Build and Exit

Imagine not even knowing you are about to go bankrupt.

Many business owners don’t know what is going with their accounts. With £5 million pounds of debt and another £1 million in stocks that anyone could have taken, this was the reality for one business.

In this episode I am joined by Judith Hamilton and Christine Nicholson, 2 brilliant women working in the exit planning and financial world. We share our experiences working wit...

Most businesses are built from people’s dreams. The challenge is taking it from that dream to reality.

In this episode I am joined by Nigel Carley who has achieved this through creating The Pinelli Group, as he approached retirement. A company that sells properties in Italy through fractional ownership.

Nigel fell in love with Italy over his career with Alfa Romeo and through hard work and investing his time he found the right ...

Financial freedoms means different things to everybody. Achieving it means living the life you want but imagine having it and then losing it all.

In this episode I am joined by Meena Adnani, who worked hard against the expectations those around her had. She was judged, because of being a woman and also because of her cultural background. All of which she blocked out to reach her dreams and achieve financial freedom.

She reveals...

Imagine going from waitress to financial freedom all through acquisitions.

That is exactly what my guest in this episode, Della Kirkman, achieved. She found a way to buy small businesses and grow them organically to build and exit. She is now on a mission to supports 10,000 women to build wealth through acquisition.

In this episode Della reveals how she achieved financial freedom through acquisitions, and how she changed her ca...

Acquisitions would be far easier if all sellers were educated on what’s involved.

Knowing what happens post-acquisition is part of the learning that needs to happen to secure a successful deal.

In this episode Kush Birdi and I discuss the importance of KPI based target setting and why you should audit the legal aspects of your deals. We also share why being truthful is so important for the seller to ensure the buyer sees your b...

Imagine being in £100K of debt because of a scam.

This is a nightmare situation for any business owner who puts their trust into others and is exactly the position my guest, Kath Jones found herself in.

She is the founder of Think Wine Group and ended up losing £100K after her agent scammed her and the funding she got to salvage the situation never came through.

Kath shares how all of this has impacted her mental health as we...

Not being aware of the financial or legal implications of a deal can have disastrous consequences.

From intellectual property protection, staffing issues to outstanding debts, there are many aspects of a deal that need to be checked as part of your due diligence.

In this episode Kush Birdi and I discuss where due diligence can impact deals and our personal experiences working with both sellers and buyers throughout the due dili...

Heads of terms are a key aspect of any acquisition.

The buyer and seller need to agree on these to show serious intent for the deal. But there are many key issues both parties need to be aware of. In this episode Kush Birdi and I discuss our experiences working with heads of terms.

We also share how the buyer and seller can become aligned and why this is so important. The common problems that can arise whilst creating heads of ...

There are many risks to consider as a buyer in acquisitions.

Not being prepared can have severe consequences. You need to do your due diligence and plan every aspect to ensure its success.

In this episode I am joined by Kush Birdi to tell you all you need to know about the legal consequences buyers can face and how to ensure you are covered all the way through your acquisition process. From risk planning, corporate governance t...

Have you checked your brand’s intellectual property?

Imagine having £7million of investment held because you found another business already had your name. This is exactly what happened to a company my guest in this episode, Matthew Cusack, is working with.

Matt is Managing Director of National Business Register Group Limited (NBR), an Intellectual Property business, and is responsible for driving the business’ strategy and grow...

You must get used to hearing “No” when trying to raise funds to start a business idea. Knowing that eventually you will hear the yes you need is all the motivation you need to keep going.

That was the belief my guest in this episode had to get his idea off the ground. Robert Riza is the Co-Founder and CEO of RacketPal, a platform built out of a love for racket sports.

He talks about what it took to get funding for the project a...

This is part 2 of a special episode of The Build & Exit podcast where the tables get turned and Julie is in the hot seat. Julie was interviewed live on NTV to tell her personal and business story.

In this episode Julie gives the business side of her story, talking about how her business journey started, the advice she has for people looking to become entrepreneurs and the fundamentals that every business owner should have in ...

The first 72 hours of taking on a new business is always eventful. But a salesperson syphoning leads, and the police called in to stop diggers tearing down buildings at a school must be up there with the hardest first days of any business owner.

This was the reality for my guest in this episode, Adrian Knight. He had a lot of firefighting to perform within his acquisitions that led him to really focus on the back end, something m...

Achieving financial freedom is the ambition of many that are building to sell their business. But knowing how to get there is a whole different ball game. Understanding the financial side of how to build and exit a business is key to making this dream a reality.

My guest in this episode is Fiona Hudson-Kelly, who has sold businesses for multi-million pound deals. She has experienced selling through venture capitalists and indepen...

This is a special episode of The Build & Exit podcast where the tables get turned and Julie is in the hot seat. Julie was interview live on NTV to tell her personal and business story.

In this episode Julie gives the personal side of her life story. You’ll find out about her passions from dogs to being out on the open water. She tells all about how the loss of her mother at an early age impacted her life and how her wellness ...

Distressed business deals can be a quick and high earning way to grow by acquisition. It took Steven Pettigrew 4 days to close a distressed deal and since then has grown a business of 80 people.

In this episode Steven gives his insights into how to grow through distressed acquisition deals, managing seller relationships, and the strategies behind industry deals.

Steven Pettigrew is an entrepreneur with over 13 year’s experience...

Knowing the right way to exit a business is not easy if you don’t know what your options are. Having the information you need to find the right exit strategy is what will make your exit plan both achievable and enjoyable.

Paul Avins has a wealth of experience in the acquisitions space and in this episode he gives his insight into why the hard work starts after acquisitions, the different types of exit strategies available and the...

Generating £125m from acquisitions in a year is the M&A specialist’s dream. That is exactly what the guest in this episode has achieved. Mathew Wainwright discusses what it takes to start out in the acquisitions space as well as going into the nitty gritty of how Opulentia achieved that incredible milestone. He also covers what leveraged buyouts are, how to mitigate risks in acquisitions and what cash flow problems he has faced...

*Content warning* – this post discusses suicidal feelings

How do you see your life after selling your business? You may see happiness, wealth, and security. But just because you sell your business doesn’t mean they are guaranteed. In this episode Chris O’Connell shares his story of selling his business for £25 million only to find his life unravel afterwards. From losing his home, his children, divorce and 3 suicide attempts, Chr...