Ever heard of Malcolm Gladwell? He released a popular book called “Outliers” and broadly introduced the idea that spending 10,000 hours practising something will turn you into an expert. Another chap, called Anders Ericsson, figured extensive practise over a minimum of 10 years led to superior performance. Experts are always made, not born.
With 10 candles to blow out on our birthday cake this year, we’ve definitely got enough skin in the mergers and acquisitions game to proudly call ourselves “experts”. In a market difficult to build a positive and professional reputation, it’s a fantastic milestone that we’re keen to celebrate.
Is time-served and previous deal experience critical to M&A success? We think it is and, over the next few paragraph, I will explain why.
From start-up to deal-making masters
Lets use my business, Vexus Corporate, as an example. The last 10 years has seen us develop from plucky newcomers to established business sale experts. No mean feat in a competitive market comprising of a wide range of business brokers and advisers, some good and others you should give a wide birth.
When I decided to launch Vexus Corporate, I knew how competitive the business brokerage and corporate finance markets were. I had first-hand experience exiting my own business and understood some of the frustrations and challenges that occurred during the process.
Frustrations that if avoided, I knew could benefit and help future business sellers.
With a strong background in sales and marketing, I could see many pitfalls with the traditional broker / corporate finance business sale process, my aim was to inject more sales and marketing expertise into a generally reactive process. We were able to strip away some of the complexity and formality you’d normally associate with operations involving accountants, bankers, and solicitors.
As an entrepreneur, I wanted to help business owners who were not lawyers and financiers themselves, to better understand what’s happening and why, throughout the deal lifecycle. Not just to get a deal completed at all costs, but to also fully support our clients process and exit journey, its challenges and help them as a trusted adviser to understand what is happening at each stage.
By entering the market from this slightly different, a more commercial angle, our small but perfectly formed team have been able to help me successfully complete over 100 business sales. Having a USP that made a difference, ultimately helped to guide and develop our specific areas of expertise over the last 10 years.
Regardless of what sector you operate in, there’s an intrinsic value in experience. The reassurance of proven, demonstrable success is key. It makes decision making easier and offers peace of mind.
What will the next decade look like for Vexus?
Rather than make predictions about what will be different when we reach our 20th birthday, we’d prefer to share something that will 100% stay the same. Our priority will always be to help and support retiring business owners who need help when selling their business. We’re committed to ensuring that never changes.
Time really does fly when you’re having fun. It might be a cliché but that doesn’t stop it being true. For everyone here at Vexus, there’s still the same satisfaction from a completed deal as there ever was. We love the fact that as the business world changes, we’re constantly learning and developing in terms of our sales and marketing strategies. Getting to grips with new client sectors and the research that goes into that, remains as fun as always. Also working with our supporting partners and introducers is both productive and enjoyable. Frankly, we don’t want any of that to change.
Bringing the right people together and connecting them is what motivates us. With each client and project benefiting from our extensive and expert knowledge, coupled with our sales and marketing focused USP, here’s to the next 10 years of helping business owners maximise their exit value.
If you are interested in exploring a potential sale of your business or need advice on preparing your business for sale, please email me at tony@vexus.co.uk or fill in our contact form here.
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