Specialists at $1m-$20m tech company EXITS
Trust the EXPERTS
Starting a tech business is exciting. The ideas, customers, tech, building the MVP – this is what founders live for. Yet there are key steps that often get overlooked. Ultimately your payday for all the hard work and the payoff for your investors in your vision is at the EXIT. Yet, this is the step that gets least amount of focus from founders. A quick “We will sell or IPO in x years” is normally the extent of the planning. Yet we know that a good exit takes years of planning –
IT DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN.
Copperstone Capital helps founders understand the exit and the impact that exit has on key stages in the business, from hiring the right people to the strategy of capital raising. We have the experience and understanding to craft an exit strategy that will achieve your aims. When you are ready to exit we can execute for you.…
When it comes to selling your business, planning is key
Most owners are not experienced at selling. Up to 80% of businesses offered for sale do not sell. It can take up to 5 years from the time you decide selling is a good idea until you are finally free. Planning an Exit can often double the amount received for the sale. Do not wait until you have to sell, talk to an adviser from Copperstone Capital today and see how we can help increase the value of your business and position it for sale.
Time to break out the champagne – NO! Many unsolicited offers go nowhere and you have spent time and effort just to educate a competitor about how you do business.
Yet, handled right an unsolicited offer is just the catalyst that can help a sale process get YOU the maximum value possible.
The secrets of handling an unsolicited offer include:
- Be careful not to handover confidential information in the exploratory stages
- Make sure you have another potential buyer in the wings
- Make the suitor explain their process.
Using an advisor is often key to getting a good outcome, but you need to pick an advisor that has some experience in handling these types of offers (see case study)
When it comes time to sell….
You want an advisor that has a proven process and can not just list and flick, but can help shape the business for a strong sale.
There are lots of actions that you as an owner can take in the six months leading up to a sale that can improve the business, even one month of working ON you business will see a result.
Copperstone Capital has a process (see below) that has been proven to deliver results.
We know that selling your business is a high stress operation and can get emotional at times. We have been there and we know that controlling the process is key. The principal, Oscar Jones has over 40 years of consulting experience and can help you navigate these shoals and get you safely into harbour.
So when you want to sell your business……
A strong and proven process…..
Case Study
A senior executive in the potential purchaser, who was friendly with the Directors of company got approval from his Board to open discussions with the company to explore the opportunity to purchase. At that time the business was valued by the accountants of the vendor at around $1.6m. The owner then approached me for help in conducting the negotiations.
After a review of the business, it was clear that a number of potential purchasers existed and that some of them would be able to accelerate the company’s growth above the current management.
After developing marketing collateral and running a closed auction process, the company finally sold for twice the initial valuation and to a different purchaser than the one who first approached the Directors.
Structuring your Capital Raise is critical to your EXIT
There are different structures for raising capital depending on where you are in the start-up cycle.
Seed and pre-seed cap[ital is higher risk and is raised when the business is not worth much – so getting the structure right is a challenge.
Once growth can be seen, we get into the bigger raises – Series A, B, C etc. Now focus starts to change to control and when and how to exit.
Copperstone Capital can help you design your Capital Raise, what instrument to use, how much to raise and at what valuation and how to present your exit strategy.
PLAN YOUR EXIT AND BE IN CONTROL
Not planning your EXIT is like playing roulette, you may be lucky but the house wins the percentage.
As a founder, you can MAXIMISE your return with an Early Exit IF it is well planned.
Getting a great EXIT is like finding a minor road off the freeway when you are hurtling along at 110kph. Without a map you will be past the EXIT before you see it.
Example: Exit for $10m after 3 years is 238% return on your lost earnings, whereas a $100m exit after 7 years is just 107% return.
Most M&A advisors are opportunistic. They research the market and try to find a fit between a buyer and seller.
We are different.
We work exclusively with sellers.
We work to build an EXIT plan that will work for you.
We will tell you if you need to pivot to be able to EXIT.
We want YOU to win.
THE POWER IS IN THE PLAN
Most Founders have a rough idea of what they are going to do to exit. however many Founders end up exiting because they got an offer. Now getting an offer is EXCITING.
BUT many times that offer never goes anywhere, indeed the outcome of some unsolicited offers is the transfer of knowledge from the seller to the potential buyer WITHOUT ANY PAYMENT.
Knowing when and how you want to EXIT is part of the strategy, but knowing how to execute is also important, so whether you think your EXIT is tomorrow or 5 years away, the EXIT plan is critical to your success as a Founder.
We have spend many years perfecting the approach to selling, studying what works and what doesn’t, and we have modified the latest in Marketing to be able to MAXIMISE the price you receive for your start-up.
So don’t delay…..
If you want to read more, then download our free book:
5
Secrets you MUST KNOW to Maximise the Value of YOUR Start-up’s EXIT
In this exclusive report we’ll reveal:
- The #1 reason why Founders miss their optimal EXIT and spend wasted years on further development!
- Why you should NEVER trust people who tell you to IPO your start-up and what you should do instead
- The honest TRUTH about an EXIT and how to make it so much easier than you ever imagined!
- And much, much more!