Making the leap

by a searcher

9 months ago

I'm at the decision point for my self funded search. Due diligence is done. Finances will be a bit tight until growth is acheived, but does look possible. 

I've seen lots of deals in my professional career, but this will be my first time taking the leap personally. What helped you get over the nervousness and make the leap? Would love to hear your stories!

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searcher from The University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business

Hi Jayson, from the limited set of large deals I've seen from top organizations, the standard to proceed with acquiring a business seems to be very high and has many committee meetings and potential veto opportunities. If everything doesn't line up nearly perfectly to support the acquisition, the deal would likely be passed on. Also, there is a reasonable chance the market or economy is worse 1-2 years from now than it is today. If finances will be a bit tight until growth is achieved, you may be understandably a bit nervous because it is not the right deal, or at least not at this moment.

If you are incredibly passionate about this industry and the customer you are serving, I think you could still go through with it. Being a smaller business, and you being a intelligent and hard-working person, you can roll up your sleeves and overcome the inevitable challenges over the next couple years to find success while taking some bumps and learn a lot in the process.

If you're not extremely passionate about the business, or don't want to jeopardize your financial investment, you may pass on this one and be better positioned to close on your next deal. As Warren Buffett said something like, 'Investing is a no-called-strike game. You don’t have to swing at everything – you can wait for your pitch.'.

Good luck and hope to hear how it goes! - Jason

9 months ago | like reply | 1 like

intermediary from Rockhurst College

What's the alternative of not pulling the trigger? Go back to the mundane existence of corp am? Iew, no thanks. If your current job is tugging at you that much, should you listen or tell it to... ? Gotta dig down deep & figure that out.

9 months ago | like reply | 1 like

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