My experience as a fellow CEO has taught me the following:

• Start early to get the right plans in place. While you’re working “in” your business, also work “on” your business. Use time as your friend.
• Early on, identify what good will look like one day personally and professionally. Make sure to include tangible targets for you to shoot at and shoot for.
• Ensure that you know what it’s going to take to EXCITE future buyers of your company. Don’t assume and don’t wait too long to find out what it will take to do this.
• Work a proven process. Don’t let the uncertainty of how to get the right plan in place keep you from forward progress. Get help from those that have done it before!

Having been on the sell and buy side of transactions, avoidable mistakes I see owners making are:

• Assume for years/decades that their focus only needs to be on Revenue and Profit and that these alone will enable the future value of the business. Missing entirely that other factors will be taken in to consideration by the acquirer in regard to the value they place on your company.
• An owner or owners that don’t invest the energy and time to getting the right plans in place that will build value. Not having the right targets and managing the business more tactically versus strategically.
• Not building the right organization (structure, culture, compensation plans, etc.) to enable the company strategy and to add to the future excitement of an acquirer.
• Not assembling the right team of experienced exit transaction professionals to get a successful sale completed.
• Not being ready to effectively support key aspects of the final deal due diligence that will be conducted by the acquirer.

Invest time early on to get aligned around what good looks like for the future. Often times co-owners work “in” their business but often it’s too late when they realize they should have spent more time also working “on” the business. Avoid future stress and anxiety that will arise for co-owners that didn’t get aligned early and didn’t get the right plans in place.

We help you grow the real worth of your company. This is enabled by facilitating you through our five-part campaign which ensures doing the right combination of steps to attract and excite future buyers. As an owner you have achieved being part of a special group. But your goal should be higher and that is to join the owners who have reached the pinnacle by building their business and at time of exit, being euphoric from the outcome. We help you in driving toward this outcome.

We work with you to:

• Identify your “what good looks like for the future”
• Know your environment outside your four walls
• Build a strategic plan that bridges to a “growing-business-worth” plan
• Enable the right organization
• …ultimately assemble the right team of transaction professionals when the above are complete

Growing your business worth and one day being euphoric with the outcome only comes from working a plan. And with this plan you can’t just do some of it well and yet miss other parts. Like the pilot coming in for landing, you have to do the right combination of things for a successful landing. Making sure you are doing the right combination of things for your business is the value we add.

Yes. We are passionate about helping you experience euphoria from the fruits of your labor over many years of hard work. Always willing to get on a phone or video call to have an introductory discussion and offer initial advice for those uncertain about what steps to take and even advice for those working a plan but want a sanity check.

After successfully preparing multiple businesses for exit and experiencing the euphoria related to the rewards, a friend said, “wow, well done as you bank your moment”. The comment referred to knowing the specific events or moments in running a business where I knew special attention was needed to grow business value. Not every moment requires or deserves that special attention. By recognizing those that did and giving them the appropriate attention, was like making an investment that would one day deliver a great return. There are a variety of these moments related to key business decisions you will be making about your business over the years. Each can hurt or help future investment return.

The campaign and various tools used are relatable to any industry or company. There are adjustments made to reflect nuances but overall the campaign has been used in various manufacturing and service related businesses with success.

Our experience ranges from businesses with $10M in annual revenues to those upwards of $500M. We are less about the size of business and more about the owner mindset and desire for having the right plans in place to build the value of their business. It’s working with these passionate business owners that we get passionate about having ourselves walked a mile in their shoes.

There are 4 main areas:

• Strategic Thinking & Planning – help sanity check an existing plan or facilitate the process to develop a new plan.
• Exit Optimization - guide your journey of growing your business worth by facilitating the right combination of needed steps to prepare your business to one day deliver a euphoric outcome.
• Executive Coaching – work with owners/CEO’s desiring an experienced counterpart for brainstorming and general guidance on strategic and tactical issues facing their business.
• Acquisition Due Diligence Advisory – work with businesses and private equity groups wanting to leverage the experience of operating executives to help evaluate acquisition opportunities.

Regardless of the advisory service provided, it begins with getting a Confidentiality Agreement in place to provide you the confidence to share valuable and personal information. Next, depending on your particular situation, various tools and templates are used to allow for customizing the process for working together. And in all cases, the first significant step is identifying “what good looks like” for the owner so there is confidence that we are aligned on tangible deliverables.

This is client specific as some prefer a Project based fee and others a Retainer based. A Project fee works well for a particular project and deliverable such as facilitation to develop a strategic plan. The majority of clients want longer term guidance related to the Bank Your Moment™ campaign and these clients prefer a monthly, quarterly or even annual Retainer fee arrangement.

As one client said, “you walked a mile in my shoes”. Yosemite Associates is unique from many firms in that our principal was a career CEO of various manufacturing and service businesses and has had success in strategy development and preparing businesses for successful exit at market premiums. It’s this experience that is most valuable to you. And from this experience comes a proven campaign and roadmap that helps take away the uncertainty of what steps you should be taking now to grow your business worth.

Over 20 years of being a CEO, gaining the hands-on experience and learning what does and doesn’t work in growing business worth.

In nearly every case, we work with you and your key managers. There have been cases, such as Executive Coaching, when it is a 1:1 working relationship. But the majority of client engagements involve working with the owner, CEO, key managers and the Board of Directors.

Our clients are geographically diverse. Many are in Southern California where Yosemite is based but others are across the country. A common comment heard from an owner is “I just want guidance in terms of the steps I should be taking to build my business value and I can take it from there”. With these clients we work very well via phone/video and periodic face to face work sessions. Or for those wanting 1:1 executive coaching, this also works effectively remotely

Yes. We will work with you to establish what you want to accomplish from such assistance and we have a proven method for delivering not only a plan that will grow your business worth but also give you the tools for ensuring implementation. The broad overview of our strategic planning process is:

• Where is your company today
• What is occurring in the market around you
• What gaps do you have between where you are and where you want to go
• What resources are required to enable your strategy
• Strategic plan documentation
• Strategic plan progress monitoring

Our job is to help you grow your business worth and be prepared to one day successfully exit. But we are not a broker or banker. We work with brokers and bankers on certain client engagements as they can be a critical element to getting a deal done successfully. But as a banker recently said, “what you do is actually Pre-Broker/Investment Banker…you help the business owner build the exciting business case years before the actual exit and then this helps the Broker/Banker come in and have an exciting story to tell potential acquirers.”

No, but having been a CEO running various companies over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with many great firms from the various service industries. Several of these are now Yosemite Associates partners and can be called in to supplement needs you might have in the areas of:

• Transaction Lawyer
• Deal negotiator
• Estate Planning
• Accounting, Tax & Audit
• Personal Life Coaching
• Branding & Messaging: How Best to Communicate Business Worth
• Banking, Business Brokers and Investment Banker
• Project Management
• Data Analysis

In many cases, you have relationships with people or firms you may want to use during the Bank Your Moment™ campaign, such as a transaction experienced attorney or an investment banker. In those cases where you do not, we have partners to recommend and can set the relationship however you desire.

The future value of your business is fully in your control today. Many owners dream of the value they would like to one day receive for their years of hard work. Yet so many are not euphoric when time of exit comes. This is because not enough thought is given to what it’s going to take to excite future buyers and to use time as a friend in establishing the right plans to build that excitement.