Selling your Business with Brandon Kuchta - Ep. 143

My guest on this episode is Brandon Kuchta, the former CEO of Analytical Technologies Group, which provides repair, maintenance, and contract services for lab instruments. I say former because he sold ATG last October, and today's episode is going to cover all things selling a company from determining the right timing, what is typical in a process, and communication across stakeholders. We also talk about life after the sale, including Brandon's consulting period with the new owners and how operators can relax and give themselves a well-deserved and often much-needed break. Enjoy.
Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. 
Links:
Brandon Kuchta on LinkedIn
Seven Springs Partners

Topics:
(2:31) - What was the business you ran and what was the process for selling it?
(4:09) - How did you know it was the right time to sell the business?
(7:03) - What advice did you get from other folks about selling a business and planning for life after the sale?
(8:27) - How long was it between deciding to sell and selling the business? 
(9:25) - What sorts of things would you do to prepare to sell a business if you had a 2-3 year runway?
(13:12) - Would you run a business differently if you knew you would be selling it?
(14:39) - What made you decide to hire a bank to represent the company instead of going directly to buyers?
(16:18) - How did you filter which bank you would partner with?
(19:41) - What types of offers were you fielding?
(22:11) - What were the typical terms you saw for seller financing?
(23:38) - How did you think through rollover structures within offers?
(26:04) - What were some expectations buyers had if they wanted you to roll over some equity?
(27:48) - What was your thinking on a strategic sale vs. a PE sale?
(29:33) - How do you think about communicating the process of selling with different stakeholders?
(34:28) - What was the reaction from your team when you announced the sale?
(36:32) - What did the consulting agreement look like?
(38:41) - What is your role today?
(39:16) - How have you relaxed and decompressed as the former CEO?
(43:31) - What are your health and fitness plans?
(49:10) - What’s a strongly held belief you’ve changed your mind on?
(50:59) - What’s the best business you’ve ever seen?

My guest on this episode is Brandon Kuchta, the former CEO of Analytical Technologies Group, which provides repair, maintenance, and contract services for lab instruments. I say former because he sold ATG last October, and today's episode is going to cover all things selling a company from determining the right timing, what is typical in a process, and communication across stakeholders. We also talk about life after the sale, including Brandon's consulting period with the new owners and how operators can relax and give themselves a well-deserved and often much-needed break. Enjoy.

Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. 

Links:

Brandon Kuchta on LinkedIn

Seven Springs Partners

Topics:

(2:31) - What was the business you ran and what was the process for selling it?

(4:09) - How did you know it was the right time to sell the business?

(7:03) - What advice did you get from other folks about selling a business and planning for life after the sale?

(8:27) - How long was it between deciding to sell and selling the business? 

(9:25) - What sorts of things would you do to prepare to sell a business if you had a 2-3 year runway?

(13:12) - Would you run a business differently if you knew you would be selling it?

(14:39) - What made you decide to hire a bank to represent the company instead of going directly to buyers?

(16:18) - How did you filter which bank you would partner with?

(19:41) - What types of offers were you fielding?

(22:11) - What were the typical terms you saw for seller financing?

(23:38) - How did you think through rollover structures within offers?

(26:04) - What were some expectations buyers had if they wanted you to roll over some equity?

(27:48) - What was your thinking on a strategic sale vs. a PE sale?

(29:33) - How do you think about communicating the process of selling with different stakeholders?

(34:28) - What was the reaction from your team when you announced the sale?

(36:32) - What did the consulting agreement look like?

(38:41) - What is your role today?

(39:16) - How have you relaxed and decompressed as the former CEO?

(43:31) - What are your health and fitness plans?

(49:10) - What’s a strongly held belief you’ve changed your mind on?

(50:59) - What’s the best business you’ve ever seen?