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I Love my Job...
as an MR agency Acquisitions & Development Director
Working for a global agency with big ideas and a buoyant balance sheet is, I suppose, exciting for any employee. Being at the forefront of its expansion must rank among the most exciting jobs, however.
I enjoy almost every aspect of my work, although flying around the world can be tiring - the glamour of the actual travel wears off. Fortunately, what I'm doing on the ground is interesting enough to more than compensate:
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discussing our needs and direction with some of the bright minds in the boardroom - dynamic people to be working with, and they value my skills and input
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investigating and researching possible buys, (yes, I still do research of a kind) with help from excellent support staff
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building a shortlist of companies and contacts, and making cautious initial enquiries via the proper channels
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meeting with the leaders of potential acquisition targets, and discussing their aims for the company and, in some cases, their personal ambitions and requirements - then reporting back to my global CEO. |
I can hand over a lot of the technical detail to lawyers, advisors and financial directors within the company, but I can also stay involved in the process up to the acquisition and beyond, so I get to see the results of my work and have at least a minor role in its continuation. For the most part, however, I'm happy to be the front line guy, identifying companies and going in for the first, exploratory meetings. It would only get repetitive if the company's direction weren't changing and its aims evolving all the time - and if I worked for a company where that was the case, I guess I would be looking to leave. As it is, it's a challenging, exciting and rewarding job.
I hate selling my company!Well, I've been involved in two sales now of companies that I've built up or helped build up, and technically if I hated selling the first one enough, I might not be selling the second, I suppose.
But there are reasons to go through the hateful process all over again, most of all the chance to move on and do something else, with
enough money in one's pocket not to be too stressed about the future. Set against this the drudgery and stress of the sale itself:
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the potential buyers who turn out to be timewasters - who after a lengthy process offer you a pitiful sum for your hard-won business, and
valuers who, for all the thick wedge they are getting for their 'high-level professional advice', end up basing the calculation on some ridiculously standardised system which seems to take no account of anything except current balance and profitability, or some other random-seeming quantity which if I was so inclined (and/or corrupt) I could fix in a few months to add or subtract a million or more from the value.
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That's if they get that far. Some of them impose such unacceptable conditions that we don't even get to the due diligence stage. For example, one would not agree to keep
our competitor info and SWOT analysis confidential for more than a few months after a possible breakdown of negotiations, arguing that to do so would place
unreasonable restrictions on their future activity in the sector. Well, pardon me if I don't want to tell everything to someone who might buy a competitor instead in 12
months' time! When things do proceed, dealing daily with such large sums and knowing that a small adjustment to terms now or a small mistake could
mean months or years of work down the tubes, imposes gigantic stress.
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The actual amount of paperwork involved seems inexplicably large - and larger this time than the first time I sold, even allowing for a slightly more complex company and a few new pieces of legislation. Nothing ever gets *simpler*, does it?
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The doubt is horrible. There are so many unknowns in the process and there were so many options: several
possible buyers, several different ways of valuing the company, many different times in the last three years
when we could have sold, and many more in the future I expect if we hadn't gone for it now. I will never know if I'm doing the right thing, or what might go wrong,
either in terms of the deal itself or my views looking back on it in a few years.
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On the last, it is tempting to worry so much about these potential pitfalls and regrets that you never get round to selling - but you need to take the plunge, and then be happy with your decision. Never mind if I could have got slightly more some other way; never mind if I'm not totally happy with where the company's gone since we sold it; never mind if when all is said and done I don't like the buyers as much as when we started. I have to just tell myself I did my bit, worked hard, got a good payoff and the satisfaction of having built something good. And I'm glad I'm not still in the process of selling it now. |
