Growth Strategy and
Positioning for Exit
Rob Lalonde
CEO
AnyWare Group Inc.
Robert.lalonde@anywaregroup.com
Robert.lalonde@rogers.com
• Grow your business
• Sell your business
• Grow your business
• Sell your business
The Sales Funnel
Marketing
Sales
Account Management
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 4
Sales Growth
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Ensure a repeatable sales process
Don’t hire a single sales person until you have this
 See Steve Blank’s Customer Development Process
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Pursue channel strategies
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Partners put more feet on street less expensively
Measure, Monitor, Motivate
Track performance closely
 Reward success generously
 Acknowledge bad hires with haste
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AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 5
Effective Marketing for B2B
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Be Efficient, Be Targeted
Know your market
 Know your buyer
 Hit your precise target hard and
repeatedly
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Most Cost Effective
Approaches
PR
 SEO (Search Engine
Optimization)
 Direct eMail
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Losing Appeal are:
Trade Shows
 General Advertising
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AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 6
Key Sales Metrics
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The Usual
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Tightly Managed Sales Pipeline
Individual Sales Targets
Product Sales Targets
Less Common
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Sales Cost
Sales Cycle Length
Deal Fallout by Sales Cycle
Sales to Support Ratio
Close Rate
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 7
Make EFFECTIVE Use of Marketing Dollars
 Don’t do “me too”!!
 Be different, stand out
 Use guerrilla tactics
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 8
Think Big, Look Big
• Don’t apologize for being
small! (and rarely
acknowledge it)
• The internet is an equal
footing so leverage it!
• No excuse for a poor web
presence
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 9
Public Relations
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In B2B, there is no more
effective us of marketing
dollars?!
Never too small for PR
Focused, more credible, and
less costly than advertising!
$5,000 a month for a PR firm, but
that's a lot different from
$150,000 for an ad in The
New York Times.
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 10
Marketing Metrics
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The Usual
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Impressions
Campaign Response Rate
Open Rate
Bounce Rate
Less Common
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Close Rate
Close Cycle
Cost per Lead
Sales per Campaign
Close Rate
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 11
Strategies

Verticals?
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Focus and build a beach
head? (Geoff Moore –
Crossing the Chasm)
Or
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Go broad and horizontal
Geographic Reach
Single Product/MultiProduct
All Affect Exit Strategy
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 12
• Grow your business
• Sell your business
Why you need an exit strategy? Or do you?
1. Shape your business into the ideal shape EARLY to
maximize its value to you once you exit;
2. Groom successors - especially if it is a family business;
3. Attract investors and raise financing if required;
4. Exit at a time of your choosing.
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 14
What is the value of your business?
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Multiple of EBITDA
Multiple of Revenue
Asset Value
Relative Valuation
Discounted Cash Flow
Or
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What are you willing to pay?? -> Strategic Value
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 15
Moving the Needle on Value
1. Customer Diversity
2. Management Depth
3. Contractually Recurring Revenue
4. Proprietary Products/Technology
5. Barriers to Entry
6. Effective Use of Professionals
7. Product / Sales Pipeline
8. Product Diversity
9. Industry Expertise and Exposure
10. Business Plan
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 16
Shifts in Perspective
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 17
Timing is everything…
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 18
Timing is everything…
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 19
Key Objectives of M&A Process
Maximize Purchase Price
 Multiple bids
 Make the transaction strategic
 will be different for every buyer
Maximize Competition
 Cover the universe of bidders
 Run an organized, formal process
Optimize Positioning

AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
Focus on industry dynamics that
are different for every buyer
 Customize the pitch
 Run each buyer like a sales cycle
(qualify, trial close,…)
2009-27-08
Slide 20
Understand and Map the Exit Landscape
Competitors
Partners
ALSO CONSIDER:
Investment Companies
Foreign Investors
Vertically Integrated
Blue sky prospects
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 21
Running a Smooth M&A Process
Maintain confidentiality
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Avoid business disruption
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Focus on more than price
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Move quickly…execute to plan
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AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
Restrict flow between bidders
 Minimize disruption to staff and
customers
 Eliminate interference from
competitors
Don’t lose sight of running the
business
 Don’t distract management
Deal terms are key
 LOI should include ALL
important deal elements
Slow process by nature….push it
along
 Keeps suitors engaged
 Reduced risks of environmental
2009-27-08
Slide 22
changes
Key Areas of Focus
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Start the process early
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Get your house in order
•
Timing: don’t wait too long…don’t rush
•
Look at your business from an outside perspective
• Eliminate objections
•
Don’t lose sight of day to day running the business
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Be prepared to say NO
•
Get expert assistance
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 23
Deal Failure
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Many Deals Fail to Close
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Buyer and Seller fail to agree on key terms
New issues arise during diligence
Material adverse change to one of the businesses during the sale period
External factors
Studies have documented that anywhere from 50 percent to 80
percent of all mergers and acquisitions fail.
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Culture Clash
Premium Too High
Poor Business Fit
Failure to Integrate
Over leveraged
Boardroom/Management Schisms
Regulatory Delay
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 24
Deal Failure
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The primary soft issues that prevent most mergers and acquisitions from
being implemented successfully are:
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Governance of the new organization
Leadership for the new organization
Culture assimilation
How to Do It Right
In the minority of cases when mergers and acquisitions do work, it was
because companies spent significant time and effort addressing the "people"
issues, including:
culture
 communications
 teamwork
 shared vision
 joint work on integration projects
 goal-setting
 recognition
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
 trust-building, and many other similar details.
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Slide 25
Typical Process
AnyWare Group Propriety All rights reserved
2009-27-08
Slide 26
Thank you!!
Rob Lalonde
CEO
AnyWare Group Inc.
Robert.lalonde@anywaregroup.com
Robert.lalonde@rogers.com