Wisdom From The Sale Of Six Businesses
Laura Gisborne has sold six companies, including The Art of Wine, a tasting room with a subscription-based wine club division. With $1MM in annual revenue, it was still a small business, when Gisborne reasoned it was the perfect time to sell.
Walking Away From an 8 Figure Exit
Josh Davis started Spirit of Women, a marketing agency selling content about women’s health to hospitals. Davis built the company up to almost $10 million in annual revenue when he kicked off a process to sell it, which he hoped would garner an offer of around 7x Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA).
How to Double Your Take From a Sale Without Being a Jerk
David Jondreau built American Sign Language, a company that supplied interpreters on contract, to $2 million in annual revenue when he decided it was time to sell.
How To Double An Acquisition Offer For Your Business
Bobby Albert took over the family moving business. Determined to succeed, he transformed his father’s five-person business into a fast growth company, eventually employing 150 people before being approached by a strategic acquirer.
3 x EBITDA To 13 x EBITDA In Just 2.5 Years
Embanet broke just about every rule there is for running a company and still sold for $200M.
Once Bitten, Twice Shy: The (Real) Reason Jay Gould Sold Yashi for $33M
Jay Gould co-founded Yashi, a platform that helped advertisers buy ads on video content. Yashi grew to more than $25 million in revenue and more than $5 million in EBITDA when Gould received an offer of $33 million from Nexstar Broadcasting. The offer represented around 6 x EBITDA and Gould was conflicted. He knew he could probably get more, but he had also seen how quickly a successful company can go to zero.
How to Handle an Acquisition Offer from a Customer
In 2015, Nathan Hirsch and his partner started FreeUp.com, an online marketplace of virtual assistants. Four years later, Hirsch and his partner were billing more than $12 million when they received an acquisition offer from a customer they couldn’t refuse.
The (Awfully) Thin Line Between Success and Failure
Shelley Rogers started Admincomm Warehousing to help companies recycle their old technology. Rogers purchased old phone systems and computer monitors for pennies on the dollar and sold the gear to recyclers who dismantled the technology down to its raw materials and sold off the base metals.
What to Do When Your Partner Is Not Ready to Sell
Tyler Jefcoat co-founded Care to Continue, which provides in-home care for seniors, in 2012. Jefcoat built the company to more than 100 employees when he got an offer from a private equity group for more than five times EBITDA. Jefcoat was thrilled. The only problem? His partner wasn’t ready to sell, which kicked off an acrimonious battle ending with Jefcoat selling his shares back to his partner.
The Backstory Behind E&J Gallo’s Acquisition of Barefoot Cellars
Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey built Barefoot Cellars to sales of more than 600,000 cases of wine per year when they got the attention of E&J Gallo, America’s largest winemaker.
Why A NYSE-listed Giant Bought This $2M Business
Angela Mader started selling her fitbook through retail giants like CVS, Target and Walgreens. Little did she know, Mader was also attracting the attention of one of the world largest acquirers.