Business buyers (and job applicants) want to know about any mine fields they’re walking into. Sometimes it’s easy but often it’s hard to figure out, because a detached (coasting) owner isn’t aware.
If it’s the owner who’s a problem, they’re gone post-close. And often it is the owner who sets the bad tone. As I’ve written about before, the employees said Dick would do a drive-by; he’d hover over an employee and then say something like, don’t worry about it, it’s only my money,
But what if it’s an employee? Consider the following and realize the buyer might not find out until they own the business.
- A COO who has a habit of talking down to people.
- Coasting owners who have a good management team for maintaining but not for growing the company (and all buyers want to grow).
- A controller who thinks a women’s place is in the home and resents women in the office.
Culture often looks different from the outside than from within. And often from within a department so the rest of the staff don’t know what’s going on.
The good news is, most owners do keep on top of things and will give a heads up.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Albert Einstein
“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.” Salvador Dali
