

Consulting Firm Aquihire? - entreken

I run a consulting firm that I've grown over the last 4 years to be just over $2M/year. We have 11 employees. One of my biggest clients, who makes up about 50% of my business, has been pursuing an aqui-hire for a while, and recently, they've asked me to name my price. So far the only term they've put down is that they want to buy 100% of the company, and lock myself and a few of the other key employees in with profit sharing, etc. I'm on the fence about this, I like the idea of the payout, and having larger budgets to work with and being able to work one exciting new products. The idea is for my company to remain independent, just change ownership, and pivot from a consulting company to a product company.<p>1) Should I do this?
2) How do I protect our environment so my team can continue to function well together?
3) We're just on the verge of making our own products, should I throw in the towel now?
4)How do I price the acquisition given where we are now?
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cmorgan8506
Off topic, but I am interested in the steps you took in building this type of
business. Would I be able to get in touch with you? If so, just shoot me an
email. colin@fullbit.ca

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tribeofone
I did something similar to this a few years back, email me at
tialsotaish@dunflimblag.mailexpire.com if you'd like to discuss in detail.

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orangethirty
You can always build it up again with the money you make. Cash out, but don't
undersell it.

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samstave
Can you give more details about what services you are offering?

The cautious side of me says the following:

Will the morale of you and your employees change? If so, then what will happen
is that you'll sell out and your employees may not get the financial windfall
that you get, they get demoralized and quit and the whole thing winds up
falling apart and your 11 employees leave.

But that doesn't matter just because you cashed out, right?

Will you and your team retain the autonomy and freedom you (may) have now?

What about the other 50% of your business that you may be dropping? What is
the potential upside if you were to focus on growing that side of the
business?

You're looking to sell out to the client company who comprises 50% of your rev
for what?

THe larger budgets come with tethers to the scope and constraints of those who
own the budget... so just because they are larger doesn't mean you have more
freedom with them... in fact, if they are significantly larger - you may have
MORE scrutiny and reporting and metrics etc...

Finally, only you can answer this - but take a very cautious stance and don't
forget all the trade offs...

