The DIY Disaster

When selling a business there are too many things that can go wrong, too many egos with the potential to be bruised, and too many zeroes at stake to negotiate on your own behalf. It’s a lesson Alexis Neely learned the hard way in this DIY disaster.

I loved watching David Price pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays in last year’s pennant race, so I was sad to see him sign a seven year, $217 million contract with The Boston Red Sox a few weeks back.

Of course, it wasn’t Price himself sitting across the negotiating table from the Red Sox brass. He was represented by his agent, Bo McKinnis. Price—like just about every high stakes professional athlete—has an agent in his corner because there are just too many things that can go wrong, too many egos with the potential to be bruised, and too many zeroes at stake to negotiate on your own behalf.

The same is true when you sell your business. When there are more zeroes involved than selling a home, you need someone representing your best interests. That’s a lesson Alexis Martin Neely found out the hard way when she tried to sell her company on her own. What started out as a promising relationship with a buyer ended up as a DIY disaster.

Check out our full M&A Glossary

About Our Guest

Alexis Neely graduated first in her law school class from Georgetown in 1999 and, after clerking on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, began her career at Munger, Tolles & Olson, which she left to start her own firm in 2003. Within just three years, she had built her solo practice into a million dollar a year revenue-generating business by implementing a new law business model she had created, and now teaches to other lawyers as a Law Business Mentor. In 2008, Alexis wrote the bestselling book on legal planning for parents and went on to appear on every major television network as a legal expert. Today, Alexis spends her time guiding lawyers towards lives and businesses they love, while raising her kids in Boulder.