Challenge
The firm faced two challenges. First, the founder and his successor needed to agree on a fair valuation and buyout structure, a difficult task for service firms with few physical assets. Second, the new owner sought to ramp-up growth beyond its historical, organic rate. To do this, he knew he needed more than the company’s in-house wealth of subject matter expertise.
Action
AvinnaCFO valued the firm by examining its existing customer base and future prospects. After digging into the business model, AvinnaCFO developed a forecast of future revenues, using it as a basis for establishing a price for the company and a series of payments to the founder.
Our expert team then examined the company’s book of business, seeking opportunities to improve cash flow. This included advising leadership to forego certain client projects altogether, pursue collections more aggressively on others, and institute more favorable payment terms including finance charges for overdue payments.
Results
By following AvinnaCFO’s recommendations, the company was able to:
- Successfully transfer ownership of the company
- Increase cash flow by 250%
- Forego hiring additional staff to lead projects that would have been unprofitable
- Begin looking at acquisition targets to accelerate growth
With a leadership transition that left all parties satisfied and a more scalable financial and operating plan in place, the new owner turned his attention to realizing his vision for the company.