Green Merger News – July 2013

From the Editor

 

We’ve seen a flurry of activity since July 1, supporting our belief that 2013 will be a much stronger year for green industry mergers & acquisitions than recent years.

A conversation I had with a former client when I asked him for a reference inspired our lead article this month “Life After the Beach-What’s Next After Selling Your Business?”  We hope it proves thought-provoking for many business owners considering the sale of their business.

We have included our fall and winter travel schedule in this edition. If you will be attending any of these events and would like to meet, please contact us to schedule a time.

As always, if you are considering selling or buying a green industry business or you are ready to begin developing your exit plan, we welcome the opportunity to discuss your situation confidentially. Just give us a call or send us an email.

Ron Edmonds

[email protected]

888-229-5740

901-351-1510 (cell)

Life After the Beach –

What’s Next After You Sell Your Business?

Not long ago, a former client shared with me his thoughts for someone considering the sale of his or her business. His advice:  Think about what happens after the sale.

I probed a  little deeper as to what he meant.  It wasn’t the common issue of how long you may have to stay involved with the business after the sale.  What he meant was to think about what it means to go from being the CEO of a successful business to either being retired or starting a new venture from scratch.

Of course, he is right.  Any business owner who sells his or her business is going to experience a dramatic change.  The most important decision you may make in a typical day is going to change.  Right now, it might be dealing with a challenging employee, negotiating a client service agreement or making a high-level strategy decision.  After the sale, there is a chance it will be where to have lunch.

Perhaps a majority of business sellers have at least some regrets about having sold their businesses.  If you do not have a plan for what is next, the odds are you will have considerably more regret over completing the sale, even though you know (or knew) that it  was the right thing to do.  The business sellers who navigate these emotions most successfully have a plan and know what is next for them, whether it is a new business start-up, a new career, community activities, family commitments, etc.

There is nothing wrong with first thing after completing your obligations in a business sale being a vacation.  It may be the first one you have really taken in many years.  It might even be an unusually long one.  Think sabbatical.  But for almost all of us, vacations and sabbaticals do come to an end.

If you find yourself selling your business without knowing your next step, maybe a sabbatical, one purpose of which is to consider your options, is the best idea. Better yet, think about taking that vacation or sabbatical before you make the decision to sell your business.

The most successful business sellers I know are the ones that had a concept of what was next.  For several, it has been starting new ventures.  For others, it has been launching a new career (two people I have represented in business sales have become ministers, for example).  Still others have favored nonprofit activities they either wanted to participate in or give leadership to.

I don’t remember a single client who successfully transitioned from being a CEO to watching The Price is Right every day.

Planning your exit strategy can be a complicated process.  It takes time, energy and reflection, but the effort devoted to the process will greatly increase the chances of making a successful transition.  As you build your exit plan, don’t forget to include addressing the question. “What comes next?”

If you are ready to focus on developing your exit strategy or are ready to begin the process of selling your business, contact us.  We can help you get started.

 

The Price is Right and the related image are the property of Fremantle Media.

 

 

Recent Transactions

 

Here is our summary of recently publicly reported merger & acquisition transactions in the green industry.

 

Bartlett Tree Experts has entered the Oregon market by acquiring Collier Arbor Care, which serves the Portland, Oregon area.  Oregon marks the 27th state in which Bartlett Tree operates.

Village Nurseries Wholesale, LLC has acquired Miramar Wholesale Nurseries, Inc.  Miramar, based in San Diego provides landscape plant materials for commercial property managers and landscape contractors in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange, Imperial and Riverside counties. Village expects the acquisition to add $11 to $12 million to 2014 sales.

If you know of additional transactions we should include in our monthly recap, please let us know.

 

 

 

Green Exit University:

Improve Your Odds for a Greener Exit-

Develop Your Own Exit Plan

 

Green Exit University is  open and accepting participants.  On-line classes are available now and can begin at the convenience of students.

 

Experience tells us that those without a strategy and a plan are unlikely to achieve their objectives of being able to exit their business on their timetable and to enter the next phase of their lives financially stable.  Improving those odds is what exit planning is all about. Green Exit University is a new, cost-effective approach to developing an exit plan for your business.

For a comparison of the Green Exit University Options, visit greenexituniversity.com/cost-structure/

Here’s a link to a video “Sneak Preview” of Green Exit University content.

Click here for more information or contact us.

 

Webinar Invitations:

Overview of Green Exit University

You are invited to participate in a webinar entitled An Overview of Green Exit University on Thursday, August 8, 2013 at 1:00 pm EDT, 12:00 noon CDT, 11:00 am NDT and 10:00 am PDT.

During this webinar, Ron Edmonds will poresent an overview oif Green Exit University, demonstrate a sample module and answer participant questions.

Click here to register.

This webinar will also be presented on Thursday, August 22 at 7:00 pm EDT, 6:00 pm CDT, 5:00 pm MDT and 4:00 pm PDT.

Click here to register.

Creating an Ownership Culture with Jeffrey Scott

You are also invited to participate in a webinar featuring Jeffrey Scott on “Creating an Ownership Culture.”  This one-hour webinar will be n September 26, 2013 at noon EDT.

Get rid of the entitlement culture and create an ownership culture instead, with a systematic focus to results, responsibility, and rewards.
To learn more and register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/235876049

 

Do You Know Your Sellability Score?

Want to Find Out if You Have a Sellable Business?

 

Here’s how:

 

Click here to get your Sellability Score.

Do You Understand the Value of Your Business?

 

Understanding the Value of Your Business is an important step in the Exit Planning Process.  Most business owners do not have a clear idea of the value of their business or understand the important factors that drive that value.  Understanding the value of your business will help you plan for the future and will also allow you as a business owner to take constructive steps to improve that value over time.

 

The Principium Group offers a cost-effective approach we call the Market Value Assessment.  The Market Value Assessment provides a valuation for your business based on established methods and industry conditions for planning purposes.  It also will specific

ally identify important factors that affect the value of your particular business.

If you are interested in learning more, please click hereemail us or call Ron Edmonds at 901-351-1510.