Dr. Tom McKaskill
Breakthrough Publications, 2010, (286 Pages, 1.4MB)
This book provides a detailed examination of the exit preparation process in financial and strategic ventures. Underpinning the creation of value in both of these ventures are the drivers of high growth potential. In the case of a financial venture, the business itself must create the business model to exploit the growth opportunity. A financial business must build an organization which is capable of delivering a robust business to the buyer which enables the buyer to exploit its revenue growth potential.
Businesses which create value by developing an asset or capability which could be exploited by a large corporation achieve an exit through a trade sale to a strategic buyer. Strategic value is created through intellectual property or deep expertise which creates a sustainable competitive advantage in the hands of the strategic buyer. It is the strategic buyer who exploits the growth potential through an extensive distribution network.
The major recommendation in the book is that entrepreneurs need to prepare the business for sale by focusing on the manner in which the buyer extracts value for it. Understanding how value is created, how buyers perceive risks inn the business and how buyers will exploit its potential are the drivers of a preparation program for selling the business.
Business owners, entrepreneurs and investors are locked into an old paradigm about value creation being based on proven profitability. But this is not what acquirers are evaluating. They are looking to the future and assessing what return they will achieve on their investment. Thus it is the future potential of the business which is much more important than its past. As soon as we accept this view, we can be proactive about creating a future which can deliver a much higher value to the buyer than what can be shown from past results.
Business which are valued on inherent profitability should focus attention on taking risks out of the business, improving their sustainable profitability, increasing their growth rate and identifying ways in which the buyer can harness new potential. Those businesses which can deliver high growth potential through intellectual property or deep expertise should focus on the strategic value in their business. This type of business can achieve staggering exit values by selling to a large corporation which has the capability and capacity to fully exploit its strategic value.
The book has 17 chapters covering the following:
1. Forget the multiple
2. Strategic v.s financial exits
Financial Exits
3. Leveraging the financial model
4. Increasing sustainable profits
5. Build a platform for growth
6. Finding financial buyers
Strategic Exits
7. Threats and opportunities
8. Identifying strategic value
9. Finding strategic buyers
Sale Preparation
10. Sustainable competitive advantage
11. Enabling the opportunity
12. Reducing risks to the buyer
13. The acquisition process
14. Deal structure
15. Selecting professional advisors
16. Other considerations
17. Conclusion
Testimonials:
‘To get the ultimate deal you must put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and seek to reduce business risk and increase growth potential. In the current market the benefit of this approach cannot be overestimated. Tom has set out a practical step-by-step process to extract maximum value from the sale of the business.’
Ian Knight,
Partner KPMG, Corporate Finance Practice,
Australia
“Ultimate
Exits is the ultimate book
for entrepreneurs – don’t even think about selling your
business without reading it.”
Tony
Featherstone Tony
Featherstone is a former managing director of BRW magazine
“A compelling read with
lots of practical examples. This book turns
conventional valuation methodologies upside down.”
Martin
Checketts - Partner, Mills Oakley Lawyers
Melbourne,
Australia
“Tom
McKaskill takes years of detailed research coupled with
real world experience and boils it down to fundamental
approaches which are actionable and effective for any
business. For anyone who dreams of selling a business at
more than fair market value, Tom McKaskill offers proven
strategies to do so. While exit advisors are on every
corner, Ultimate
Exits shows you how to get
there at values of which you never dreamed. In my 35 years
in business, I have never met a more wise and incisive exit
strategist than Tom McKaskill. Tom is the real deal.”
Philip T.
Miner CEO
The Miner
Corporation New
Braunfels, Texas, USA
“Tom McKaskill has a
profound understanding of entrepreneurial companies and
what entrepreneurs need to do to maximise the value of
their businesses on exit. I’ve used Tom’s principles
on exits over many years to the great benefit of numerous
clients. His book is a must read for entrepreneurs
wanting to sell their business for the highest possible
price.”
Geoff
Green Partner
BSG
Legal Melbourne,
Australia
“Tom McKaskill’s latest
e-book, Ultimate
Exits, is his best to date,
providing a one stop shop for any business person or
investor. Much of the earlier material is focused on
business improvement and driving business growth. But then
Tom turns to his forte, the theory and practice of driving
valuable strategic exits. This should be essential reading
for any CEO or investor, not just as a single read, but as
a “bible” worthy of regular re-visits to ensure that the
key messages are always top of mind.”
Ergad
Gold Momentum
Funds Management Pty Ltd Caulfield,
Melbourne, Australia
“Tom McKaskill helped
me build a strategy for my small sports travel agency which
resulted in a staggering outcome. The business broker told
me I would be lucky to receive 4 x EBIT for my business,
however, with Tom as my mentor I obtained 40 x EBIT. Tom
helped me see how a large corporation could maximise the
value in my business and how I should prepare it for sale
and engage the potential buyers. The end result is a
testimony to the rare insights Tom has to value creation
and exit strategy.”
Rob
Cecconi Executive
Chairman and Founder Sportsnet
Holidays Melbourne,
Australia
“Ultimate
Exits is a MUST OWN for any
business owner, prospective buyer, stakeholder or anyone
involved in the sale of a business. As a strategic planner
for high growth businesses, a business owner and business
broker who has been involved in hundreds of deals, I have
never read a more comprehensive book on selling a
business. I was blown away with
Tom’s vision and brilliance. I have recommended the book to
all my clients whether they were interested in selling in
the future or not. There are at least 10 MUST DO things
that I have asked my clients to implement which will be
invaluable both in how they run their business and how they
create value for the future. I sincerely believe
that this is the best book I have ever seen on selling your
business. The context is right-on and the organization
makes it easy to read, follow and understand.
An
outstanding piece of work.”
Richard
Russakoff, CEO Coach,
Consultant/Speaker Bottom Line
Consultants, New York, NY, USA
“The key and critical
distinguishing characteristic of Tom McKaskill’s
books has been the transformation of an exit
strategy which quite often is a passive affair
for the seller and is frequently left to the
whims of the potential buyers or business brokers, into a
Proactive Exit Strategy. His new book offers the
definitive systematic process for this proactive exit
strategy that can dramatically revolutionize and transform
passive exits based on sometimes subjective multiples, into
proactive strategic exits through the creation of an
objective, undisputable and sustainable platform for
growth. This book is a must for the harvesting entrepreneur
or a family firm that has reached a succession or an
internal family conflict impasse...”
George S
Vozikis, Ph.D. Edward
Reighard Chair of Management Director, Institute for Family
Business California
State University, Fresno, CA, USA
“Tom’s book is a ‘must
read’ for entrepreneurs wishing to maximize the proceeds
from the sale of their business. Where the business
has strategic value, a proactive sales strategy
focused on acquirers with the largest opportunities and
most urgent threats will extract the most value.”
Jim
McElwain,Director, McElwain
Consulting Auckland,
New Zealand
“In 2005 I attended
Tom’s class on selling your business for a premium and also
read his earlier edition of Ultimate
Exits. The
additional material in this latest version of Ultimate
Exits has further strengthened Tom’s proven methodology for
unlocking the value of your business. In less than a
year after taking the course and reading the book I had
sold my company, c360 Solutions, to a public company for
roughly three times trailing twelve month revenues.
Without positioning my business in terms of the value it
could deliver to its new owner (as opposed to strictly the
financial metrics) I might not have achieved as attractive
an exit. The book and the course helped me to
understand and properly position the value of my company as
well as prepare the company so the due diligence and sales
process were quick and easy. Ultimately, Tom’s
methodology brought more value to both buyer and
seller.”
John
Gravely Vice
President, Marketing and Product Marketing Scribe
Software Bedford, NH,
USA
“As an entrepreneur who
has bought and sold businesses, I would definitely
recommend this book to fellow entrepreneurs. This book
contains many tips and pitfalls when selling your business
and by just following a few simple but often forgotten
steps will help you through the sale and will make you a
great deal more money.”
David
Southwick Managing
Director David James
Investments Pty Ltd Melbourne,
Australia