Middle Market Strategies

Break down the walls that stand in the way of business growth with the effective middle market strategies found in Middle Market Strategies The middle market represents about 1% of all U.S. businesses but produces about 40% of the gross domestic product. Winning the middle market is critical to business owners, and vital to the U.S. economy. Providing a comprehensive framework for understanding the market for private mid-sized businesses, Middle Market Strategies helps owners avoid unnecessary risks and enjoy some well-deserved returns by sharing the lessons learned from hundreds of featured business owners. Using ninety real-world case studies, Middle Market Strategies helps inform better business decisions by providing answers to the most pressing questions, including: How do the markets work? How can they be used to improve business value? Which strategies work best? What are the rules and how do you work with them? How are middle market businesses different from larger and smaller businesses? What separates successful businesses from others? Author Richard Trottier's reader-friendly anecdotes depict owners caught in the daily struggle to survive and the choices they made to break down the walls that stood in the way of their growth. Their stories, and the market rules that grew out of them, help to provide CEOs and presidents of mid-market companies, business appraisers, and capital providers with a solid understanding of the market to help them make better business decisions.

In-depth coverage in a single handbook of the middle market based on the body of knowledge of the Certified M&A Advisor credential program M&A advisors have an unprecedented opportunity in the middle market with the generational transfer of wealth and capital being deployed by private equity and corporate investors. Middle Market M&A: Handbook for Investment Banking and Business Consulting is a must-read for investment bankers, M&A intermediaries and specialists, CPAs and accountants, valuation experts, deal and transaction attorneys, wealth managers and investors, corporate development leaders, consultants and advisors, CEOs, and CFOs. Provides a holistic overview and guide on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and strategic transactions of companies with revenues from $5 million to $500 million Encompasses current market trends, activities, and strategies covering pre, during, and post transaction Addresses the processes and core subject areas required to successfully navigate and close deals in the private capital market Includes content on engagement and practice management for those involved in the M&A business This practical guide and reference is also an excellent primer for those seeking to obtain their FINRA Series 79 license.

An in-depth and practical exploration of middle-market mergers and acquisitions from leading experts in the field In the newly revised Second Edition of Middle Market M & A: Handbook for Advisors, Investors, and Business Owners, mergers and acquisitions experts Kenneth H. Marks, Christian W. Blees, Michael R. Nall, and Thomas A. Stewart deliver a comprehensive overview of mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic transactions of privately held companies with revenues between $5 and $500 million per year. You'll discover the market trends, perspectives, and strategies commonly affecting business transitions in all phases of a deal, as well as the processes and core subject areas (e.g. valuation, structure, taxation, due diligence, etc.) required to successfully navigate and close transactions in the private capital markets. The latest edition of this handbook includes new discussions about: The middle market landscape and the evolution and impact of private equity on the private capital markets The concepts of mergers and acquisitions from an owner's point of view Ways in which transition and value growth planning can optimize the value owners and investors can realize in sell-side and buy-side transactions New technologies being used in the M&A process Perfect for advisors, investors, and business owners, the new edition of Middle Market M & A is a must-read roadmap of the strategic transaction landscape that provides solid, practical guidance for attorneys, accountants, investment bankers, corporate development, exit planners, investors, lenders and the owners, entrepreneurs, and leaders of middle market companies.

Value-creation in Middle Market Private Equity by John A. Lanier holistically examines the ecosystem relationships between middle market private equity firms and their portfolio companies. Small business is the job creating engine in the US economy, and consequently is a prime target market for private equity investment. Indeed, private equity backs over six of each 100 private sector jobs. Both the small businesses in which private equity firms invest, and the private equity firms making the investments, face inter- and intra-company fiduciary leadership challenges while implementing formulated strategy. The architecture of each private equity firm-portfolio company relationship must be uniquely crafted to capitalize on the projected return on investment that is memorialized in the investment thesis. Given the leveraged capital structure of portfolio companies, the cost of a misstep is problematic. Individual private equity professionals are typically members of multiple investment teams for the firm. Not only may each investment team have its own unique leadership style, but its diverse members have to assimilate styles for each team in which they participate relative to a specific portfolio company. Acquisitions and their subsequent integrations add exponential complexity for both private equity investment and portfolio company leadership teams; indeed, cultural integration ranks among the most chronic acquisition obstacles. Accordingly, the stakeholders of private equity transactions do well to embrace leadership best practices in applying value-creation toolbox best practices. The perspectives of both the private equity investment team and the portfolio company leadership team are within the scope of these chapters.

In this path-breaking new book, best-selling author and leading go-to-market strategist Larry Friedman provides a practical and battle-tested approach for taking products, services, divisions, or even an entire company to market! Drawing on dozens of examples and best-practices across a variety of industries, 'Go To Market Strategy' lays out a clear and actionable blueprint for building a winning go-to-market plan - one that will enable you to do more business, with more customers, more often, and more profitably. In this book you'll find all of the techniques and tools you need to answer today's crucial go-to-market questions: · Which markets offer the best opportunities for profitable growth? · What do my target customers need? How can I do a lot more business with them? · What mix of channels and partners will help me reach and sell to the most customers at the lowest possible cost? · Do I have the right product or solution? How can I create broader customer interest in my offerings? · Do I have a winning value proposition? What would make the 'message' more compelling - and drive more purchasing activity? 'Go To Market Strategy' is not about incremental change. As Friedman points out, it is for executives seeking nothing less than double-digit revenue growth and the slashing of at least 10-15 percent of selling costs - absolutely realistic results that go-to-market innovators have consistently achieved. This book lays out all of the techniques used by the world's top go-to-market leaders, so you too can achieve those kinds of results, and gain a real go-to-market competitive advantage in your markets.

Presents a business development tool for professionals, marketers, sales directors, consultants and strategists seeking to understand and reach middle market American companies. This work covers important business sectors, from InfoTech to health care to telecommunications. It includes profiles of more than 500 US middle market companies.

Virtually every business seeks to increase its profit from customers, but few business executives realize that a universal principle governs their customer profitability. They may be applying the 80/20 rule to sales, quality control, investing, production, or other business functions without realizing that the 80:20 ratio actually summarizes the Pareto distribution of inputs to outputs. According to his equilibrium theory of relationships, stability is reached when inputs in the top 20% generate 80% of the outputs while inputs in the bottom 80% generate 20% of the outputs. Recently mathematicians confirmed that the Pareto distribution is as universal as the normal "bell-shaped" distribution, but is log linear and predicts results, rather than probabilities. Applying this universal principle to customer profitability, a typical business can predict that customers in the top 20% generate 80% of customer profitability (four times more profit than expected), whereas customers in the bottom 80% generate only 20% (one-fourth as much as expected). This means the 20% most profitable customers tend to be 16 times more profitable than the 80% least profitable customers. In order to capitalize on the Pareto principle, a business should 1. segment its customers by their profitability, 2. distinguish the top 20% of its customers in top market segment from the bottom 80% of the customers in the bottom market segment, and 3. target the top market segment with its marketing strategies. The purpose of this book is to show business students and executives how to implement this process and thereby achieve the predicted results.