Strengthening market position, and establishing sound governance and operational systems gives prospective investors, purchasers or inheritors greater confidence.
Whenever a key change is anticipated in the ownership or control of a business, it is in the owner’s best interest to ensure that the business is ready for the change. In this manner the owner will extract full value, in both the short term and the longer term, and important stakeholders such as staff, family and minority owners are all accorded fair and equitable treatment.
Changes may be anticipated as a consequence of:
- Introducing new investors – most expansion or growth will require new capital. For investors to have confidence that their money will be invested wisely and will show them a return, the business needs to be “investor ready” and have sound plans for providing investors with a return;
- Succession – be it in the form of ownership or management, a well-run business in a tidy state will be more valuable and productive than one that is not;
- Sale or exit – a well-run business is worth more than a poorly run business. But positioning a business for a strategic sale will yield a higher price and this take sound planning.