While a leader’s years of experience may be invaluable, companies should not make decisions based on instinct alone. We are human and biases can influence the judgement of even the most “objective” leader. In today’s information world it is important to pair real-time data with analytical skills in order to arrive at the best decision. …
Tag: criteria
Is a Company Good or Bad? Evaluating Your Acquisition Prospects
How can you tell a good company from a bad company? A lot of CEOs say that they trust their gut when it comes to acquisition targets, but unfortunately instincts and opinions aren’t enough. We need facts and metrics. We need real tools to generate quantifiable data about the companies we’re considering. M&A is a massive …
Getting from A to B – Harness Your Ideas to Grow Your Company
Entrepreneurs rarely face the challenge of having too few ideas. In fact, like most entrepreneurs and business leaders you probably have a multitude of great ideas for growing your own business. Your biggest challenge may be figuring out which of all the alternatives is the best way to get from where you are now to …
Six Ways to Reduce Stress During Due Diligence
Pursuing M&A is a passionate process. Emotions run the gambit from excitement in finding a new deal to anxiety about risks uncovered during the acquisition. I’ve found due diligence and negotiations to be among the most stressful times during mergers and acquisitions. Here are six ways to help everyone keep their cool during these critical …
Signs You May Be Buying the Wrong Company
Buying the right company is essential, but it is difficult. It may be easier to eliminate the “wrong” companies – prospects with glaring due diligence issues such as theft or lawsuits, or even more subjective issues like a poor cultural fit. However, the decision is not always so black and white. How can you know …
From Markets To Prospects: “Taking The Emotion Out”
When you’re on the path of acquisition, there’s a shift that happens when you turn from the bigger strategic questions to looking at individual prospects. Now you’re dealing with real companies and real people. At this point, I have noticed that acquisition teams tend to become much more emotionally involved—sometimes to the detriment of the …
Developing Prospect Criteria
As I’ve stressed in an earlier post, I recommend including not-for-sale companies in your acquisition search. This will significantly expand your universe of potential acquisition prospects. However, with such a large pool, you must develop criteria through which to filter the prospects in order to narrow your options. The first step in establishing your criteria for prospects …
