Alper was unsure of his exit strategy. Like most owner/CEOs, he had never planned one before. Many unanticipated events were happening at once. Alper openly touches on the emotional toll and pressure he felt from selling the 3rd generation family business to a non-family buyer. Fred felt lost, unsure what to do with his shares…

At first Alper felt comfortable leaving the company to his successor. Both men had the common vision for maintaining the culture of the company. Initially Alper continued in a supporting role to the new CEO, which he later realized was a mistake. Alper candidly talks about this misstep and how he would step completely away…

Fred Alper, Chairman of 22 years at Morris Alper Inc., tells us about the origin of the business, which his grandfather started as Morris Alper & Sons. The food brokerage company rapidly grew into a business selling branded items. When Fred Alper entered the company in 1970, he helped build the business by bringing in…

As the deal unfolded, it became clear that the buyer of Vanguard Sailboats was not on the same page as Chip. The transaction experience extracted an emotional toll on Chip – managing both the business and the sales process was a challenge. The emotional roller coaster proved to be stressful, but persistence and patience were…

A stable history at Vanguard Sailboats made the company credible. In this video, Chip outlines the unsolicited offer to buy his business and a plan to sell that took nearly a year to perfect. Chip describes how his plan to sell the business had to be tweaked along the way due to complexities in the…

As President and CEO of Vanguard Sailboats, Chip John talks about what sparked his passion for sailboats and his inspiration to get into the sailboat building industry. Chip has a compelling story of disciplined rapid growth and dealing with an acquisition and merger with his biggest competitor, which sparked a 3-fold revenues growth which helped…

A key factor in the process of selling a business is letting go. Comer talks candidly about the emotions he encountered when leaving the company he had been part of for many years. Sometime after the transaction was complete, it became clear that the company was in danger. Reluctantly, Kevin offered to come back as…

As Kevin approached his 60’s, he decided he was ready to move out of the company. His first line of inquiry was about “when and how” the process should start. Comer realized that the planning process of selling a business must be very intricate and complex. Rather than settling on the first offer, the company…

In this video, Kevin Comer of Vision Government focuses on how the company became a national player by planning to be noticed on a much larger scale. Vision Government Solutions Inc. is a company that sells software to local governments. Kevin joined the company in 1986 as a sales person and was quickly promoted to…

Mallozzi takes us through the steps of his exit experience. His first step was announcing his final decision to retire from the agency. His shares were divided and Mallozzi was issued a long-term note payable over the next 5-6 years. As long as the company performs well, Mallozzi’s payout is secure. He remains involved with…

Gibbs & Soell enjoyed a remarkably fluid succession to its third generation, supported by a carefully crafted and respected shareholders’ agreement. Because of the nature of the agreement as a “buy-in, sell-out” succession plan, Mallozzi talks about how company shares were flowing in and out throughout the transition. Although everything worked out well, Mallozzi has…

Cos Mallozzi, a recently retired CEO at Gibbs & Soell, started out as a junior accounting executive over 35 years ago. Mallozzi explains how he saw his path to becoming the CEO of Gibbs & Soell after he exercised his right to buy shares of the company. Succession planning is part of the Gibbs &…

A 10-year succession plan was put in place with perfect timing. Within 5 years of completing an agreement to purchase the business, their father passed away from cancer. The Noonan’s are grateful for their father’s sense of planning and a commitment to an orderly succession. Bill, Philip and their father composed a well thought out…

The transition from a research firm to an investment management firm worked out very well for Contravisory. The business transitioned smoothly and grew. Shortly after shifting the strategic focus to investment management, Bill and Philip Noonan began discussing the succession of the company in depth. The brothers concentrated on customer relationships to develop a loyal…