Navigating Deal Killers: Jim Stevenson's 25 Years of M&A Wisdom

The Exit - Presented By Flippa

Technology

5 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Want a quick estimate of how much your business is worth? With our free valuation calculator, answer a few questions about your business and you’ll get an immediate estimate of the value of your business. You might be surprised by how much you can get for it: https://flippa.com/exit -- In this episode of The Exit: Jim Stevenson, founder and CEO of Bletchley Group, shares strategic insights from 25 years of advising companies through exits and acquisitions. Jim discusses crucial aspects of preparing a business for sale, emphasizing the importance of running solid fundamentals while leaving room for buyers to see growth potential. He also highlights common mistakes that kill deals, including overvaluation, waiting too long to sell, and founder dependence. Jim explains how multiples vary by sector and the importance of realistic comparisons with similar companies rather than billion-dollar corporations. Rather than seeking perfect timing, Jim advocates for taking action while being prepared for a process that can span 12-15 months plus earnout periods. For more details and insights from his entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit. -- Jim Stevenson is the Founder and CEO of Bletchley Group, an International Growth Consultants company with the goal of making growth the objective of your strategy and the result of your transformation. Jim is passionate about creating strategies that focus on customers while developing propositions, creating go-to-market plans and aligning capabilities to drive revenue and business growth. Website: https://www.bletchleygroup.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimstevenson/ Check Out Flippa’s Data Insights Tool: https://flippa.com/data-insights -- The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before we get into the exit today, I want to talk about the certified M&A advisors that are on
0:05.6	Flippa. If you are an operator right now running a business and you're thinking about exiting,
0:10.8	you are going to want to get a free online business valuation on the exit landing page. Without a
0:17.2	doubt, it is the smartest thing you can do to start a process and get yourself organized.
0:23.0	So you're going to go to the URL, flippa.com, slash exit, to check out more, and let's jump into
0:28.1	the interview.
0:29.2	Below and welcome to the exit presented by Flipup, the number one platform to buy and sell online
0:34.2	businesses.
0:35.2	Flipa manages over a billion in deal value annually and combines
0:39.4	expert buy and sell side advisory with its market leading valuation tool, deal room,
0:43.9	off market offering, market insights, an AI-based deal-by-deal matching engine. Now for the exit.
0:50.9	The exit is a 30-minute podcast featuring awesome entrepreneurs who have been there and they
0:54.8	have done it. The exit talks to operators who have bought and sold businesses of all different sizes.
1:00.3	You learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits. It's a world
1:05.1	occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. On this episode of the exit, I sit down with Jim
1:10.6	Stevenson. This is a fantastic
1:12.4	tactical style conversation today, where we not only talk through the ways as a seller you can go
1:19.4	into a conversation and strategically set the business up for a buyer to really see the future.
1:26.5	And a great example of this is how you price the business.
1:30.5	Initially, you want to price it at the top, top possible dollar that you could get for the
1:35.5	business, but ultimately you're not going to attract any sort of strategic buyer with that
1:41.5	scenario. And I really like the tactical way that Jim walks around the M&A process.
	...

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