Our 4 Phase Process
Our process, like our overall philosophy, is to keep things simple. We start with an initial no-cost, no-obligation 60-minute consult.
Assuming we jointly agree to move forward, we will establish a scope-of-work agreement and decide on the tools we’ll use for collaboration and communication.
Stop Waiting for “Tomorrow” to Plan the Future Wellbeing of Your Business
In life we often feel that we never have enough time or money, especially when it comes to planning our future. As a business owner, these sentiments are even more amplified. Everyone deserves a better future and a solid, reliable plan to get there. I understand planning for future contingencies may seem excessive – the future is far away and we never know what will happen, right? That’s true. However with the guidance of a well-crafted exit plan, you can take control of both your financial and personal future. You will maximize the value of your business and be prepared for unplanned sales, unsolicited offers and unpredicted scenarios [5 Ds]. Through proper planning you can mitigate risk for yourself and your family, clients, employees and vendors.
As a five-time entrepreneur myself I understand the feelings of concern, confusion and reluctance that come with the idea of selling your business. My cumulative experiences combined with being a Certified Exit Planning Advisor allows me to guide business owners like you through the process I once struggled through and eventually mastered – and come out of it confident and prepared.
The Blue Sky Four-Phase Process – The Business Owner Flight Path
At Blue Sky, we don’t believe one size fits all. Our Four-Phase Value Creation process, “The Business Owners Flight Plan” TM is designed to be flexible and customizable so that we are executing on YOUR DESIRED PROCESS, not ours.
We have designed each phase to build on the prior phase while sIll being flexible enough so that you can pick and choose which services you require and will invest in each step of the way.
At the end of each phase, you decide whether to move on to the next phase or stop. Here is how our process works and what you can expect when working with us:
Phase 1: We start with a valuation of your business.
The valuation becomes the cornerstone of our work together. It is the basis for developing your personal financial plan.
During the valuation, we identify what the opportunity for value creation will look like by benchmarking your business to the best in class in your industry.
Once we have an indica)on of value, we will partner with your financial planner to develop a comprehensive exit strategy. If you don’t already have a financial planner no worries! We will work with you directly to:
- Give you visibility into what you net from the sale of the business.
- Show you how the sale fits into the context of your financial life.
- Discuss the impact selling the business will have on your overall goals.At the conclusion of this stage, you can elect to stop with the information you have or elect to move on to Phase 2.
Phase 2: We conduct a thorough assessment.
In phase 2, we conduct a thorough assessment that focuses on three things:
- Business Readiness.
- Business Attractiveness.
- Owner Readiness.
At the end of this process, you will be provided an overview of the assessment. After our one-hour complimentary phone call to review the results of your assessment, you will be provided with a detailed analysis.
This report will provide greater detail on what was discovered in the initial assessment.
Lastly, we will provide you with a detailed ac)on plan to address the areas identified during the assessment and our discussion. This will be the roadmap that will increase the value of your business.
After you receive your assessment, we work with you to provide guidance through a series of checklists. This is to review the business and your readiness in critical areas that have an impact on a successful exit.
We will review the following areas:
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Legal Review – Corporate ✔ |
Insurance ✔ |
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Legal Review – Estate Planning ✔ |
Cyber Security ✔ |
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Tax Planning ✔ |
Due Diligence Readiness ✔ |
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Financial Statement Review ✔ |
Human Resources ✔ |
These areas will also be looked at during due diligence and should be addressed before taking the business to market. At the conclusion of this stage, you can elect to stop with the information you have or elect to move onto Phase 3.
Phase 3: We implement the value creation process.
In the value creation phase, we work with you to implement the tasks and strategies outlined in the action plan developed at the end of Phase 2. Together, we select the priorities you want to focus on over the next 12 months for yourself, the organization, and your leadership team.
Together, we then build action plans of what we expect to accomplish in the next 90 days. We then assign responsibility for each priority and agree upon how to measure progress towards achieving your goals. During this phase, we conduct a weekly check in call to review progress on tasks and identify issues.
Additionally, we will meet quarterly to review results for the prior quarter to identify any issues we want to add and to select our priorities for the next quarter.
Every six months we will conduct a one on one with the owner to review progress, the change in value, and discuss if the owner at this point would like to explore exit options or continue along the value creation process. Everything we work on during this process is designed to create value and prepare the business for due diligence by a potential buyer.
Phase 4: Going to market.
At the final stage, at the owners’ discretion, we explore all potential exit options. The owner then either makes a sell or stay decision. In this stage, if you decide it is 4me to test the market for a sale, we work with you to:
- Create the teaser to take out to market.
- Identify companies or investors you would be interested in talking to while also reviewing our list of potential buyers.
- Work with you and your professional team on evaluating and negotiating the Letter of Intent.
- Work with you and your professional team to prepare and guide you through the due diligence process.
- Work with you and your professional team in preparing and negotiating the Purchase Agreement.