We had Jamie Watson on our show on March 3rd. Jamie is a partner with Certified Marketing Consultants LTD, an M&A firm that specializes in our industry. Here are some of the major takeaways from the show:

1. HAVE A STRATEGIC PLAN - Whether you are interested in selling your promo business now, or in the future, start with a plan. A plan will help create a framework for building your company in a profitable way, and give you strategic direction and focus. If you want to maximize the value of your sale, you need to start with a plan and build sales, assets and relationships that can be transferred to another company.

2. PROMO INDUSTRY VALUATIONS - Typical valuations for promo distributors and books of business are as follows: If you have under $1M in sales, the current formula is 1X gross profits. If you sell over $1M, valuations can range from 3-6X EBITDA with 20-40% cash up front, and earn outs over 3 years. These formulas are not set in stone and vary deal to deal. One thing you can do to maximize the value of your company, regardless of whether you sell over $1M or not, is to build up your gross profit margins.

3. BUILD IT BEYOND YOU - As Jamie put it, "Buyers Buy Companies to Make More Money"! How can you get a company to buy your book and your business without requiring you to stay on for years? You need to have some form of recurring income, and assets, that have nothing to do with your involvement ... company stores, overrides from sales reps, and other income producing assets that result in a you getting paid more, and paid faster.

With 75% of our audience interested in selling their promo businesses over the next 1-5 years, we hope you were able to pull a few nuggets to help you plan for that future transaction. Good luck getting paid!