you don’t know the “tricks of the trade.” A savvy strategic buyer can structure the deal in a way that hurts your upside. This is why having a partner in the exit process is critical. Our team has been through the exit process so many times that we’ve created a process and standard operating procedures around exit events. We negotiate the deal along side you to achieve results 25% – 40% higher than typical exits.
Leverage expertise from those that have been where you are
M&A firms and brokers are generalists. They engage dozens of companies at a time hoping a couple “bingo” each year. In truth, the majority of M&A firms close between 0 – 2 deals a year. Our model is entirely different. We only work with a select few businesses at a time, focusing entirely on their exit events. This is one of the reasons our success rates are so high. Focus on the few, not the many.
Simply put, we can sell your business
We strive to be the best at what we do. Our team is highly specialized and focused. We work with business owners to get the best price and terms when they sell their business.
Our expertise includes:
– Maximizing the probability of selling your business
– Achiving the ideal price and deal structure
– Negotiating terms that meet 100% of your goals
– Tenacious, relentless effort to achive your ideal exit
TESTIMONIALS
Here’s what entrepreneurs have said about our results
“I know how to sell products, but am so thankful I engaged an expert. This process was far harder than I imagined going in and they made it easier.”
“Having a partner throughout the exit process is the only way to go. I would not have been able to focus on the business without your team.”
“I appreciate all the heavy lifting your team did. It was impressive how quickly you learned my business and the materials captured it nicely.”
Scaled IPO for Entrepreneurs
IPO events have traditionally been reserved for larger companies or unicorns that can afford to pay north of $1M to go through the process. Until now.
Our revolutionary process allows companies generating $500K+ in revenue with no debt to IPO without any costs.
- HIGHER VALUATION – Achieve multipliers for your business that are far higher than if you sold to a private equity firm or financial buyer.
- LIQUIDITY – Right now your wealth is likely “trapped” in your business, with no way to extract the millions of dollars of value you’ve created. This creates liquidity so you can sell a little, a lot, or all of your equity in the business at any time, for a premium price.
- MAINTAIN CONTROL – You remain in control of your organization, the decision making, the opportunities pursued, etc.
- SWIM WITH THE BIG FISH – Having a publicly traded company opens up a world of opportunity. Whether that’s recognition to win larger contracts, access to additional capital, or the ability to scale more quickly, you win.
ACHIEVING A SCALED IPO
Getting Premium Value from your Company
The sale of small to medium-sized businesses represent 80% of the wealth created in the world. Yet, only 12% of companies sell, on average. This makes it tough on business owners looking for an ideal exit event. Through the sale of numerous businesses over the years, our team grappled for another way to enhance the exit process. This led to the Scaled IPO designed for owners of profitable, debt-free businesses.
Driving Reason for the Scaled IPO
Most business owners we work with have built very successful businesses, but aren’t sure of the best way to get value out of the business (other than drawing a paycheck or perks). Eventually, every business owner wants to cash out of the business and retire comfortably, even at a young age. But their options are limited – sell the company or close its doors. Our team was determined to find additional ways to create stellar exit events. This led to global partnerships between companies destined to create something new – the IPO for small to medium-sized businesses that doesn’t cost the owner anything.
Scaled IPO
In essence, we take your company public on the ideal stock exchange. None of the costs to list your company are borne by you or your organization. This allows you to gain access to higher multipliers, as publicly traded companies trade at far higher valuations or PE ratios than private companies. Further, it gives you liquidity for your ownership. You can sell some of your stock to buy a house, boat, etc. or all of it to retire – it’s completely your call. And you don’t have to source a buyer of the company or accept undesireable terms – just sell your shares on the open market.
How does it work?
To list on a public exchange you need scale and size. So the first order of business is to locate other businesses in similar or adjacent industries that are willing to join forces with your company. These may be companies in the same region or even companies in other countries that offer a unique, strategic fit. Each business owner exchanges shares in their business for stock in a central holding company, based on metrics agreed upon by the parties, and the resulting conglomerate is listed on a public exchange. Each successful business owner is given the freedom to continue to run their business in their own way, helping to ensure that the talent that built the business in the first place continues to build the business in the future. Plus, you benefit not only from the growth of your organization, but also from the growth of others that are part of the new group.
Criteria for a Scaled IPO
Only the strongest businesses are eligible, but those that meet the criteria have access to a life-changing opportunity to take their company public, achieve liquidity on their shares, and maintain control of the company. Here are the high-level metrics to consider:
– US$500K or more in revenue
– No debt
– Healthy margins
– Potential for future growth
– Run by talented leader(s)
