Actoria sur BFM : quel est le bon profil pour reprendre une PME
When I shave in the morning, do I tell myself that I’m going to take over a business?
I believe that everyone’s destiny is written somewhere in the beginning.
Someone who has “bathed” as a child in an entrepreneurial environment is forever disgusted or, on the contrary, “genetically programmed” to take over a company. The only danger is to believe that in an SME you will find an organization like the one we find in large groups with a matrix organization, which is where many buyers come from, with a Sales Manager, a Marketing Manager, a Legal Manager… Not all SMEs are so structured, we must not lose sight of the fact that it is the SME’s manager who will find a security company to protect his premises after a burglary at 2 am.
In other words, you have to ask yourself: do I have the right profile to take over a company?
You have to want it, you have to be enthusiastic about it, it must not be by default, it is a new start with a risk taking that involves your family. It is true that today, in view of the job market, the takeover can be a superb alternative.
You have to prepare yourself: you have to do some introspection, I often recommend to the buyers to “criticize” themselves with reason, don’t necessarily ask family or friends who will often have a tendency to “flatter” and this is not helpful to the good decision making.
You have to find the right target. One remark: it’s not bad to go and try phoning in the hard way. Picking up the phone, getting past the assistant’s barrier, allows you to practice your speech. You make mistakes at the beginning, and then the meetings can turn out to be extremely conclusive, in line with your career path. Our job is also to explain to the transferring manager that he or she should not look for a clone. I have seen conversions that have worked (an ex-banker who bought a consulting firm), but one should not fall into the trap of being non-original. I see not enough female buyers or buyers who position themselves on the same markets as jewelry, leather goods, tableware, cosmetics, whereas they have the skills to take over industrial companies, I have in mind a young woman with a marketing background who took over a company that manufactures and sells curtain rods, copper and brass style, very high-end, you have to know how to open up to other opportunities.)
I’ve met buyers who come in with a check and say “find me a business.
I am used to saying that taking over a company is not an “act of buying” but rather an “act of selling oneself and one’s takeover project”. When the buyer meets the seller for the 1ère time, he arrives with his marbles, he knows the company, he has found on the internet the positioning, the market, the offer, he has access to the financial elements, and he must already be “in love” with the company and this will be seen, the seller will see it.
The ideal buyer has “built” around him a team of experts: lawyer, accountant. The buyer cannot be “good” in all areas, he must focus on the development of the company, organization. It is strongly recommended that there be outside analysts. If only to defend the financial package to the banker.
The ideal buyer has a sufficient financial envelope and is consistent with the acquisition price. You have to be humble. There is a chance that the individual buyer will be in competition with a legal entity. And there the seller also needs to be reassured about the ability to raise the necessary funds. Things have changed, a few years ago, we used to see substantial contributions, but these have greatly diminished today. This is not a handicap, there are nice little nuggets in France on niche markets.
The ideal buyer is convinced that he will go all the way, he is interested in the essentials and not in the details, he is convinced that he is the best candidate for the takeover.
You have to feel good about yourself, motivated, dynamic, the image you give will be the 1ère impression and the 1er asset. And then there is the time that passes quickly, which means that you really have to “take the bull by the horns”, move forward, have several irons in the fire, which is the assurance of going all the way.
Gilles PAQUEREAU – Directeur associé
gilles.paquereau@actoria.fr
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