Selling your business is a popular goal, and understandably so. It’s an attractive idea, that all those sleepless nights and countless hours of labor will amount to a well-earned payday. Here are some tips from Alexei Orlov, founder and CEO of mtm choice, for successful acquisitions.

1. The Alchemy of
Any Great
Acquisition
A L E X E I O R L O V

2. Selling your
business
is a popular goal, and understandably so.
It’s an attractive idea, that all those
sleepless nights and countless hours of
labor will amount to a well-earned
payday.

3. On the
other side,
if you’re a buyer, your goals are
somewhat similar. You’re hopeful that
sometime in the future you’ll achieve the
same thing, multiplying your investment in
a subsequent sale. But that equivalency
can often be hard to come by.

4. Nearly half
the time,
these deals end with one party feeling
dissatisfied, what we call buyer’s
remorse. Some frame it as the rightful
result of business competition, but the
idea that one party must be the “winner”
is an idea best left on the playing field.
Acquisitions needn’t be so ruthless,
especially since there are so many real-
life consequences, financial and
otherwise, at hand.

5. There is a better way.

6. There’s a
little pinch of
alchemy,
turning ordinary materials into gold, that
can spin most acquisitions into a positive
benefit for both parties. When it comes
to finding the right partner for your
business sale, no matter which side of
the equation you fall on, these discussion
topics can help you find the right results.

7. mtm choice,
a company that I founded just two years
ago is a specialist Brand Activation
Network with tech-enabled creativity at
the core. We have set out to be excellent
at what we do and leaders in how we do
it. Right from the outset we have worked
to some essential vectors…and whilst we
sometimes stumble, we genuinely aspire
every day to keep our balance upon our
essential operations vector – and one all
important axis:

8. Our Essential Operational
Vector: Understanding

9. We acquire
expertise
while making the best use of the
knowledge we already have. We
accomplish this by only buying what we
understand. Gaining this understanding is
the most important work we do.

10. We go
beyond the
numbers,
the EBITDA, the balance sheet – we
want to understand the journey – both
the good and the terrible. It tells us a
great deal about the character of the
business in both good times and in bad.

11. Having this knowledge is
essential to creating
transactional alchemy.

12. A client
portfolio
is always put out there to impress, but
there’s much more information to be
considered in an acquisition. More
importantly, we want to know why did
certain clients stay, so we can nurture those
positive aspects of the relationship once we
buy the group. Even closer attention must
be paid, however, to those that left. Their
stories often tell us about crucial faults,
about promises broken; these war stories
are where the greatest truths often lie.
Imperfection is not a sin. Pretending you
don’t have any imperfections is.

13. We are keen
to understand the path to growth and to
work with our intended partners on how to
help them get there–no one buys a business
to stand still. But there’s more than just
expansion to be considered. We have to
ensure the business is built to weather the
leaner times, staying sustainable when the
going gets tough. Hope for the best, plan
for the worst may sound a bit trite, but it
makes sense to store grain for the winter,
nes pas?

14. And then there is that one
and all Important Axis:
Equality

15. A living
example
of mtm choice’s axis can be found in the
North of Europe, in a country that may not
be known as a cradle of successful
companies, but the products of which are
familiar to consumers worldwide.
Swedish financial journalist Joakim Malmberg
put it this way: “A generous welfare state
makes people more comfortable at taking
risks.” Rather than kill innovation, a more equal
state of being promotes entrepreneurship by
ensuring that opening a business doesn’t mean
risking your economic life.

16. Sweden –
the land of “simple, smart, and functional”
design, is built on a truly radical focus on
EGALITARIANISM – a total embrace of
thoughtfulness and equality. Swedish
society nurtures those in need, and
provides a safety net for when struggles
are at their worst.
True egalitarianism comes when all
parties have equal access. Access to
comforts and necessities in everyday life,
and access to information in a business
deal. The philosophy of true equality may
fly in the face of the “winner take all”
mindset, but a more even-handed
approach has proven results.

17. This idea has
translated to
success for numerous Swedish brands,
which have found global profit building
on this egalitarian foundation. Companies
like Volvo, Ikea, AstraZeneca, Skype,
Spotify, and many more utilize the
Swedish way of doing business and have
become major international
heavyweights.

18. We at mtm
choice
aren’t a sovereign nation, but we set out
to create an environment in which
acquisitions aren’t a zero-sum game.
Egalitarianism here means everything is
out on the table, with no secrets or
misdirections.

19. I want my counterparts in
every deal to know that we
see them as equals. It makes
for good business.

20. It doesn’t only
make our acquisition deals better, it works
closer to home as well. Our office is a place
where equality means all ideas can be
considered, no matter who submits them.
Finding workable solutions to problems is a
whole-company goal, and everyone is
empowered to help out.

21. In all,
when the vector of understanding meets
the axis of equality, great things can
happen in acquisitions. The people on the
other side of the table aren’t adversaries,
they’re partners, and must be treated as
such.

22. When you sell your business,
you’re selling something that
you’ve taken years to nurture
and grow, with lots of love
and care. Be sure that you’re
selling to something who will
do the same thing. If there is
a genuine will, there is
always a way.

23. Thank you.
V I S I T A L E X E I O R L O V . C O M