Smart Business Magazine, December 2019

December 2019 Smart Business Cleveland 25 we learn things that they do exceptionally well Then were able to take that and share that with our other brands so that collectively all of us can continue to get better Successful transactions are typically the result of a process that puts the company being sold in front of a targeted pool of potential buyers Theres a lot you can do ahead of time to be prepared especially financially to make it as easy as possible for the person that might be acquiring or partnering with the company Rusk says Theres a way to make that much easier and for it to go much more smoothly In the end itll make the company more valuable as well Creating more value is about more than just generating additional revenue Rusk says People often look at mergers and acquisitions as being all about the money he says It has to be about more than that It has to be about the customer and the employees and the money will come later If you get together with a partner that has that same value system its going to make it a lot easier for you to be comfortable with your decision I know thats what made me comfortable with this one take these companies and now take my company to a higher level Rusk says Its going to allow us to grow into other states and other areas around the country So just getting back together with him and hearing his story and his goals and what he was looking to try to accomplish made me think that this might be a good avenue for us The ability to find common ground at a deeper level is critical when talking to potential buyers of your business When you sit down with somebody to have your first or second conversation about where this might lead I think its really important to talk about what your beliefs and values are Rusk says You can talk about it but you also need to be able to see it I was fortunate in that I was able to not only hear it but I was able to see it as well Rusk admits he may have underestimated the amount of work involved when you sell your business If youre planning on approaching somebody to sell your business or to merge with another company theres a lot of due diligence that needs to be done behind the scenes before that can happen Rusk says You need to be ready for that and you need to be organized I know that if I had to go through it all again I would have been much better prepared This all happened a little quickly for me Build value Groundworks has focused its acquisition strategy on identifying companies that are market leaders with strong management teams McGuckin says The company now has about 1350 employees through its 11 brands across the U S From an M A standpoint we continue to learn each time as we go through this process he says What is exciting to me is that this is not a one way type of thing Theres a lot of bi directional learning that happens We take from each of these businesses and www ohiobasementsystems com www groundworkscompanies com If youre planning on approaching somebody to sell your business or to merge with another company theres a lot of due diligence that needs to be done behind the scenes before that can happen MIKE RUSK CO FOUNDER OHIO BASEMENT SYSTEMS