cover of episode An Acquisition Entrepreneur’s First Months As CEO

An Acquisition Entrepreneur’s First Months As CEO

2024/8/12
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Think Big, Buy Small
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Nick Wheeler
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Rick Rubeck
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Royce Yudkoff
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Nick Wheeler：我从军队的领导经验以及哈佛商学院的学习中获益匪浅。我的收购搜索历时 19 个月，期间经历了两次失败的交易意向书，这让我深刻体会到尽职调查和营运资金谈判的重要性。我收购了两家公司：NSCA Technologies 和 Tracal Lab，这两家公司在测试测量设备销售和校准维修方面拥有良好的声誉和稳定的客户基础。收购后，我面临着整合团队、处理库存问题以及学习定价等挑战。我解雇了两名员工，并对公司的 IT 系统进行了升级，包括实施 CRM 系统和更换旧电脑。在与前任老板的合作中，我逐渐掌握了公司的运营，并最终让他完全退出公司日常运营。我发现最难学习的是定价，因为公司服务于超过一千种不同的设备。在未来，我计划专注于处理现有的销售需求，并拓展更具战略意义的销售机会。 Royce Yudkoff：自筹资金进行搜索的优势在于可以获得更高的公司所有权比例，从而获得更高的回报，并拥有对公司的完全控制权；此外，还可以选择规模更小的公司进行收购。然而，自筹资金搜索面临的最大挑战是交易失败，这可能导致搜索者错过好的交易或被迫接受不好的交易。尽职调查的顺序至关重要，应优先进行成本较低的调查，以提高交易成功的可能性。建议在签署意向书后，在公司进行为期两周的现场尽职调查，以发现可能导致交易失败的问题。 Rick Rubeck：交易失败的成本相对于总交易成本而言是很小的，搜索者不应过度担忧。在进行尽职调查时，应优先进行成本较低的调查，以提高交易成功的可能性；建议在签署意向书后，在公司进行为期两周的现场尽职调查。拥有多个股权所有者会增加交易失败的风险，因此在签署意向书之前，应与每个股权所有者进行单独沟通，以确保他们对交易达成一致。在收购初期，企业主应该避免进行过多的专业化投资，而应该先专注于了解业务并提高效率。在进行专业化投资之前，企业主应该确保投资能够带来足够的回报。优质企业即使在估值较高的情况下也值得收购，因为其稳定的客户基础和高质量的服务能够带来持续的收入和利润。

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Nick Wheeler discusses his background and motivation for buying NSCA & Tra-Cal, including his personal fit with the business and the enduring profitability of the company.

Shownotes Transcript

In February of 2024, after a self-funded search, Nick Wheeler took the helm at NSCA & Tra-Cal, an enduringly profitable small business that’s been serving the electronics, manufacturing, and telecom industries since 1988. In this episode, he reflects on his entrepreneurship through acquisition journey to-date, with a particular focus on his experience of “drinking from the firehose” during his first months as CEO. Nick shares the pain of broken deals during the search process; what appealed to him about NSCA & Tra-Cal, including those specific characteristics that made it a high-quality acquisition target; his approach to Day One on the job; his relationship with the seller during the transition period; the strategies he’s implemented; and his thoughts on both the challenges and the tremendous fulfillment that he’s experienced along the way.