12 Key Factors to Focus on when Scaling Your Business for an Exit with Greg Sloan

This week on The Exit: What do you do when you’ve spent years scaling your company with the goal of an exit but the acquiring company falls through? This is what happened to Greg Sloan who started his financial services business one year before the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). After getting through the GFC, Greg decided it was time to build the business rather than just surviving. He successfully grew the business over the next couple of years, but after some self-reflection he decided he wanted to plan his retirement which meant scaling his business with the goal of an exit. He received an external valuation of the business which was well below what he would consider selling for. He identified 12 key factors that he needed to improve in order to grow the value of the business, and by focusing on those factors, Greg doubled the businesses value in just three years. That was when he started talking to potential acquirers. Listen to find out how those conversations went and why finding a buyer was the toughest part of Greg’s exit journey. Greg Sloan is a serial entrepreneur who started his first business nearly 30 years ago. In the summer of 2006, he found himself at the peak of his professional career as a Vice President for Goldman Sachs, so he designed and presented a new role for his division. When his manager wouldn't accommodate this role change, he quit his job to launch a boutique tax and financial planning firm, Daniel Advisors. During the next thirteen years, Greg grew the practice from a handful of clients to a firm serving forty-five households and managing $110M of investment assets. In January 2020, he sold Daniel Advisors and formally retired as a personal financial planner after 25 years in the industry. He now serves other leaders, founders, and entrepreneurs integrating purpose-centered leadership and decision-making to grow their business and leave their mark. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregonpurpose/ Website: https://www.telosplans.com/ X (Twitter) @Gregonpurpose - https://twitter.com/gregonpurpose Flippa’s First Access: https://flippa.com/exit For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: flippa.com/freevaluation -- The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/