Journey to an ESOP & Beyond

One of the skill sets that has increasingly become more valuable in the talent that we recruit, retain and motivate within an ESOP culture is creativity.  This podcast delves into the importance of creativity  and innovativeness in the workplace as a sought after skill set and as something that should be cultivated in your organization as it makes a significant difference in the value of your busi...

On this episode I interview Hobie Frady   - Government Contractor expert and practice leader Warren Averett (CPA firm for government contractors).  Hobie and I delve into how ESOPs really are a very popular solution for government contractors both on a partial sale and a 100 percent sale.  In 2021 there was new legislation passed for government contractors that allows a 100 percent ESOP to have pr...

This episode will conclude our discussion on business valuation reviewing the discounted cash flow model, required working capital and transaction value to determine the best estimate for your ESOP valuation.  The 4 part series was intended to go into the details that will help you identify questions to ask your advisor.

This episode features experienced ESOP lender Douglas Dell with KeyBank out of Colorado.  Doug offers insight into this extremely important step in the ESOP process to help answer the question: "How am I going to get my money out of this ESOP deal?"

This is part 3 of a multi-part series on business valuation modeling as it relates to ESOPs.  This episode provides a good overview of the first step in creating the discounted cash flow model of valuation beginning with forecasting and working through a process of completing the forecast.

This episode is dedicated to better understanding insurance for ESOPs.  Jeff Gelburd with Murray Insurance is a pioneer in getting insurance policies to mitigate fiduciary risk set up way back when things were just getting started in ESOPs.  He explains the bundling of Fiduciary, DNO and Employee Liability as well as the trends for insurance relative to transaction trustees for ESOPs.

This is part 2 of a multi part series in business valuations as they relate to ESOPs.  This episode covers understanding cash flow and capitalization rate composition and structure and illustrates how very little is relying on the valuation analysts subjective judgement of the financial information and risk data on the subject company.

This episode is located here and on you tube...we cover how to maximize the benefit of the ESOP to your company - a critical aspect of leveraging an ESOP through building a strong ownership thinking culture to get your people to understand how all of the pieces of the puzzle work!   Jim's group has a unique and specific areas of expertise that they focus on exclusively with ESOP companies!

This episode explores the science of business valuation for ESOPs to answer the question relative to is my ESOP valuation for planning purposes accurate and what questions should I be asking my advisors in the planning steps in your journey to an esop.  This is part 1 that goes through the importance of business valuation and distinctly points out definitionally valuation concepts that are importa...

This is the first ever ESOP Guy interview internationally from as far away as we can get from the U.S. - "way down under mate" in Australia with Succession Plus advisor Craig West, CPA - who has built his practice off of research from his own doctoral study in ESOPs.  There are some fascinating similarities between ESOPs in the U.S. and Australia as well as some very interesting differen...

In this episode - we cover the very important topic of management transition in your succession plan as it relates to your journey to an esop.  One of the most difficult and significant transitions is going to be the key position of CEO.  We cover why this is so important and some suggestions as to how to go about it.

This episode opens up a topic that I think is easily confused - just what does the seller take on in Fiduciary risk in doing an ESOP transaction.  Greg always does a great job - this is his third time on the podcast and provides a wealth of knowledge as a resource to our listeners.  He leverages information from the Vinosky esop case which provides a good reference in better understanding selling...

This episode compares and contrasts two actual ESOP deals that we worked on at the end of 2021.  The take-aways  will hopefully help you in asking questions of your advisors if you are on a journey to an esop or will start one soon!

This episode includes a discussion with Steve James and Heather Driscoll of SCJ Fiduciary Services.  Steve is credited with doing the first Dental practice in the U.S.  They do a great job explain how ESOPs are perfectly suited for all kinds of healthcare companies including physical therapy, autism centers, hospitals, etc....they outline some of the challenges but all together healthcare companie...

Happy new year everyone!  This episode highlights my favorite episodes of ESOP podcasts for a quick review of some interesting topics including:  ESOPs as roll ups; ESOPs for contractors; ESOP politics; ESOP boards adding value; and ESOP culture to name a few that we discuss.

This episode provides a solid discussion on ESOP financing with experienced ESOP lender with First American Bank.  It really does matter who you choose to finance your transaction and what your eventual banking relationship is going to look like once the transition is complete.

This episode reviews the issues related due diligence on ESOP deals.  One of the steps along the journey to an ESOP is to work through due diligence with the transaction trustee and their valuation firm.  It is a critical step and always better to plan early for due diligence so everything else goes smoothly.

In this episode Carla and I discuss the planning needed for a company on a journey to an esop dealing with 404, 415, and 409(p) requirements, limitations and application of the rules to make sure your company is ESOP feasible.   Carla has a really cool background - and actually worked with Louis Kelso economist who is notably the inventor and founder of ESOPs.

This episode highlights "The Blue Ocean Strategy" by Renee Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim to help you prepare for your end of year planning strategies.  The episode provides tips on using some of the tools to help walk through the process of creating blue ocean ideas.

This episode covers how key performance indicators can be used to improve the strength of your company and possibly lead to higher business valuations and be an advantage in negotiations for the sale of your company to an ESOP.

In this episode Rick and I explore the value of the board of directors for an ESOP company - definitely helpful for those on a journey to an ESOP to leverage this requirement into an means to support growth and higher valuations.

This episode tackles the work needed for all companies but especially companies on a journey to an ESOP to get the right people in the right seats inspired by me recent Southwest flight.  It focus on three primary activities - recruitment strategy, onboarding and letting people go...

In this episode Todd Knowlton, CEO of Smooth Fusion explains his reasons to turn his company into an ESOP.  In this case, Todd and I went through the ESOP process as a non-leveraged contribution for this first step on his journey to an ESOP - find out what his factors were and why their company went this route.

This episode we explore the cost of an ESOP - going through the comparison of an M&A transaction with an ESOP - similarities, differences and result of how that is interpreted in the ESOP marketplace.

On this episode - I discuss with Mike Zeller, a very experienced ESOP attorney one of his case studies in working through a leveraged ESOP transaction.  There are some interesting points to consider from this ESOP case study!