![\"\"](\"https:\/\/berkonomics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/List_companies.jpg\" "\\"List_companies\\"")
<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then in a brainstorming session, fill in the ten rows with the names of ten potential purchasers of the business, looking deeply for strategic and emotional candidates (see insight 91).\u00a0 Next, return to the list on the board and have the group do its best to divine what it is about your company that would most attract the buyer if it had perfect knowledge of your business and its resources. This could be your intellectual property, your geographic reach, your superior product, your management team, or perhaps your dominant position.\u00a0 Next, have the group focus upon column three, ignoring the obvious gain our company would make in liquidity to shareholders.\u00a0 List what the company would most gain in new resources from this acquirer.\u00a0 Would it be more cash for expansion, new intellectual property, better distribution, completion of drug trials, or more?\u00a0 And finally, have the group put a number in column four, estimating the likelihood of such a sale ever being consummated, with \u201c10\u201d the absolute highest and \u201c1\u201d unlikely to occur.<\/p>\n[Email readers continue here…]\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em>The magic of this exercise is not only in the organization of group focus upon the liquidity event and possible buyers.\u00a0 It is in revisiting column two of the chart.\u00a0 You will quickly note that at least four of the ten candidates, if each had perfect knowledge of your company and its resources, would want the very same thing from an acquisition.\u00a0 Whatever that is, it shines as the true core competency of your corporation, whether previously expressed or even recognized by management.\u00a0 It is in this area where I would redirect resources such as manpower and money, to build value more effectively and quickly than in any other area of the enterprise.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Occasionally, the insight gained from this exercise comes as a complete surprise to the board and management.\u00a0 And that is most rewarding to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is an exercise I perform with my boards no less than once every several years in planning exercises attended by the board and senior management, sometimes augmented with an industry consultant or expert from the outside. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use a … Continue reading