ASSOCIATES
Family Legacies' Associates are leaders in their respective fields including; Financial Planning, Wealth & Risk Management, Auditing & Business Turnarounds, Corporate & Commercial Law as well as Professional Coaching & Facilitation, combined with Family Business Consulting expertise, to provide our clients with a professional and integrated multi-disciplinary service.
DU TOIT VAN DEN BERG
JEANDRE DU TOIT
LOUIS STROEBEL
DEBBIE MARTIN
Financial Planning, Wealth
& Risk Management
Auditing, Company Structuring
& Business Turnarounds
Corporate & Commercial Law
Professional Coach & Facilitator
BUSINESS TRANSITIONS
Helping business owners to buy, improve, grow & sell businesses
Family Legacies focuses on the integrated cycle of buying, improving, growing and selling businesses. We provide business consulting and ownership transition services to privately held small and mid-size business owners. Our mission is to help owners transition their businesses on their terms, on their timeline, at the maximum selling price. Our view is that this is a process; not a transaction. We accomplish this with a unique approach that brings a multi-disciplinary team on a preferred timeline that allows us to align personal, business and financial goals while improving cash flow and driving business value via pre-sale value enhancement initiatives. It’s a longer-term approach that results in happier and wealthier clients post transition.
OUR INTEGRATED BUSINESS TRANSITION CYCLE INCLUDES KEY STEPS
EXIT PLANNING
Exit Planning is a comprehensive roadmap to create a more valuable company. It asks and answers all of the personal, business, legal, financial, tax and estate issues that are involved in exiting from a privately owned business. Exit Planning includes exploring all exit options including sales to third parties or transitions to family, partners, management, or employees. As Certified Exit Planning Advisors we have learned how to help owners synchronize these into an overall success plan. These aligned goals become the foundation and the core values for all future planning and implementations. This plan shows owners how to begin positioning themselves and their businesses so they will accomplish all of their personal, financial and business goals when they exit or transition their business.
Exit planning is simply good business strategy. If the focus is on creating a more valuable company, all the things needed to create that value will be good for the business and for the owner personally. This is why we recommend value creation be the core principle upon which you operate your business. The first step to creating a more valuable and saleable company is to complete an Exit Planning Readiness Assessment and Business Valuation.
EXIT PLANNING READINESS ASSESSMENT
Exit Planning Readiness Assessment (EPRA) is one of two critical starting tools in the exit planning process. It focuses on two important questions: How attractive is your business from a buyer’s perspective? Are you ready to transition your business? The EPRA is an assessment that evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of a business - personal - financial plans of the owner(s). This score is used to help determine the business value and shows the business owner what aspects of their business and personal plans are weak and need improvement and what aspects of their business and personal plans are strong. The scores from the assessment help the business owner start the “de-risking” process.
BUSINESS VALUATION
The Business Valuation is the second critical starting tool in the exit planning process. The business valuation provides you with a range of values that your business is worth using multiple methods to calculate it. The business valuation shows you how your business stacks up against other similar businesses. It also identifies potential value enhancement opportunities that when implemented can substantially increase the value of your business. The business valuation is also the fundamental starting place for exit planning. Many owners have 80-90% of the wealth tied up in their businesses. The ability to harvest this equity will have a significant impact to any financial planning and/or retirement model prepared by a financial planner.
VALUE CREATION
Value Creation is the process of maximizing the fundamental value of the business. To accomplish this, owners need to identify potential value drivers which increase value, implement a system to ensure these opportunities are realized, and periodically revisit these value drivers to determine if goals are being met or need to change. In Exit Planning Readiness Assessment and Business Valuation, areas of improvement and de-risking were identified. In Value Creation, actions identified to improve and de-risk the business are implemented. Business owners, usually depending on the size of their company, can choose to have an advisor provide assistance on a limited basis as a Value Coach or on a longer term, more in-depth engagements, as a Value Consultant.
Advanced Value Creation is a strategic process of doubling or tripling the value of the business over a three-to-five-year period. The owner makes the decision and corresponding commitment to stay and grow the business or undertake the process to exit the business. If the owner decides to stay and grow the business the Advanced Value Creation process begins. Ideally, this process will begin with definition of a strategic plan. We use a four-step process to develop your strategic plan and integrate and focus your business team:
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Business Quantification
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Strategic Roadmap
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Integrated Functional Plans
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Sales Channel Details
Once the Advanced Value Creation plan is developed the ongoing level of our involvement remains the same as in Value Creation acting in the role of Value Coach or Value Consultant. In addition, because the complexity and investment of Advanced Value Creation we are often added to our client’s advisory board during this process. In some cases, we will take on part-time CFO or COO roles during the implementation.
Each of these situations is unique and treated accordingly. The decision to grow is multi-year commitment for the owner and usually requires a significant amount of money and time. However, there are tremendous benefits. Our clients have experienced doubling or even tripling of their business value. Despite the tremendous benefits growing a business it is not for the faint of heart. The owners passion, health, family, succession plan, personal situation, and business model all need to be seriously evaluated before taking on this commitment which is why we insist the owner complete the Exit Planning Readiness Assessment, Business Valuation and Value Creation processes before launching this program.
SELLING YOUR BUSINESS / MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
We work with buyers and sellers to search for and create better, more repeatable business models, which produce more cash flow, enabling organic and acquired growth, and maximize the market value of the business. Buy-side clients include existing business owners, experienced strategic buyers, private investors and investment firms, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives.
BUY-SIDE CLIENTS
Buy-side clients include existing business owners, experienced strategic buyers, private investors and investment firms, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives. For our buy-side clients, we strive to present healthier businesses and a more thorough understanding of risk and opportunity prior to making their investment. Using a professional intermediary reduces their cycle time from concept to acquisition. Our structured process can deliver acquisition targets in 90-120 days and acquisitions in 6-12 months. We have the subject matter expertise and resources to:
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Help you determine the right business and what your qualified to purchase.
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Locate and qualify the right business at the right price in a timely and efficient manner.
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Properly value the business.
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Assist you with due diligence.
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Assist you with negotiation and terms.
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Connect you with the appropriate advisors.
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Assist with funding and financial arrangements.
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Assist with the Terms Sheet, Letter of Intent, and Purchase Offer.
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Coordinate contingency clearing.
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Handle the transfer of funds.
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Provide guidance during the transition.
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Help you integrate the business and establish its growth strategy post acquisition.
SELL-SIDE CLIENTS
We sell existing businesses under strict non-disclosure and privacy agreements designed to keep the sale of your business strictly confidential. Our methods to sell your business are unique because of our background as business operators and owners. We think like owners, not investment bankers. We are able to identify and possibly more importantly, sell the value drivers of a business to potential buyers. Along the way we are providing guidance to help improve and grow your business while we have it up for sale. This brings immediate value to you, makes the opportunity clear in eyes of buyers, reduces the buyer’s perceived risks, and justifies the offering price. Our network of buyers and professional advisors is extensive. We use a multi-disciplinary, “team-play” approach which gets all advisors critical to the deal on the same page early in the process. This co-ordinated effort creates a more efficient process, a stronger team to represent you, and ultimately better value and a better selling price and deal structure.