Spirit West Management Launches Seminar Aimed at Baby Boomer Business Owners -

Will they get what they think the company is worth when its time to cash out?

July 14th, 2008–

There are 17 million businesses in the US and 1.7 million in Canada according to Dun and Bradstreet. 50% of them are owned by Baby Boomers. 7 out of 10 of these owners will want to sell their business over the next 10 years, according to the Association for Mergers and Acquisitions Advisors. The supply of offerings will continue to grow substantially.

According to anecdotal evidence from investment bankers and private equity investors, business owners are unaware of the work that must be done to prepare to sell their company. They have unrealistic expectations and have not done the preparation necessary to reorganize the company so it can operate and grow under professional management.

To help baby boomers adequately prepare for the day they do want to sell to investors, employees or other companies, Spirit West Management is offering a one day workshop on how to restructure a company so that it is exactly what investors look for. “How to Maximize Your Company’s Worth: The CEO’s Guide to Becoming Prepared for Investment” will teach owners how to see their company through the eyes of investors and lenders.

“A company might be operating just fine under owner management, but will it continue to operate successfully when the owner leaves?” says Lorraine Rieger McGregor, CEO of Spirit West Management. “There are many hidden issues that an investor sees and for every one that doesn’t have a solution, the value of that company is reduced. It can be a very humbling experience for business owners to come to this time in their life and think that they can sell in the next six months. It just doesn’t happen like that. Restructuring can take 2 or 3 years depending on the issues we are dealing with. Owners need to take the time to get the right advisors and consultants to help them get prepared for this investment transition.”

The one day seminar, open to company owners that did at least $7 million in revenue last year, will be held March 19, 2009 at the EagleQuest Coyote Creek Golf Club in Surrey, BC. Owners will have the opportunity to get a reality check on the state of their business, hear from other owners who are selling or who have sold, meet private equity investors and strategic buyers as well as learn the ins and outs of the mergers and acquisitions process.

Read More Information on the seminar

For Contact:

Lorraine Rieger McGregor

Spirit West Management, Ltd
events@spiritwest.com or Tel: 604-306-7707

Lorraine McGregor is the founder and a partner in Spirit West Management. With her partner and husband Rob McGregor, they have done pioneering work in how to grow a company. By focusing on the business as an interdependent system that founders or flourishes based on how well information flows amongst employees and leaders, they have achieved success for more than 100 clients since 1990.

Most consultants work in functional areas which reinforce the silo problem of us versus them that retards growth, performance and effectiveness. Lorraine looks at the company as a whole with many levers that need fine tuning, improving processes, exchange and strategy so the company achieves its goals. She and Rob use their Smart Team Toolbox which are the tools and techniques they developed to change how people think, lead and manage individually and in groups.

As one of the first people to work in the Clean Tech space, Lorraine made a name for herself in the US as a business development specialist by helping get technology for water, wastewater treatment, alternative energy and other environmental solutions to market.

As an Mergers & Acquisition specialist, she works with owners and shareholders to prepare their companies so they are actually saleable, worth their desired exit price and to be attractive to target investors.

Lorraine is the former President of the Association for Corporate Growth, Vancouver Chapter the leading M&A authority in North America. She holds a Masters in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University, a Marketing Diploma from the BC Institute of Technology and Design Arts Diploma from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology.

What’s Lorraine Been Doing Lately ?

• Giving a webinar for Community Banks on how to think like a buyer and make their bank more profitable and saleable. December 2011
• Co-author with Rob McGregor of the book and Playbook “Fast Track Secrets for Making Your Business Saleable” Published November 2011.
• Contributed to the development of “Secrets of the 1% Difference” an online training course and DVD on how to improve profitability through employee engagement.
• Wrote two articles as a guest columnist for BC Business Magazine (Dec 2008) and Business in Vancouver (Nov 24, 2008).
• Guest lecturer at Simon Fraser University on how to grow a company with an exit strategy in mind and how to develop a marketing strategy to grow a software technology company.
• Elected President in 2008 of the Vancouver Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth, www.ACG.org
• Developed www.MakeYourBusinessSaleable.com, the first online website to provide video based learning for how to prepare a company so it actually will attract a buyer.
• Joined the board of A W.I.S.H, A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity www.AWISH.NET which fosters sustainability projects around the world