Here’s something you don’t usually hear a transaction advisory firm say: sometimes we can’t sell your business!
It’s not for lack of preparation. At Southard Financial, we go over every client’s business situation with a fine-toothed comb to accurately determine the value range of what their company is worth.
It’s not for lack of experience. In our case, we’ve been at this for over 30 years.
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” – Michael Jordan
In 1992, the United States assembled what has been called “the greatest collection of basketball talent on the planet.” For the first time in Olympic history, at the Barcelona summer games, professional athletes were allowed to participate.
The U.S. men’s basketball “Dream Team” was made up of NBA players who were at the top of their careers. Any one of them on their own was a superstar. All of them together were unbeatable, and they had a lot to prove.
Bob had built a booming business before he died.
It was something he’d built from the ground up with blood, sweat, and tears. He had grown from a single truck with some tools into one of the area’s most reputable fine home builders, with multiple crews working all over the city.
He was the 100% owner, and had run the company solely for the benefit of his family’s lifestyle. Many wonderful memories with his wife and kids were made possible by the income his business generated.
In the first eight months of 2020, M&A activity in the banking sector essentially ground to a halt.
The industry saw 173 transactions worth over $45 billion take place from January to August of 2019. So far this year, however, there have only been 66 transactions valued at a total of $7.44 billion.
Considering that the last three years have generated a significantly greater number of deals (255, 254, & 257 respectively), 2020 has some catching up to do. But in all fairness, those other years didn’t have worldwide pandemics to contend with, nor did they see entire economies turned upside down.
From the corner suite to the corner store, every sector of the marketplace has been dramatically affected by COVID-19. Hardly anyone saw it coming, and no one could have predicted the unprecedented economic reaction that followed.
But that’s not telling you anything you didn’t already know.
Even though this has been the first pandemic for most of us, we’re all pretty clear that it has been a big deal.
One question posed by many of our clients is:
David A. Harris and Mark A. Orndorff spoke at the 2019 Annual Fall Conference of the New South Chapter of The ESOP Association held in Orlando, Florida on October 16-17. They gave a presentation titled “Can Employees Really Impact Company Value?”
David A. Harris and Matthew L. Jakes spoke at the 2019 Spring Workshop of the New South Chapter of The ESOP Association held in Atlanta, Georgia in February, 2019 on the topic of “Valuation Appraisal Checklist – 10 Things Your ESOP Appraiser Should be Doing”
David A. Harris spoke at The Fall ESOP Forum of the NCEO (National Center for Employee Ownership) held in Albuquerque, New Mexico in October, 2018 on the topic, “Communicating Valuation: Tools, Tips, and Examples”.
David A. Harris spoke at the 2018 Annual Fall Conference of the New South Chapter of The ESOP Association held in Birmingham, Alabama in September, 2018. He led a workshop called “The People’s Roundtable Interactive Workshop – A series of ‘Build to Last’ activities that focus on developing successful communication and team building programs for employee owners of all generations.” Speakers included Dolores Lawrence, Blue Ridge ESOP Associates; Lindsay Baublitz, SCandH Capital; David Harris, Southard Financial LLC
Mark A. Orndorff spoke at the ESOP Nuts and Bolts Seminar of the NCEO (National Center for Employee Ownership) held in Indianapolis, Indiana in August, 2018 on the topic of “What’s Your Company Worth? – ESOP Valuation.”
Mark A. Orndorff spoke at the American Booksellers Association Winter Institute 2018 held in Memphis, TN in January, 2018 on the topic of Succession Planning titled “What is Your ‘End Goal’?”
