Wall Street’s View on Profitably Selling Your Digital Business with Chris Shipferling on Episode #0160

EA Interviews Episode 160. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview. 

Mario Fachini [0:13]

Ladies and gentlemen, I am excited to share with you today I have none other than speaker and managing partner of Global Wired Advisors. And he is going to be sharing with you how he advises companies, digital enterprises to get acquired. I’m going to bring up Chris Shipferling right after we thank our sponsor. 

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Mario Fachini [0:53]

Here is Chris Shipferling. Chris, how are you feeling today? 

Chris Shipferling [0:57]

I’m feeling good. How are you feeling? 

Mario Fachini [0:59]

I’m having a great day. 

Chris Shipferling [1:00]

That’s wonderful. That’s wonderful. 

Mario Fachini [1:02]

I want to know in detail how you helped digital enterprises get acquired. Because this is fascinating to me. 

Chris Shipferling [1:11]

Yeah. It’s a pretty big process to go through as a business owner. So to really try and give an overview of what we do, when a client or a business owner has identified that they’re ready for an exit or they want to start thinking through an exit. Business has been going strong for two, three, four years. They come in all shapes and sizes. They might be burned out. They might be looking for more funding or a capital partner to really help them get to that next level. We call that the next click of their business. And when they come and they approach us about helping them when it comes to an exit, that’s really where our process then kicks in. We dive in with the potential client and really understand their business from what we like to call soup to nuts. So we want to know every facet of the business. We want to know all the all the different functionality. What are they selling? How does the business operate? Most importantly, where is this business going? What’s it going to be when it grows up? And so we’re diving into all types of detail about the business. We’re doing a full deep dive into the financials, understanding what those look like, both from historical. But then also doing lots of analysis to understand where the financials are headed. It’s very, very important. And so that’s usually the beginning process of helping a client start to understand what exit planning looks like for them. 

Mario Fachini [2:53]

How many of your clients have ever thought about it? Would you say it’s 90 percent of businesses or a lot fewer?  

Chris Shipferling [3:00]

Yeah. I’d say 100 percent. I mean, I don’t know one client that we’ve taken to market or that I’ve spoken to that didn’t build their business as an asset. It’s the largest liquidity event that most people – 90 percent plus folks will have in their entire life. And because of that they’re going into it, going, “How do I build a business that’s an asset that is going to be attractive and sell?” And frankly speaking, completely changed the compass of their life? 

Mario Fachini [3:35]

Well, I want to dive deep into the points of what you should be looking for. But I want to take a step back and go how did you get into this? Because I find it fascinating. What led you to it? What led you to business – and not just business – but this specific business? 

Chris Shipferling [3:51]

Yeah. Great question. So we’re a partner based firm. A lot of what people identify as business brokers. They are a broker. They’re a 1099 broker that’s licensing out a name. They sit behind a desk as a licensed name. This is a partner led firm. We have four partners in the firm. We’re effectively in a digital investment bank. And we’ve got nine support staff underneath of us, helping really drive the charge of Global Wired Advisors. How do we get into it? Well, with the four partners we all met around two years ago. But long time before that, I was more in the corporate world. I worked for both small to medium sized businesses. First business I worked in, I was part of a turnaround team that took the business from 4 million all the way up to 22 million. And I left to go work for a middle market business that was running revenue around 400 million. It was private equity owned. And so at that point, I understood so the first company I worked for was actually part of – it was a subsidiary of a publicly traded company out of Tokyo. And so I got my first real taste of both international business and also what it’s like to work for a publicly traded company. It comes with a lot of different types of rules. And then moving over into a private equity owned business, that’s just a whole other beast. I’m sure your listeners have had some type of run in or worked with or worked at private equity. It’s just a whole different type of operation. And from there, I actually led an effort where I was the North American general manager for a business that was based in Barcelona, Spain. So I came from a lot more of kind of corporate, but a touch of entrepreneurial background. I went out on my own and I became a consultant. So I pivoted my career while I was at the Barcelona based company, realizing that the paradigm shift was already occurring. This was about 2012. People were way more interested in buying online. People were more interested in buying through Amazon. Amazon, the marketplace was really starting to gain lots of market share at that point and was continuing to gain lots of market share. And so I knew that a direct to consumer strategy was going to be a very important piece of the overall strategy. Brick and mortar, unfortunately, was already starting to die. I pivoted my career to really understand digital marketing, understand how to sell on Amazon, and just really understand a digital business. So I went on my own. I was a consultant for lots of different enterprise companies, small businesses all the way up to larger businesses. But mainly focused on enterprise companies. About two years ago, I met up with these – with my partners –  I say these guys – but with my three partners. Their backgrounds are a little bit different, but all came from large corporate backgrounds. But they worked in large institutional investment banking. And so when I met up with my three partners, they already had an effort that was focused more on traditional businesses and not digital businesses. And so we met through mutual contacts here in Charlotte and started to have the conversation about applying the backgrounds of institutional investment banking in that process. And focusing in on digitally native or digital enterprises. And what does that look like? As a business owner who owns a digital asset, you really only have two options when you’re looking to go and take your business to market. You either have a broker, which we all, as partners, have had experiences with brokers. My one partner, in particular, Jason, he actually sold one of his businesses and used a broker to do that. And as an institutional investment banker, Jason in particular, was running a $11 billion hedge fund prior to going out on his own and doing the entrepreneurial thing. And when he went through in running capital markets. So his sole job was effectively buying and selling multibillion dollar businesses and being involved in very large corporate Fortune 500 large structure deals. When he went to the broker process, he saw there was absolutely an opportunity here. And we all identified that when we all came together and said, “Let’s focus in on digital assets. Let’s take a digital business owner through an investment banking process, because that’s going to help yield a lot more value out of your transaction than the current broker process.” So the other option real quick – and then I will get off this topic – the other option you have is a middle market investment bank. And those are typically middle market investment banks are looking at enterprises that usually at the minimum have about $10 million in EBITDA. And so if you’re a business owner that’s got a very successful business and you’re in, what’s called, the lower middle market, you don’t necessarily have a choice. And so we started this firm on the basis that we just want to give you a better option. 

Mario Fachini [9:08]

So it sounds to me like you all have impressive backgrounds with large, large companies and even the middle market, you’re saying, is eight figures and above, correct? 

Chris Shipferling [9:20]

Yeah. The middle market, typically – you know, middle market investment banks are trading usually around kind of at the minimum, around 75 to 90 million, and working your way up to about a billion or 1,000,000,005. Goldman Sachs actually just started an effort where they came – they went downstream from, what’s called, institutional or enterprise investment banking down to the middle market. And their focus is mainly on, to your point, eight figure businesses. 

Mario Fachini [9:51]

And it sounds like – I think it’s hilarious because so many people think like there’s no money n the world to do anything if you have an idea. And you’re talking about 75 to 100 million as the middle. And so I guess it would be the small businesses that are only at seven and low eight figures, they have huge opportunities it sounds like and you can help them. 

Chris Shipferling [10:15]

Yeah. I mean, if your business is running an EBITDA – and in this world, everything is measured on EBITDA. Venture Capital is measuring most things off of pre-revenue. And so their valuations are typically bloated and overvalued. But the type of acquirers that we’re speaking with on a regular basis, they’re measuring EBITDA as a measurement of financial success. And really, it’s just a measurement of their financial health is the word I’m looking for. And so if your EBITDA is running, call it at a million up to three million plus to about four or five million, those are the businesses that we’re able to really help. Because we can apply our process which is an investment banking process to their business and put them in front of the right counterparties, the right acquirers to extrapolate more value than if they went through the other option – the other process, as I spoke about before. 

Mario Fachini [11:19]

Do you ever take MMR into consideration? 

Chris Shipferling [11:23]

When we’re dealing with SaaS businesses, absolutely. Yes. With SaaS in particular, there’s a whole other level of metrics that go into it. It’s the cost per acquisitions. It’s our cost per acquisitions. MMR, it’s the annual revenue. I mean, there’s a lot of other metrics that go into SaaS. But as we identify a business owner and the type of business that he has, we’re obviously going to do a very, very, very deep dive into all of the metrics that matter for his business or her business. And make sure that those are fully stated and presented and positioned in a way that we can get folks who need to care to care. 

Mario Fachini [12:07]

Well, I’m thoroughly enjoying this and everything you’re saying and I want to know more. Give me three things that a business owner should consider if they are looking to exit. 

Chris Shipferling [12:20]

Yeah. A couple things. One, we hear this a lot and you’ll hear this from from all types of folks who sell businesses, get your books in order, please. Please get your books in order. If you have messy books, it’s going to be a problem. We have to fully understand what’s going into your revenue, what’s going into your costs, what’s going into your monthly overhead, what are your fixed costs, what are your variable costs. We need to be able to quickly identify all of these things because not only is it helpful from a historical perspective and looking at your trailing 12 months. But it’s highly helpful when we’re looking at doing a three year business plan and taking a look at your – what’s called – pro forma. So we’re taking a look at your forecast of where you’re headed. We have to have everything squeaky clean. And when you’re going through due diligence and you’ve identified a potential acquirer, you just can’t handle messy books. The deal won’t get done. So that’s number one. I’d say number two, really take a look at your margins. Margins do matter. If you’re running an e-commerce direct to consumer business, go through some skew rationalization. If you’ve got 100 skews and 80 percent of them are just driving down the margin, take a hard look and see if you can raise price. See if you can take a look to see if you can get rid of some of those. Sometimes, unfortunately, business owners will have an affinity towards a certain product and it’s just not doing anything for them. It’s actually bringing the margin down. So take a look at your gross margin. That does matter. Third, what’s your product roadmap? It’s really great that you’ve reached this point. And I’m so proud of you. Where are you going? Why are you going there? And how are you going to get there? These things matter when you’re positioning a company for sale. 

Mario Fachini [14:07]

How important is it to have the skews organized like you’re talking about? Is there a certain number you look for? Can you just tell? Because it sounds like a lot of this, you can tell. If someone gives you the messy books, that tells you something. If they got 491 skews versus 68, that also tells you something. Is there a range you’re looking for? And the same thing with the profit margin, should they be aiming for 10 percent, 40 percent, 30, or 65? 

Chris Shipferling [14:41]

So as far as what to aim for, it depends, speaking specifically around e-commerce. When you’re talking about SaaS, it’s different. You’re talking about more hard costs or development costs. And you’re talking about a lot of, I would say, HR resources when you’re talking about SaaS. Because, obviously, monthly income from SaaS it’s high profit margins. It’s all pretty much fixed overhead that drives down the EBITDA. When you’re looking at a profit percentage for an e-commerce business, it really just depends. And a lot of what depends on that is the product itself. Is it an oversized product? Well, your margins need to be thicker because that shipping cost is going to be much higher. So there’s a lot of details in the minutiae that matter. And so that’s where analysis plays a big role, diving in and saying, “Hey, listen. You actually need to stamp about up 80 percent gross margin on this in order to reach a net margin that is going to be attractive when it’s time to take your business to market.” 

Mario Fachini [15:48]

And as far as the SaaS companies you’re mentioning, how do those compare? Because you obviously don’t have the shipping cost. You want to take a look at the monthly recurring revenue. But what percentage do you think should be sent to customer support? And like you’re saying, the fixed cost of the servers? 

Chris Shipferling [16:07]

Yeah, man. I hate to give a pin number because it really just depends on the business. It really does. I mean, overall, I can say a blanket statement that SaaS businesses just drive more net margin. But on SaaS, you’ve got to spend a lot more from a marketing perspective. The average marketing percentage to gross revenue in SaaS typically runs with a high growth business about 30 percent. When you’re talking about e commerce, it typically runs about 10 percent. It also depends on the phase that you’re in. If you’ve acquired lots of customers and those customers are acquiring more customers, then over time you don’t need nearly as much for marketing. So it could be a different number. But I will say this overall, SaaS businesses, SaaS based companies bring more multiple to the table, typically, when it comes to a transaction. 

Mario Fachini [17:03]

See, this is why this is fascinating to me and I love discussing it because software is a solution. You said it earlier, you were straight up, the profit is much greater. But you’re dealing with the support. And now you’re saying you need close to 30 percent for marketing. Whereas, other types, it’s only 10 percent. But maybe you don’t have that margin. So it really depends, it sounds like. 

Chris Shipferling [17:28]

It does. It really does depend. I mean, we’ve worked with all type of e-com, we’ve worked with all type of SaaS. Most recently, we worked with a SaaS business that only was running 4 percent overall for their gross revenue in marketing. As you can imagine, it was a very attractive target. We had a lot of interest in that business because potential counterparties and, ultimately, the acquirer identified that all I need to do is raise the 4 percent, to 6 percent, to 7 percent, to 8 percent. Now all of a sudden, I’ve got lots of low hanging fruit in front of me just by increasing the marketing percentage to gross revenue. Just increasing that number is going to help me acquire a lot more customers. And I’ve got low hanging fruit. So a lot of it is very much client or business dependent. 

Mario Fachini [18:22]

I just got to ask because one of the main things I help people with my coaching is redoing people’s messages for the client acquisition through marketing. And I just got to ask about that 4 percent. They had their marketing buttoned up, didn’t they? They weren’t just throwing mud against the wall hoping it would stick, right? 

Chris Shipferling [18:42]

No. No. 

Mario Fachini [18:44]

Really? 

Chris Shipferling [18:45]

They just had a great product. They had a great product that had a lot of stickiness to it, honestly. It was an interesting vertical. So it had a SaaS component and also had a consumer product component. The consumer product that was driving the SaaS. But the consumer product itself was just in a very interesting industry. And no, it was not buttoned up. In fact, it was very, very immature. They were spending a lot of money. 

Mario Fachini [19:11]

That’s inspiring. A great offer trumps everything. But a lot of businesses that you were talking about the low hanging fruit, they’re just taking their kick in the marketing with a stick in most cases, because they don’t really know the messaging or who they’re trying to attract. But once they do, you’d be out of your mind not to crank it up for four, to six, to eight, to ten, to 12 percent. 

Chris Shipferling [19:37]

That’s right. And I think this business in particular – any business, it’s like that. Once they get acquired by a sophisticated capital partner, that entity is now going to go through the phase of, “Okay. Let’s really figure out and button up what our marketing looks like by increasing the amount of dollars that we spend. And also looking at all the different avenues we can now take in terms of different marketing options.” So yeah, you’re right. You would think – one would think they had the the solution, right? But they did not. They were able to acquire customers. Their SEO was on point. I mean, it was actually fantastic. So I will I will absolutely give them that. They were ranking for – in their vertical, they were ranking number two on Google for pretty much the highest search volume keyword for that vertical. So they did a really good job with that. 

Mario Fachini [20:37]

See, this is the fun of business. You know, if I were to say what’s a better solution, having a company that’s fully buttoned up and turnkey to acquire or a diamond in the rough like this that still has a lot of potential and is doing well. 

Chris Shipferling [20:51]

We talk to business owners about that all the time. I just got off the phone right before I was talking – I’m on with you now with a company. And they were saying – they’re running sizable revenue. And they said it’s only on Amazon. Very little through their own website. And they were asking my opinion on going into retail. They had an opportunity to get into pretty much, I’d say, half of the Walmart doors from a distribution perspective. And they were asking my opinion on, “Hey, what should we actually do here?” And my advice to them was, sometimes it’s a little bit – pardon my word here – sexier to not actually have gone through the exercise yet and leave that as a kind of a carrot on the stick. So in some cases don’t. But the proof of “Yes, I can do this.” Here’s how. Here’s the POS. Here’s the interest from retail store X, Y, and Z. And it brings us little bit more attractiveness to the deal.

Mario Fachini [22:03]

So they can, they have – like I’ve seen on Shark Tank where they say we have a PO order from 50 percent of the Walmarts and that’s still there. We haven’t even executed it yet. 

Chris Shipferling [22:15]

Yeah. Because the mystery is still there. How well is this going to do? When you’ve actually done it, you’ve got real proof. So you better have done really well. Or else that attractiveness will wither away. And so kind of leaving that mystery open is a good thing. Because it’s a little bit like educated gambling, honestly. It’s a little bit like, “Hey, I’m going to roll the dice here. And this is really attractive. Look how many doors that we’re walking into as a new buyer.” Now, I would say that, proof is already there. Meaning that they’re already just absolutely running lots and lots of revenue through their current channels. So more than likely the folks who are buying these businesses, they’re not gamblers. I mean, they’re sophisticated folks who do a lot of homework. So they’re going to look at it and go, “We’re not rolling dice here. There’s a real educated reason why we know this is probably going to do well in those stores.” But you still leave that mystery. And so there’s that art that you bring to the deal when you’ve got the science of all of the facts and figures and finances.

Mario Fachini [23:26]

Yeah. I don’t really picture them going, “I’ll take 57 million on 19.”

Chris Shipferling [23:30]

Yeah. Yeah. No, they’re not playing Keno with businesses, that’s for sure. 

Mario Fachini [23:37]

Well, you were sharing a lot of Experts Authority insights and I do appreciate you for that. I want to ask who’s your biggest success story? I don’t know if you can name them or not. It doesn’t matter. But just the overall who they were. 

Chris Shipferling [23:50]

Yeah. No. One comes to mind. I mean, we had a business that we sold last year that was – the business owner was a former CEO of a large Chinese manufacturer. He was a former VP of sales for a very large company here in the United States. Was president of another large company here and it was within a certain vertical-  certain industry. And so he had all the domain knowledge in the world and he finally said, “I’m going to be an entrepreneur. I’m going to do it on my own.” And he did it on his own. He created a direct to consumer brand within this one industry. And it became successful very, very quickly. He memorialized about just close to a million dollars in EBITDA. He engaged with us and was looking for retirement. And really was looking for not just retirement but was even willing to roll some equity into, say, a new company. And so everything about this company just had just such strong attractiveness about it. It was a growing, thriving business. It had a great product roadmap. It was 80 percent running through their own website. About 20 percent through Amazon. And in that business, in particular, we were able to get him close to an eight multiple on this business. And he rolled equity. His business now is thriving. And it’s quickly on its way to 567 million dollars in EBITDA. And the second proverbial bite of the apple, as we like to call it, is going to be even juicier for him. So not only did he get cash at the table, an employment contract for a few years, but he’s also going to be able to get that second bite of that apple, and it’s going to bring him a very healthy retirement exactly what he asked us to do. 

Mario Fachini [25:54]

Wow. That’s great to hear. 

Chris Shipferling [25:56]

Yeah. And for us, that’s one. I could probably name four or five more off the top of my head right now that are just like that. That’s the type of clients we like to take on. And frankly speaking, that’s the type of investment we take as a firm. We care about our clients, a lot of people will say that. And it’s just a lot of just empty noise. It’s a lot of sales words. But we’re very selective with the clients we take on. And that’s for a reason. Because we invest in not only their business, we invest in them, we invest in the relationship, and it matters to us getting a really good deal. It matters. And we carry a lot of emotional weight with that, too. I mean, selling your company is a very intense emotional journey. And so we carry that burden with our client. 

Mario Fachini [26:41]

Well, I’m glad that that’s the case. And I kind of figured that was the case with you because I don’t just let anyone on the show. And when I was checking you out and everything, I was like, “He’s going to be a good fit.” And now you’re just confirming everything. So it’s doubly exciting. But I’m happy to hear that because I’m the same way. And I mean, especially with marketing, you can say whatever you want. It doesn’t make it true. I’m a pterodactyl. That’s not true. 

Chris Shipferling [27:11]

[Unintelligible] [00:27:11]. 

Mario Fachini [27:13]

That would be cool. But I mean, so many people go, “Oh, did you see their website? Did you see this?” It’s like, “You got to know how to look past some of that stuff.” And I can only imagine it’s 100 times more than just from a marketing standpoint, especially when you’re selling seven, eight, nine figure companies and looking for the right buyer. 

Chris Shipferling [27:33]

It’s definitely true. And I mean, you have to look at all the different functions and the type of businesses that we’re selling. We’re usually sticking around. I mean, most of the businesses that we sell are seven – call it about seven or eight figures. We haven’t ventured into anything nine figure in our firm just yet. Crossing fingers. 

Mario Fachini [28:00]

You still got a lot of life left. 

Chris Shipferling [28:02]

I still got a lot of life left. But most of the clients we’re working with, the’re owner operator. They have a team and they might have a decent team. But it’s not a one man show per se. But it’s a very passionate person. And so, I mean, when you’re going through this process – to your point – you’re looking at more than just – I don’t want to say this and be succinct. It’s a tap dance that you play. And that’s, I think, your point. It’s more than just this. It’s all of this. So, yes. 

Mario Fachini [28:37]

Well, I appreciate everything you’re sharing and would love to know more. But I am going to ask you one question before we go to the sponsor and the Imperfect Action Round. And we’re going to spin the Wheel of Whatever. And I got the perfect question for you. What company would you love to help with a merger and acquisition that you haven’t been able to yet? 

Chris Shipferling [29:03]

Oh, my gosh. That is a great question. We play in a lot of industries. A lot of industries. That’s a great, great question. Because it’s challenging, I would say, a highly commoditized business would be fun to sell. And anything can sell at the right price. But what I mean by that is, have a very successful transaction in a highly commoditized business. I think that’s a very, very big challenge. 

Mario Fachini [29:38]

Why is that? Because everything I’ve read says decommoditize your business. And you’re going for the exact opposite. And I know why because of the challenge. 

Chris Shipferling [29:49]

Yeah. I mean, a commoditized, you’re just selling a widget that looks and feels like everybody else. But you’re able to extrapolate all the value proposition from that company. And then put it in or translate it into some great marketing material to then also get somebody who is sophisticated to care. Yeah, it’s a challenge, man. Because the businesses that sell very quickly are ones that are unique. They’ve got a moat. They’ve got elements that make them very well protected. 

Mario Fachini [30:23]

That’s what everyone’s going for. 

Chris Shipferling [30:25]

And you should. Everybody should not listen to what I said as a challenge. You should go for all of those things. But yeah, I mean, if you’re asking me what would be kind of something we haven’t done, that would be it. It would be taking a highly commoditized business and being able to sell that for for high value. 

Mario Fachini [30:46]

That is impressive. And I know why you’re doing it, because I’ve worked with a lot of companies and the number one thing I get them away from is de-commoditize your product. Because of that, you sound like everyone else. 

Chris Shipferling [31:01]

Yep. And you’re just selling widget X that looks just like widget Y. 

Mario Fachini [31:05]

I did something about a decade ago intentionally, again for the challenge, and it was definitely challenging. And it was something completely out of my comfort zone that I’d never done before for that exact reason. And so I can definitely respect and relate to that. But maybe in a couple years, I’ll jump back to that. I’m definitely enjoying everything being fairly easy. And then my strengths out right now. 

Chris Shipferling [31:27]

I agree. 

Mario Fachini [31:29]

I appreciate the honesty there. All right. We’re going to fire up the sponsorship. And we’ll be right back for the Imperfect Action Round. 

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Mario Fachini [32:50]

And we are back with the Imperfect Action Round. Chris, are you ready to take imperfect action? 

Chris Shipferling [32:57]

Sure. 

Mario Fachini [32:59]

First question I have for you, what is the fastest path to the cash? 

Chris Shipferling [33:06]

Fastest path to the cash? Fastest path to the cash? 

Mario Fachini [33:14]

I think I know the answer to it. You mentioned it earlier. 

Chris Shipferling [33:17]

Uniqueness. 

Mario Fachini [33:19]

I thought it was, have your books in order.

Chris Shipferling [33:21]

Oh. Have my books – yes. I’m sorry. I thought – so I may be misinterpreting this round. I thought you were speaking in riddles a little bit. So the fastest path to the cash, yes. Have your books in order. 

Mario Fachini [33:37]

Okay. I’m not denying I was. I mean, it’s been on the sheet since day one. I just ask it. I mean, you got me rethinking like, “Should I word that different?” Because there’s been a few times where people are like, “Can you repeat that?” I’m like, “What’s the easiest way to make the most money the fastest?” Well, that’s not what I said. That’s why the messaging is so important. 

Chris Shipferling [33:58]

What I was going to say was rob a bank. That’s what I was going to say. 

Mario Fachini [34:02]

I’ve got that a few times. Someone I just had on, he was like, “Ho down -” he was from Vietnam. He goes, “Go down Hanoi Avenue, take a left to the central -” I’m like, “Okay. Cool.” Well, I got some ideas for that. I’ve been watching some movies, so we’re good. 

Chris Shipferling [34:20]

You have that mapped out pretty well, that’s interesting. 

Mario Fachini [34:25]

Is this where we’re going to wingsuit into the top or go through the sewer system? But that’s a whole other discussion. 

Chris Shipferling [34:30]

A whole other discussion. 

Mario Fachini [34:31]

Yeah. I always like to get for Expert Authority World, “Hey, if you’re looking to do this, what’s the fastest way you can get the money that we’re talking about?” And when you say get the books in order – 

Chris Shipferling [34:43]

Yeah. Well, actually, you know what? Let me back it all up now that we’ve had a little bit of dialogue about that. I would still go back to have something unique. Have something unique. 

Mario Fachini [34:51]

I think they both work. 

Chris Shipferling [34:52]

They do. Absolutely. I mean, getting your books in order is more of a mechanic exercise. I mean, it’s evergreen to whatever business you’re running. But if you want to fast cash, fast cash is unique. Unique in a great – I come from the product world, right? So I come from consumer products, both consumable and durable. And mainly in durables. We used to say all the time, product is king. You have a wonderful, great, unique product, it’s the fastest way to cash, man. Because everybody will want it. And then marketing plays a huge role in that too. So you got to make sure that you tell everybody why you’re unique. 

Mario Fachini [35:33]

Yeah. I’m going to add in another one, too, and say care. There’s so many companies that have a great whatever and they’re just like, “Oh.” And I think this is the fun part of all this. We just cranked off like five, six, seven different things. It’s like, is there really any one secret? 

Chris Shipferling [35:53]

No. There is no format – 

Mario Fachini [35:54]

You have to have it all buttoned up. Otherwise, people are going to see it. I mean, now more than ever. 

Chris Shipferling [36:00]

I agree. 

Mario Fachini [36:01]

Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way they can fix it? 

Chris Shipferling [36:08]

That’s where I would go to books. Yeah  I would say not having good clean books. And I mean, there are so many bookkeeper services. And anybody who’s listening who wants to reach out to me, we have a whole list of resources and we’ve got some great CPA firms, bookkeepers, e-commerce focused CPAs and bookkeepers. So I mean, we got all the resources. And that’s the biggest problem and the easiest thing to fix. 

Mario Fachini [36:33]

I would agree. There’s so many entrepreneurs, I feel they’re good at what they do. They’re in their zone of genius. And nine times out of ten, it’s not accounting. 

Chris Shipferling [36:47]

God, no. Yeah. We see that all the time. 

Mario Fachini [36:50]

All right. You’re going to love this one and it’s my favorite question. It’s why put it in there. What is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value? 

Chris Shipferling [37:03]

I mean, one stay in touch. Please stay in touch. Don’t be annoying but stay in touch. Creative – the buzzword is lifestyle brand. But just create a brand people really care about. But if you are going to create a brand people care about, make sure you’ve got product that people can use over and over and over and over and over and over again. Period. End of story. 

Mario Fachini [37:28]

Excellent. Yeah. I like what you’re saying there because I love marketing. I love helping companies with it. But I think there’s so many people that are so focused on saying the right things and looking a certain way, they just aren’t. Instead of looking a certain way, they need to be a certain way. And when you are, like you’re talking about, we actually care for our clients. You don’t really need a market when you’re getting three, four, or five deep referrals every few months. 

Chris Shipferling [37:55]

That’s correct. That’s right. 

Mario Fachini [37:57]

“Oh, should we run an ad on that?” No. Just be an actual good person. Shocking. 

Chris Shipferling [38:02]

Yeah. I know. That’s true. 

Mario Fachini [38:04]

All right. What is a great business book you could recommend or a couple? I’m sure you’ve got a dozen. But, you know, like, three, four, five. 

Chris Shipferling [38:13]

I’m reading a great book right now. AndI’m about halfway finished. And it’s one of those books that as you’re reading and you’re retaining, you have to go back and almost kind of not reread, but just refresh a little bit as you get more of the larger picture, if that makes sense. It’s called the Non Obvious Megatrends and, basically, how to spot trend. And so it walks you through. I forgot the author’s name off the top of my head. But this author in particular, he always publishes every year what the trends are going to be for that year. So he’s – call it – not even not even self- imposed but a futurist. And he used to work at Ogilvy. And so he comes from a very heavy, strong marketing background. And he always measures himself against what he’s outlined as the trend for that given year. He caught things pretty early, like subscription services and how they’re going to play out in business, as an example. And so this book, in particular, he wrote this book to help you in your own business spot the trend within your industry in the particular market that you’re working in. And then really just be good at spotting trends, but it goes into some very pragmatic detail. It’s sequential, you know, step one is this, step two is this, step three. So far I’m absolutely loving it. 

Mario Fachini [39:46]

I have not heard of that one yet. And I appreciate the recommendation because it sounds fascinating. 

Chris Shipferling [39:50]

Yeah. It’s great. 

Chris Shipferling [39:51]

I like paperback but I bought this one on my Kindle. And it’s actually been good because they link to a lot of talks that he does, that this particular author did. He’s a wonderful speaker. Just absolutely brilliant speaker. And so I get to read and then they put the link in there. I get to hit the link. I get to watch this talk. It’s very, very cool. 

Mario Fachini [40:13]

It’s a great thing to do. I’ve done it in my books and advise my author clients on it as well because I personally love paperbacks myself. But when you can add the resources and the links or it’s like, “Hey, let’s do a -” like in my video, Marketing For Business Owners, think of the first 10 or 20 videos you’d want to shoot that are answering questions, like, people get you. Hey, how important is it the books in a deal? 

Chris Shipferling [40:38]

Yeah, that’s right. 

Mario Fachini [40:40]

You know, and you can work on it right then and there. In videos, you can’t do videos on paper. I’m still looking for a way to do that. I think that would be huge because I love video. 

Chris Shipferling [40:50]

It will come one day. They’ll make a hybrid. Maybe that’s a trend I’m spotting right now. So it will be a [unintelligible] [00:40:55] ] paperback book that has hyperlinks. So you’re molding the digital with the paper world. 

Mario Fachini [41:07]

That would be wild. Someone would want to acquire that for sure. 

Chris Shipferling [41:11]

I’m sure Amazon has already bought the tech. 

Mario Fachini [41:16]

Well, I appreciate the recommendation. And where would you like people to go to find out more about you? 

Chris Shipferling [41:23]

Yes. So you can go to Google and type in Global Wired Advisors, that’s probably the easiest thing to do. Or you can type in GlobalWiredAdvisors.com in your browser. For the ten percent of your users that are using Bing, they can do the same thing. And for the five percent of users using Yahoo, they can also do the same. My email address is CS – so it’s my initials – @globalwiredadvisors.com. We have a valuation tool on our website. We’re actually going to be going through a pretty big refresh in the next couple of months. And we’re refreshing the valuation tool itself. But nonetheless, it’s a great tool that your listeners can go to. And we also have a consultation form, if you would like to have a complimentary consultation with us. Where we dive in and we do a much deeper analysis into your business. A lot of brokers and a lot of folks in the space offer a valuation, but it’s really anemic. We do a very detailed thorough analysis of your business. And then we’ll tell you when you’re ready for market. And a lot of that comes from what I talked about in the very beginning, it’s our backgrounds. Being from the investment banking and corporate world, we can’t help but be very thorough research driven and analytical versus just a bunch of salesman crappy tactics. We don’t like that. 

Mario Fachini [42:42]

Well, I can tell you’re speaking from the heart. And it’s so obvious to see when it’s true and also when it’s not. Because like I was saying with the marketing side and messaging, you can say whatever you want. And I’ve even said similar stuff. When people ask me about podcasting or launching a book, there’s a difference from writing it and having a cover versus here’s a 30 to 45 day marketing gameplan because that’s your background. 

Chris Shipferling [43:09]

That’s right. 

Mario Fachini [43:10]

You can’t fake it if you don’t know it. I mean, you can say whatever you want, but it’s like, “Hey, what do you do here? When did you learn this?” 

Chris Shipferling [43:16]

You can’t fake it. I mean, I run the business development for the firm. I run the marketing for our firm. I also run the data analytics when we’re taking a client through our marketing material process or – what’s called – a CIM or OM. We have lots of acronyms, by the way, here at our firm. That’s also an unfortunate part of our backgrounds. But when you watch and you listen to one of my partners or deal runners, when they’re talking to a private equity firm that’s got a fund worth billions and billions of dollars. And you’re listening to them speak about these small businesses. Really, they’re small. Even though you’re talking about $7, 8, 10, 20, 25 million company, in the business world, they’re still very small. When you hear them pitch and position, it’s fascinating. It’s fascinating. Because it really does come from that just well off experience. versus I did a quick crash course on how to sell a business three hours before I’m talking to this person. So one thing I want to mention to you and to your listeners, we’re highly invested in the process. I may have said that earlier, too. But just last month, we sold two businesses where the buyer and seller never even spoke to each other. We do all of the work. All of the legwork. That’s a much, much different path than what our “competition” the view that they take in terms of how they run the process. So I wanted to throw that out there. I feel like that’s a decent differentiator. 

Mario Fachini [44:51]

That’s pretty cool. Because I know there’s people listening that go, “You know what? That sounds good to me. I don’t want to be involved. I’m already semi-retired or on vacation.” 

Chris Shipferling [45:01]

That’s right. 

Mario Fachini [45:06]

That sounds fantastic. Well, thank you again for sharing and all the Expert Authority insights. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I know Expert Authority World got a lot out of it. 

Chris Shipferling [45:14]

Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Thank you so much. 

Mario Fachini [45:18]

All right. Expert Authority World, we’ve got another great one here today. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a great day. God bless. 

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www.EAInterviews.com [46:16]

Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out EAInterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow.