Strategy | UK Business Advisors

Essential steps when acquiring a new business

March 3, 2019 By Peter Kroeger

Part 1 – What is your strategic reasoning for acquiring a business?

Why you want to buy a business, where to search and what to look out for.

To start with, it helps to be clear about why you are buying. Acquirers can have diverse motivations:

a carefully thought out strategy
opportunistic e.g. see a competitor of a failing business is up for sale
a belief that, by acquiring, you will be able to generate a value significantly greater and faster than the alternative of continuing organic growth.

Often, the expected benefits will include one or more from:

geographic expansion
customer base
customer spread, i.e. for a manufacturer a number of blue-chip customers, such that there is no undue reliance on a small number of customers
contract durations
repeat business patterns
skill-sets
technology
intellectual property rights
depth and quality of management
uniqueness and competitiveness of products and services
scalability of products and/or services
market position and brand
systems and processes, particularly relating to winning new business
distribution
quality of service
the “halo” effect, the extra revenues and profits that can be gained from e.g. cross selling to one another’s customers or improved supply etc
to build the business in advance of selling it.

For each of these, the key question is – “what would it cost and how long would it take to add these (the “extra” criteria that you have that means something to us) to our own business ourselves, organically?” The right Acquirer, for whom the Seller provides the most amount of value, may well be persuaded to share some of the value with the Seller and reflect that in the purchase price.

What LGBA/HCBA Acquisition Planning advisors can do to assist your business. Real life experience, strategic advice and tactical support.

Develop the value enhancing strategy
Action-focused Business Planning
Assistance with what follows next – a Business Support Programme to help you implement and deliver the plans
Fund raising and acquisitions assistance

Next month I’ll share my top tips on searching for a new business to acquire. Please feel free to get in touch with me at peter.kroeger@lgbusinessadvisors.co.uk or on 07904 766230 if you’d like to find out more.

Training Needs – Choosing Digital Solutions

May 11, 2014 By June Beddows

Are you about to select a digitally based solution for your organisation?

For making the best choice, make sure you have done your homework before talking to any of the potential suppliers.

Packaged solutions are perceived as the most cost effective solutions – but very few people appreciate the pros and cons of bespoke v’s package solutions. Simple, bespoke solutions are often better and more efficient. Too many buy complex Accounting Packages that then limit their subsequent digital progress.

List aspects of the solution that you consider are absolutely essential. – Some parts of the solution will be “Must Haves…”, others are “Nice to Haves…” make sure you have really thought through what you need from the solution, and what can wait till next time if budgets prohibit their use this time. What information do you need to hold, what processes and reporting outputs are needed?

What types of changes need to made and how are these undertaken? eg. VAT rate is 20% at present, how is this changed to a new and different value when this need arises?

Don’t forget Security. Who will use the system, how is access managed and restricted? Is this suitable for your needs? Data Protection and Data Integrity issues? Backups and Service Continuity?

Review Suppliers and their ability to support your needs, initially and in future. What will be the impact on your business if they cease trading or become unable to support you for the time you expect to utilise their solution?

What happens next? Your business needs and the market will not stand still. Good Business Planning will indicate some of your more predictable future needs, new inventions and legislation changes will happen too. How flexible is your proposed purchase? You will not want to change it too often so consider your needs to be able to adapt in future.

Failure to consider the specific digital handling requirements – Leads to project overruns, waste, inappropriate purchasing decisions, disruption and sometimes even worse business and service failures.

Each of these listed aspects of choosing and buying are big subjects in their own right. Make sure you or a member of staff has sufficient skill to make the decisions effectively on your behalf. In some cases you may feel adequate coaching and training will meet your needs. For the much bigger purchases, if your team are not experts in this aspect, consider hiring an independant expert to assess any or all of the proposed solutions for you. This will ensure that you are well informed to make appropriate assessments of the risks and benefits of each solution, helping your decision making and overall management.

Are business owners doing the best for their company’s?

March 13, 2013 By Mushroom Internet

The answer is YES and NO.

Indeed I witness many businesses and their owners, mainly in manufacturing.

There are those Business owners of a ‘can do’ disposition, who tend to run and orchestrate their business. Fortunately most of my clients fit this description, and surprise – how they are bucking the trend of doom gloom and despondency. Growth is an every day part of their ethos.

There are those afraid to be bold, awaiting how things work out, and failing to grasp the initiative. In this case the business runs them, and no sign of an orchestrator! Survival becomes the over riding goal, and of course these companies are struggling.

So, it as simple as the ‘owners approach’ and the ethos in the company? It can be, but it’s not just that easy. Attitudes are difficult to change, but not impossible.

Let us put it simply, if you aim to grow by 30%, and you only achieve 25%, is this failure? Probably not.

However, if you aim to survive, and you underperform this target, you are in trouble.

Worried about YOUR company’s prospects? Why not chat to SGBA.

Are business owners doing the best for their company's?