Eric Van Dam

I think it's really important to make sure that you have a law firm that is active in the mergers and acquisition market. So we see a lot of business owners that may have a very good corporate attorney that may not be an expert in mergers and acquisition.

I think it's really important to make sure that you have a law firm that is active in the mergers and acquisition market. So we see a lot of business owners that may have a very good corporate attorney that may not be an expert in mergers and acquisition.

And that corporate attorney can still be extremely valuable in the process, providing support in the history on some of the contracts and some of the background on the business. But it's really important If you're selling your company, think about the private equity firms are going to have law firms from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles that are extremely active, extremely quick.

And that corporate attorney can still be extremely valuable in the process, providing support in the history on some of the contracts and some of the background on the business. But it's really important If you're selling your company, think about the private equity firms are going to have law firms from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles that are extremely active, extremely quick.

And you need to have a law firm that can help you if there is a tax issue that comes up, if there's an employment issue that's going to come up, if there's something else that comes up during the process, you know, you're going to want their advice and you need to understand what is market terms and what is not so that you can really focus your resources on getting a deal done on the best terms for you.

And you need to have a law firm that can help you if there is a tax issue that comes up, if there's an employment issue that's going to come up, if there's something else that comes up during the process, you know, you're going to want their advice and you need to understand what is market terms and what is not so that you can really focus your resources on getting a deal done on the best terms for you.

Rob's exactly right. And groups want to see that there's a really good culture. And that's hard to define. How do you define what is a good culture? But you can look at, you know, what is your technician turnover? What are your ratings on Glassdoor?

Rob's exactly right. And groups want to see that there's a really good culture. And that's hard to define. How do you define what is a good culture? But you can look at, you know, what is your technician turnover? What are your ratings on Glassdoor?

What are some of the things that you're doing inside the organization to empower your people and get that excitement out of them and get the best out of your employees? Are you going bowling with the guys? Are you playing in softball games? Are you creating awards and all sorts of incentives for them that fire them up and get them excited at the end of the day?

What are some of the things that you're doing inside the organization to empower your people and get that excitement out of them and get the best out of your employees? Are you going bowling with the guys? Are you playing in softball games? Are you creating awards and all sorts of incentives for them that fire them up and get them excited at the end of the day?

But what are you doing to really instill a good culture inside your organization? And that's what groups want to see.

But what are you doing to really instill a good culture inside your organization? And that's what groups want to see.

Well, that's what I mentioned earlier. Not all private equity firms are created equal, and there's a lot of differences among them. But it's important to run a process where you have a lot of different options. And what we encourage our clients is, especially the management presentation process, it isn't just the private equity firm interviewing you.

Well, that's what I mentioned earlier. Not all private equity firms are created equal, and there's a lot of differences among them. But it's important to run a process where you have a lot of different options. And what we encourage our clients is, especially the management presentation process, it isn't just the private equity firm interviewing you.

It's as much about you interviewing the private equity firm and asking them questions around, give me an example of when a situation went wrong and how you handled it. How are you adding value to your portfolio companies? But really doing a lot of due diligence on your end on that private equity firm.

It's as much about you interviewing the private equity firm and asking them questions around, give me an example of when a situation went wrong and how you handled it. How are you adding value to your portfolio companies? But really doing a lot of due diligence on your end on that private equity firm.

And even when we get down to the final two or three groups, we'll even ask for a list of references of former business owners, former CEOs. And we let our management teams reach out to them and talk to those individuals to really understand, you know, what is that private equity firm like as a partner?

And even when we get down to the final two or three groups, we'll even ask for a list of references of former business owners, former CEOs. And we let our management teams reach out to them and talk to those individuals to really understand, you know, what is that private equity firm like as a partner?

And so it's important to make sure that you're doing due diligence on the next group too, to make sure that your goals and objectives are going to be achieved with the right partner.

And so it's important to make sure that you're doing due diligence on the next group too, to make sure that your goals and objectives are going to be achieved with the right partner.