Business Consulting Services

Specialist business consulting services are a must when doing something new or complex that you don’t have much experience of. As a smart hard-working entrepreneur you will no doubt have recognized areas in your business where you need external expertise to overcome specific obstacles.  As businesses grow, evolve and owners look for change, they outgrow their existing business skills.  This isn’t something to shy away from but to accept and address.  

This is where we can help you with targeted consulting services.  We offer consulting in three niche areas for owners of smaller businesses (revenues $1.5M-$10M):

  • Preparing to Sell Your Business

  • Strategic Planning and Raising Investment Capital

  • Valuation and Due Diligence Review (as buyer or seller)

INITIAL CONSULTATION

Before we go any further we need to identify the problems you are facing, determine if we have a good fit and consider the scope of the engagement.  Will it require an on-site visit?  What is the quality of the management information currently available?  How big is your business and what are your provisional goals?

PREPARING TO SELL YOUR BUSINESS

Preparing a business for sale and raising external investment require building trust in the future of your business.  Investors (or buyers) need to be sure that the business will pay them back and give them a good return on their investment (ROI). Building this trust requires they understand the business’s potential, strengths, challenges, markets and competitors. Here are some of the ways we can help”

  • Updated business plan tailored to investors needs;
  • Financial ‘Clean Up’. Presenting historical financial data in the most favourable light;
  • Financial forecasts and modelling;
  • Pitch deck and tear sheet presenting basic summary of business information to attract investors;
  • Prepare owners and management team on pre sale and due diligence protocols; 
  • Design and implementation of processes and procedures to make you ‘sale ready’.

INVESTMENT

For the strategic planning process to be most effective it’s important that you are able to invest your time and energy to work with us in creating your strategic plan, one in which you take pride and ownership and are committed to implementing.  Your investment with us starts at $6000* and is dependent on the size of your firm, the quality of the management information available and your ability to commit your time and energy.

(*Excludes expenses for any on-site visits.)

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND RAISING CAPITAL

The benefits of having a strategic plan are undeniable.  This is not just a business plan used for a start up, but an action plan to move your business forward in a structured, easy to communicate and measurable way. It clearly shows how the capital raised will be used, fund growth and pay back the investors

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”

Sir Winston Churchill

Who benefits most? Business owners with a growth mindset who are either unsure how to approach potential investors or more importantly what type of investment is best for them. Loans from banks or over 3rd parties can be expensive (even in low interest rate economies); equity (share sale) is a more patient form of investment but may come at the cost of some control over how you run your business.  Which is best for you? We can help you investigate your options, look at debt/equity structure and the financial and control implications.

  • Working with you we will undertake an in-depth analysis of your business including core competency and profitability analysis;
  • We will facilitate a visioning process to clarify your long-term goals and vision for the business;
  • Determine how much funding is required to meet and exceed your goals;
  • Working with you to identify your funding options, create a preferred investor profile and how to reach out to investors.

This strategic planning process can take place at your offices or online.  Often the facilitation process is best done so your team can be involved. Input from many heads is often better, even though the decision making lies with you.

 

VALUATION AND DUE DILIGENCE REVIEW (as buyer or seller)

Valuation- “determining the economic value of a business for various purposes including business sale and purchase.”

Business valuation can give a range of values from low to high depending on the method used, assumptions made and the state of confidence in both the business and the economy. As a business owner it is vital to have a realistic understanding of what drives value in your business before putting it up for sale. Having an independent consultant provide that range helps you decide if the time is right to sell and what steps can be taken to make your business more attractive to buyers and be ‘Sale Ready’.

Due Diligence – “a comprehensive appraisal of a business undertaken by a prospective buyer, especially to establish its assets and liabilities and evaluate its commercial potential.”

As a seller we can help you build a ‘data room’ to securely store the information needed by a buyer’s team. Review your data, identify areas in need of strengthening and those of risk. Where negative information has to be disclosed (and legally it does) we can help have answers to problem questions, present mitigating information and limit the negative leverage potentially disclosed. Some of these questions can be dealt with by you the owner, some will need to be answered by your lawyer, accountant or tax accountant.
During the due diligence process a buyer, or their representative, will go through all the information possible to find out if there is something wrong with your business.  Every blemish is a nail in the coffin of the deal or a negotiating weapon to reduce their offer to you.  Having a strong review prior to a buyer’s investigation, can help limit your exposure to unforeseen issue.

There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”
Donald Rumsfeld

A slow due diligence and finalisation of the sale/purchase agreement can be the death of a deal. Being well prepared speeds up the sale process giving the buyer and their team more confidence and reducing the time to change their minds.

INITIAL CONSULTATION

Before we go any further we need to identify the problems you are facing, determine if we have a good fit and consider the scope of the engagement.  Will it require an on-site visit?  What is the quality of the management information currently available?  How big is your business and what are your provisional goals? Contact us to book a consultation. info@enablebusiness.ca or call us on +1 250 816 7366 (we are on PST)