The short answer
Jim Estill traces his journey from a bootstrapped courier business to a billion-dollar exit, including how technology investment and employee legacy shaped both the growth and the final transaction.
Key takeaways
- How to take an idea and bring it to life
- Why going public might not be the ultimate dream for entrepreneurs
- The recipe for growing a successful, scalable business
Listen to the podcast
41 minWatch the full interview
About this episode
Most entrepreneurs have hundreds of ideas before finding the one that sticks. For Jim Estill, good business ideas are a dime a dozen, and successful exits are just as common.
From building a technology business out of the boot of his car in university and growing it to more than $2 billion in sales, to creating a courier business while he was CEO of an appliance company, there are common threads of success woven into each wildly different business Jim started.
Tune in and learn more about Jim’s top tips for creating multi-million dollar businesses again and again and again.
Chapters
- 0:34Jim started his first business in university from the trunk of his car and then grew it...to a couple billion dollars in sales
- 11:00Jim has too many ideas. From buying one company, to disrupting another, follow along on his thought-process on how he brought ShipperBee – essentially Uber for business – to life
- 18:35If you’re selling a business still in growth mode, it’s not about traditional multiples. It’s about painting a vision for the acquirer where they can imagine what they can do with the business
- 23:57Legacies are lasting. Jim has been through enough transactions that he knows the power of people. Here are some of his retention strategies for staff post-exit
- 37:17Jim’s top tip: Listening is more important than speaking. And when you listen, you will find what the buyer values and then sell what the buyer values. Don’t sell what you think you want to sell
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About Jim Estill
Jim Estill is the owner and CEO of Danby Appliances. They sell about 2,000,000 appliances per year – mostly fridges, freezers, and wine coolers. Jim is also the founder of ShipperBee.
Jim has been an entrepreneur for his entire life, growing a technology distribution business from the trunk of his car to more than $2 billion in sales.
He is an investor, advisor, and board member to many technology businesses, including Blackberry – formerly Research In Motion (RIM), where he served as a founding director for 13 years.
Jim has also written two books – one on time management called “Time Leadership: Using the Secrets of Leadership for Time Management,” and more recently “Zero to $2 Billion: The Marketing and Branding Story Behind the Growth.”
Connect with Jim Estill
About the show
Buy Grow Sell is hosted by Simon Bedard, founder and managing director of Exit Advisory Group, a boutique mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that helps Australian business owners value, prepare for and navigate a sale. Every conversation draws on real deals and the patterns behind them.
