The short answer
Greg Alexander shares how he grew and sold a professional services firm for 11x EBITDA, and why understanding what buyers are actually buying, not just what owners think they're selling, is the source of the "two numbers" concept used in the book.
Key takeaways
- How to grow your professional services company through the three stages of growth
- Understand how hiring the right people can act as a catalyst to growth
- The importance (and the skill) of delegation
- Three tips to develop employees to support you as you scale
Listen to the podcast
55 minWatch the full interview
About this episode
After speaking to a plethora of business owners, today’s guest Greg Alexander shares his secret to selling a professional services business.
“Build a great business that’s attractive because great businesses are always going to get bought.”
And while that may seem self-explanatory, Greg has several lessons to impart in this episode centred around growing, scaling, and exiting your business – and doing it well. He should know. His latest exit was in 2017 where he sold his professional consulting business for $162M or 11x EBITDA!
Chapters
- 1:36With a simple idea – applying the science of benchmarking to the art of sales – Greg kickstarted his growth trajectory with his consulting firm, SBI which he later sold for 9 figures in 2017
- 5:24There are three distinct stages in the lifecycle of a professional services business: Grow, Scale, and Exit. Here’s how to move through each stage
- 17:15After going up 8x, Greg had entered the rapid growth phase of SBI and had to make several important staffing and structural changes to support it
- 26:10The key to scaling is delegation: here’s how to do it and how to do it well so you’re not always stuck in the hero position as a founder
- 40:46$30M in revenue, $16M in EBITDA, and only 30 employees allowed Greg to sell for $162M upfront without an earn-out. An incredible result
The Newscast
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About Greg Alexander
Greg Alexander is the founder of Collective 54, the expert community for founders of boutique professional services firms who seek to grow, scale, and exit bigger and faster.
Greg’s book, The Boutique: How to Start, Scale and Sell a Professional Services Firm, is the framework for this rapidly growing community.
Prior to Collective 54, Greg started, scaled, and sold Sales Benchmark Index (SBI), a consulting firm for 9 figures in 10 years.
Connect with Greg Alexander
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.
