I spoke to a friend who is a private equity investor. His firm completes a lot of add-on investments for its portfolio companies. He expressed chagrin with how smaller companies with fewer resources approach M&A — often, a complete lack of preparation. This doesn’t come from a bad place, it just comes from not knowing how to execute an M&A deal. The end result — a delayed transaction and a lot of frustration on both sides.
Here’s the specific scenario he recently dealt with. A couple years ago, through cold outreach, he gets on the phone with a business owner. They hit it off, but the owner is not ready to sell. They stay in touch on and off over the next two years. Then one day, unprompted, the business owner contacts my friend: been thinking about our conversations, I’m ready to sell, think we can take care of this over the next couple weeks. My friend’s immediate reaction (internal, of course): I’m buying a business, not a refrigerator. We need to understand your financials, customer contracts, supplier terms, facilities, equipment, etc.
It’s easy to lose sight of the nitty-gritty details involved in M&A. We see deals get announced frequently, with press releases that laud the capabilities of both sides and how together they’ll unlock incredible growth. But what’s missing in these flashy summaries is the roll-up-your-sleeves grunt work that needs to get done — on the sell-side — to maximize the value of your business.
This is where we come in. At Odin Mimir, we work directly with private company owners to get the sell-side ready — before a process begins, before an advisor is hired, before a buyer is on the phone expecting a clean data room. Our Value Gap Assessment walks you through exactly what a sophisticated buyer will scrutinize: your financials, business performance, customer and supplier relationships, operational infrastructure, and team. We identify the gaps, prioritize what matters, and build a plan to close them. So that when the right buyer calls — or when you make the call — you’re not asking if it can happen in a couple weeks. You’re the one making it happen.