9 Ownership Transition Issues Specific to Contractors

All businesses face challenges with an ownership transition.

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There are nine interrelated issues that heavily impact contractors. 

Succession: 9 Ownership Transition Issues Specific to Contractors.

We will dive deeper into each of these over the next week:

  1. Strength and alignment of the management team (post-deal)
  1. Culture of the company - Is it prepared for an ownership succession and compatible with the new owner? Seems “soft” but is very “hard” and can destroy value quickly.  
  1. Key relationship continuity with employees, customers, and others.
  1. Financial partner alignment with banking, surety, and possibly insurance.  
  1. Cash generation capabilities.
  1. Asset vs. stock sale - who owns past liabilities, how are they quantified, and what is the tax implication?
  1. Sustainable growth strategy and plan to ensure value is created for all stakeholders.  
  1. Future direction of the construction industry and ensuring you are neither selling nor buying the equivalent of a horseshoe manufacturer and installer in 1900.  
  1. Extremely low barriers to entry for new contractors can easily create competitors out of unaligned stakeholder groups, which often destroys value.  

9 Ownership Transition Issues Specific to Contractors
Continue building value in your business, yourself and your key team members with a good succession strategy....

9 Ownership Transition Issues Specific to Contractors
Continue building value in your business, yourself and your key team members with a good succession strategy....

Definition - Normalization of Deviance
Normalization of deviance happens when shortcuts become the standard. At best, it slows capability growth. At worst, it creates catastrophic safety risks. In between is wasted money, time, and people.
Balancing Exploration and Exploitation
Exploitation involves choosing the best option based on current knowledge of the system which may be incomplete or misleading. Exploration involves testing new options that could lead to better future outcomes but drawing resources away from exploitation.
Support Your Team Always
Everything truly important to the long-term success of a contractor comes down to building a strong team with a culture that supports each other; no matter what. Great leaders unite a team together and elevate everyone further than they could imagine.