Buy Grow Sell

Simon Bedard
  • 5.0 (19)
  • Investing
  • Weekly

Buy Grow Sell is the podcast for business owners on what it actually takes to buy, grow, and sell a business. Each episode features real stories and expert conversations on the decisions, deals, and conditions that shape business outcomes. Hosted by Simon Bedard, Founder and Managing Director of Exit Advisory Group, National Chair of the Australian Institute of Business Brokers, and author of Exit Like an Expert. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and YouTube.

  1. 2d ago

    EP105 How Andy Crebar Bought Wolf IQ: The Buyer's Side of the Deal

    "We must have looked at 150 different businesses." Andy Crebar was searching for a business that was already working, and the one he chose was Wolf IQ, the digital agency founded by Heath Maguire. Exit Advisory Group represented Heath in the sale, so this is the buyer's side of that deal. Andy spent four years at Macquarie Bank, then a decade in San Francisco building and selling two startups, including a software company that had its best year in the middle of the pandemic. He tells Simon Bedard why he chose Wolf IQ on fit with the founder and the culture, what happened to the team after the sale, what helps a first-time buyer, and the US deal he walked away from because he could not pay the multiple. In this episode: • What a buyer looks at first when a business lands on their desk • Why fit with the founder and the culture can matter more than the multiple • How a well-prepared data room tells a buyer you are serious • Why moving the goalposts in a negotiation erodes trust • What AI is changing for small-business websites, and what it can't do Exit Like an Expert, Simon's book, is the practical guide the show is built on: https://exitadvisory.com.au/exit-like-an-expert?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=bgs-ep105&utm_content=description-book Full show notes, chapters and FAQs: https://exitadvisory.com.au/podcast/how-andy-crebar-bought-wolf-iq?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=audio&utm_campaign=bgs-ep105&utm_content=description-episodepage Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FGaeKi4yqCk Connect with Andy Crebar Website: https://www.andycrebar.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andycrebar Connect with Simon Bedard LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://exitadvisory.com.au/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buygrowsell.com/ Related episodes: EP104 Heath Maguire (Wolf IQ, the seller's side), EP103 Charlie Emery (SOILCO), and EP102 Geoff Green (Fliteboard) 0:00 Introducing Andy Crebar 2:18 How Simon and Andy met: opposite sides of the Wolf IQ deal 3:01 From Macquarie to a one-way ticket to San Francisco 4:47 Buying a business that already works: 150 businesses 5:36 Money as the sanity check, then fit 6:53 Synergies, and taking the good with the bad 8:02 Failing accounting, and the Macquarie pressure cooker 9:54 Be, do, have 10:52 The language of business 12:32 San Francisco: a mentor, then a first startup 14:24 March 2020, and the best year ever 15:41 The 2021 deal spike and interest rates 17:06 Multiples cut in half 18:12 Life after his first sale: when you sell, you sell 19:16 A second startup, and coming home 20:41 Running a business with 520 customers 22:24 The Wolf IQ deal 25:39 You don't know what you don't know 27:27 Price expectations and the terms behind big multiples 29:33 What helps a first-time buyer 31:31 What buyers can do better 34:28 Professional signals and being organised 37:15 AI and the last mile 40:33 Would Andy sell Wolf IQ? 41:36 Strategic fit over the multiple 43:18 Moving the goalposts kills deals 44:34 Exit Like an Expert 45:21 Simon's takeaway

    EP105 How Andy Crebar Bought Wolf IQ: The Buyer's Side of the Deal

  2. Oct 13

    EP104 How Heath Maguire Sold Wolf IQ: Planning a Digital Agency Exit

    Heath Maguire started talking to Simon Bedard about selling his digital agency, Wolf IQ, four to five years before he went to market. When the conversation turned to price, his answer was this: "It was never a number. It was more so what the deal was going to enable me to do." For Heath, that meant a six-week holiday with his wife and two kids, and paying off the family home. Exit Advisory Group ran the sale, so this is a client's account of the process from his side of the table. He talks Simon through how he planned it: merging two agencies so the business could be sold as one, documenting it so thoroughly that over 200 pieces of information went into due diligence, and a three-month handover. He also covers growing on referrals in a medical-specialist niche, building a team in the Philippines, and what he would do differently. In this episode: - How to set a goal for your sale that keeps emotion out of the negotiation - Why the structure of your business may need fixing years before you go to market - What a buyer pays for in an agency, and why recurring revenue matters - How documented systems shorten due diligence and the handover - How to weigh an upfront payment against an earn-out Exit Like an Expert, Simon's book, is the practical guide the show is built on: https://exitadvisory.com.au/exit-like-an-expert?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=bgs-ep104&utm_content=description-book Full show notes, transcript and FAQ: https://exitadvisory.com.au/podcast/how-heath-maguire-sold-wolf-iq?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=bgs-ep104&utm_content=description-episodepage Connect with Heath Maguire Website: ⁠https://hmedge.com.au/ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathmaguire/ Connect with Simon Bedard LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://exitadvisory.com.au/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://buygrowsell.com/ Related episodes: EP103 Charlie Emery (SOILCO), EP102 Geoff Green (Fliteboard), and EP101 Jason Howard (StudyLink) 0:00 Simon introduces Heath 1:34 How Simon and Heath met 2:13 From the family restaurant to events to his own agency 4:15 A car wash at 12, and what family business teaches you 5:51 His mum's lesson: just show up 7:03 Starting Wolf IQ and finding the medical niche 8:57 Starting a business before you quit your job 11:19 Growing on referrals and white-label work 13:55 COVID, working from home and the Philippines team 16:32 Making an offshore team work 20:43 Why he started planning the exit early 22:54 Clarity takes the emotion out of a sale 23:51 Two agencies into one before going to market 26:43 Where AI is taking agencies 29:44 The sale process and the broker's role 33:12 The right outcome, clients and legacy 34:47 Exit by design: the business in a binder 36:21 Owning a business versus being a business owner 37:21 What he would do differently 38:54 It was never a number 40:01 Terms have value too 41:14 Upfront payments and changing term sheets 42:57 What sets a multiple 44:28 Advice for agency owners thinking about selling 46:12 Life after the sale: Simple Home Edit 50:31 The book and Simon's takeaways

    EP104 How Heath Maguire Sold Wolf IQ: Planning a Digital Agency Exit

  3. Sep 8

    EP103 From Family Business to Investor-Backed Growth: The SOILCO Story

    Charlie Emery got the call from his parents to join the family business in 2001, alongside his brother Mark. Twenty-odd years later, it's SOILCO, a national organics recycling platform, and Charlie is the CEO. In this episode, Charlie walks through what it took to build on what his parents started: buying into the business with real money, setting up an outside advisory board, and walking away from two investor processes that were not right, one where a corporate buyer halved its offer after due diligence and one where the deal just did not feel right, before landing on the growth-capital partner who actually fit: an infrastructure investor comfortable funding a business that needs years of investment before it pays off. Simon Bedard and Charlie also get into what it took to buy into a family business with real money rather than be handed it, why an outside advisory board matters more than people think, and Charlie's own advice for owners: be honest with your own strategic plan, or nobody else will believe in it either. Connect with Charlie Emery Website: https://soilco.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlie-emery-09b56422/ Connect with Simon Bedard LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://exitadvisory.com.au/⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://buygrowsell.com/

    EP103 From Family Business to Investor-Backed Growth: The SOILCO Story

  4. Aug 11

    EP102 How Fliteboard was Built and Sold to Brunswick

    Geoff Green was the first external investor in Fliteboard, the Byron Bay company that turned an electric surfboard into a global brand and sold to NYSE-listed Brunswick in 2023. He sat on the board from the outset and helped scale it to around $145 to 150 million in revenue in just four years. In this episode, Geoff shares the question that guided every decision: who is the right owner for this business at this point in time? It is a reframe that changes how you think about your own exit. Simon Bedard and Geoff cover funding fast growth without heavy dilution, why even an experienced board hired a corporate adviser to run the sale, what makes a growth story a buyer actually believes, and the identity shift that hit after the deal was done. Connect with Geoff Green Website: https://www.grgmomentum.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffgreenthesmartbusinessexit/ Connect with Simon Bedard LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠https://exitadvisory.com.au/⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠https://buygrowsell.com/

    EP102 How Fliteboard was Built and Sold to Brunswick

  5. Jul 7

    EP101 30 Years to Build, 6 Weeks to Sell: Jason Howard on Exiting StudyLink

    Jason Howard calls himself a 30-year overnight success. He built StudyLink across three different businesses, from a CD-ROM directory to the admissions software universities ran on, and never set out to sell it. At the end of 2023, he sold to Flywire, a NASDAQ-listed payments company, in a deal that closed in about six weeks. Simon Bedard and Jason talk through what made the business saleable without an exit plan: knowing your number, making yourself operationally redundant, finding a strategic buyer you already work with, and the personal toll of an exit that nobody prepares you for. Connect with Jason Howard Website: https://www.bowerbridge.com.au/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-studylink/ Connect with Simon Bedard LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard⁠ Website: ⁠https://exitadvisory.com.au/⁠ Website: ⁠https://buygrowsell.com/

    EP101 30 Years to Build, 6 Weeks to Sell: Jason Howard on Exiting StudyLink

  6. Jun 9

    EP100 The 7 Questions Every Business Owner Asks About Selling — Answered

    One hundred episodes. One consistent theme: the conversations business owners need to have about exit and rarely do. In this milestone episode, Simon Bedard steps back from the interview format to answer the seven questions that have come up most consistently across 100 episodes of conversations with founders, advisors, and acquirers. No guests. No framework. Just straight answers to the questions business owners are actually asking. Connect with Simon Bedard LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/ Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

    EP100 The 7 Questions Every Business Owner Asks About Selling — Answered

  7. May 12 ·  Bonus

    Is the Economy Working Against Your Exit? - with Warren Hogan

    In this special episode of the Buy Grow Sell Podcast, Simon Bedard sits down with Warren Hogan, Managing Director of EQ Economics and Chief Economic Advisor at Judo Bank, to discuss Australian inflation, interest rates, the succession cliff, and what it means for business owners planning to exit. Connect with Warren Hogan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/warren-hogan-835581116/ Website: https://eqeconomics.au/ Connect with Simon Bedard LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/ Website: https://buygrowsell.com/

  8. 12/11/2023

    EP99 5 Top Tips from Business Owners Who Sold Their Businesses

    We are reflecting on an extraordinary year of the Buy Grow Sell podcast, where we delved into the triumphs and tribulations of nearly 100 business owners from across the globe. To wrap up this season, we rounded up the top insights from our guests that every business owner needs to know. Listen to our final episode of 2023 and leave with five integral tips to ensuring a successful business sale. See you next year! Connect with Simon Bedard LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/srhbedard/ Website: https://buygrowsell.com/ Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

    EP99 5 Top Tips from Business Owners Who Sold Their Businesses
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5
out of 5
19 Ratings

About

Buy Grow Sell is the podcast for business owners on what it actually takes to buy, grow, and sell a business. Each episode features real stories and expert conversations on the decisions, deals, and conditions that shape business outcomes. Hosted by Simon Bedard, Founder and Managing Director of Exit Advisory Group, National Chair of the Australian Institute of Business Brokers, and author of Exit Like an Expert. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and YouTube.

Information

  • Creator
    Simon Bedard
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    106
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Simon Bedard
  • Show Website
    Buy Grow Sell

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