Smart Business Magazine, December 2019

32 Smart Business Cleveland December 2019 dedicated even more time to the process My takeaway was we should have started some of this planning earlier especially regarding the structure and what would be the best organizational structure for me to purchase the business Naso says Thats going to give you the best outcome from a financing accounting and tax perspective Had our accountant not challenged my thinking and how I was going to acquire the stock I may not have gotten the best accounting or tax outcome You need that that good team behind you Without it I could have made some wrong decisions know if I really want someone from the outside coming in and owning it Why dont I throw my hat in the ring and pursue that The original plan was for Calta to own the business for five more years leading to a potential sale in 2014 When the time came however Calta decided she wasnt ready to step away so Naso continued to learn and get involved in more aspects of the business The deal wasnt off the table it just was going to be delayed a bit About two years ago the serious work began on negotiating a sale that would take place in 2019 We were both committed to creating a deal that would be mutually beneficial Naso says Because we were both so close and intimately involved in the business we agreed we really needed an objective third party to help us establish a fair business valuation Follow the process Naso and Calta worked closely with EdgePoint which several years earlier had facilitated a transaction in which Staffing Solutions sold a training center it owned I spent a lot of time really trying to educate myself on the whole process of valuing a business and the multipliers within our industry financing options and purchase structure Naso says Its pretty overwhelming when you start doing all of that research The biggest challenge was that I felt I really needed to surround myself with the right team of people to advise me Naso worked closely with EdgePoint Founder and President Tom Zucker I didnt even know how to build out the financing pitch deck that I needed to take to the banks and say Hey I need financing for this Naso says The other challenge was really my lack of patience through the process I thought it should have happened much easier than it did There was just so much back and forth We started this back in April so it took several months to materialize Even when its an amicable and planned situation it still takes a lot of time to go through the process Listen to the experts With the help of her network and advisers Naso closed the deal and took ownership of the business last month While the process tested her patience she valued each step that she took And if she had to do it over again she says she would have www staffingsolutionsenterprises com You think because you know each other because youre both intimately involved in the business that you dont necessarily have to do a lot of planning SUEANN NASO OWNER PRESIDENT AND CEO STAFFING SOLUTIONS ENTERPRISES DEALMAKERS DEALMAKER FEATURE