How a Vision Board Drove One Owner to Sell
A few weeks ago, Shaun Oshman sold iSupportU, a Colorado-based IT support business.Oshman started the business at the age of 32 and knew he wanted to sell before his 40th birthday. As that milestone approached, Oshman started getting his business ready to sell.
He started by focusing on selling recurring revenue services, like antivirus software, which offered their partners an annuity stream of revenue. Next, Oshman hired someone as head of business development to replace himself as the rainmaker. Finally, Oshman started to take one out of every six weeks off to see how the business would run when he was not in the office.
Since the business was running well without him, Oshman started marketing it for sale, and within three months, he had five solid offers. Oshman agreed to sell to one buyer with whom he felt a cultural fit.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- The definition of SDE and how to calculate it for your business.
- How a vendor take back works.
- The importance of bank financing for buyers and how to ensure your acquirer can get some.
- What a vision board is and how to use one to get what you want.
- How your ego can lower your company’s value.
- Two questions every employee will ask when you reveal you’re selling (and how to answer them).
- The surprising power of being vulnerable.