Sam Penny (00:00)
All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another Built to Sell. This one's all about positioning your business for the right buyer. I'm Sam Penny. I'm a business coach advisor and someone who's spent over 25 years building, buying and selling businesses. This session is about what separates businesses that get attention from the ones that get ignored, even when they're profitable. And the truth, buyers don't just buy numbers, they buy alignment.
when your business clearly reflects values and vision, the right buyer sees themselves in it. And they move faster, they pay more, and also they need less convincing. So today I'll show you how to position your business in a way that attracts not just any buyer, but the right one. So let's get into it.
So as I said, I'm Sam Penny. I've spent the last 25 years on both sides of the table, building, buying, selling businesses across multiple industries. These days, I work with business owners who want more than just a clean set of books. They want to sell something the buyers are drawn to. Now I call myself a coach for the brave because real bravery is building something that can outlive you. Something another leader,
wants to own. Now, this isn't just about hype. It's about doing the work that makes your business magnetic to the people who will value it the most. And that's what we're unpacking today, how to position your business for alignment and not just the transaction. Now, if you enjoyed this session, and if you've joined me on any of the others and you want to keep learning beyond today, I want you to check out the Built to Sell, Built to Buy podcast.
where I dive deeper into the real conversations behind successful exits and smart acquisitions on what works, what doesn't, and why most deals fail long before the paperwork. You'll hear from founders who've sold, buyers who've acquired, and I also share the frameworks just like this one, the same ones I use with my private clients to raise valuations and reduce risks. Now, if today's topic around positioning and values hits home,
There's an entire backlog of episodes that go even deeper and further. Now you can find the Built to Sell, Built to Buy podcast. It's on Spotify, it's on Apple podcasts. Or if you just head to sampenny.com, you can find the podcast there and also all the back ⁓ catalog. And make sure you please subscribe if you want the weekly insights on how to think like a buyer and prepare like a seller.
All right, now let's break down what we're going to cover in today's session. We're going to start with a simple, but really powerful question. Who is the right buyer for your business? Because not all buyers are equal and not all are right for what you've built. Next, we'll then look at how to position your business for a values fit. So this is where a buyer doesn't just like your business, but they believe in it.
the kind of alignment that creates faster deals, higher multiples, and a better outcome after the sale. We'll also explore why alignment matters more than industry experience. The best buyers might come from left field, but only if they can see their future in your story. Then I'll give you the four pillars of magnetic positioning, the framework that I use to build a business that attracts the right buyer.
like a magnet. And finally, I'll show you the exact tools to define, express and amplify what your business and why it's different and why it's desirable.
So let's get one thing straight. Buyers don't fall in love with businesses. They fall in love with the future they see in that business. Now you can have strong profits, you can have great systems, you can have a clean P &L, but if the buyer can't imagine themselves taking over and thriving, they're going to walk. The biggest reason deals fall apart, it's not price, it's perception.
and a lack of clarity, a lack of fit. Buyers aren't just looking for a return, they're looking for alignment. So does your business reflect the way they want to lead? Does it match their philosophy, their values and their long-term goals? And when the answer is yes, I'll you what magic happens. They trust the team, they see the opportunity.
And they're willing to pay a premium to get it. And that right there is why positioning matters. It's not just to look good on paper, but to create real buyer value and belief. And belief is what drives the best deals.
So I want to debunk a myth. Buyers aren't just looking for EBITDA. They're not just looking for profits. Yeah, sure, they want profits, but that's not really what makes them say yes. What they're really buying is confidence.
And confidence that the numbers are real confidence that the business won't fall apart without you confidence that they can step in and take control without chaos. They're also looking for cultural and emotional fit. want a business that feels like there's a place where the team matches their leadership style, where the values resonate.
where they can see a future that they are excited to lead. And that's why two buyers can look at the same business and have wildly different reactions. One might see risk, the other might see opportunity. Your job as a business owner isn't to impress everyone. It's to position your business so that the right buyer says, this feels like home. And when that happens,
price resistance disappears and deals move faster, much faster.
Now, here's something that I think a lot of people find very interesting is that not all buyers are created equal. And if you want to attract the right one, you need to know what you're actually trying to attract before you even go to market. You see, there are financial buyers, people who are looking for a return, a safe bet, something stable. Then there are the strategic buyers. So these are often the ones from adjacent industries.
who see your business as a growth lever. And then there's the lifestyle buyers. These are the solo operators or the sea-changers who want cashflow and they want freedom. But the most interesting category, the values aligned outsider. This is someone who might not come from your industry at all, but who believes in what you stand for. You see, this kind of buyer isn't obvious, but...
they're often the ones who will pay the most because they're not just buying a business, they're buying a belief system, one that matches their own. And when you know who your ideal buyer is, you stop trying to appeal to everyone. And that's when your positioning gets powerful.
So this is where everything starts to shift because most sellers think buyers are only looking at spreadsheets. But let's face it, all buyers are human. They're not just doing due diligence. They're asking themselves one core question. Does this feel like me? That's why core values are your most underrated asset in a sale when you're trying to sell your business.
When values align, industry boundaries disappear. A buyer doesn't need to have experience in your niche if they connect with your why. And that's the important part. They need to connect with your why. You see, values shape the leadership style. They shape culture. They shape how decisions get made under pressure. And when a buyer shares those values,
They instantly trust your team, your brand and your momentum. Even if they don't know the products inside out. Tell you what I've seen buyers walk away from well-priced profitable businesses simply because something felt off. And I've also seen others pay premiums for companies that spoke to something deeper, a shared mission, a way of thinking. It's kind of like a belief system.
And this is what my brand mastery course is built on, not just identifying your values, but using them as a strategic advantage. Because when you lead with values, not just your metrics, you don't just attract more buyers, you attract the right buyers. And that's where the real multiples lives. All right. Now, let's bring some structure to this idea of positioning.
Values are powerful, yes, but they're not enough on their own. You need to turn those values into a system, into a framework. You need it into a playbook that shapes how your business is seen, how it operates, and how it connects with potential buyers. And that's where these four pillars come in. This is what I teach in my brand mastery course. And it's the same system.
I use with my private clients when they're trying to reposition their business for a sale. So let's break it down. The first pillar, pillar one is clarifying your core values. And we don't want to have just generic phrases like integrity or customer focus. I mean, real lived values, the kinds that shape decisions. What are you willing to walk away from? What would you never compromise on?
even if it costs you money. And that right there is what buyers want to know. The second pillar of magnetic positioning is that we need to embed your core values in your operation. You see, your values can't just live on a wall. They have to show up in how the business runs, in your hiring, in your onboarding, in your meetings, in your decision making. And when buyers see operational
proof of values, it really builds a lot of business buyer trust. Now, the third pillar of magnetic positioning, you need to express through your brand. So things like your website, your tone of voice, your customer experience, all of these should reflect your values. Buyers notice what you say and how it matches up to how you show up. Now, the fourth pillar.
You need to tell the buyer facing story. Now you take everything. And you package it for the deal. This is in your IM your information memorandum, your pitch deck, your conversations. Values don't just belong in the marketing, they belong in your exit narrative.
So let's really now drill down into each one of these pillars, because this is where positioning starts. Pillar one, it's all about clarity and not just surface level clarity. It's not corporate slogans or buzzwords. I'm talking about the real non-negotiable principles that shape how your business runs. Your core values, you see, are the operating system behind every decision you make.
Whether you're scaling, whether you're hiring, you're firing or dealing with a crisis. And buyers want to know what kind of operating system they're stepping into. So let me ask you this. What do you actually stand for? What would you never do even if it meant more profit? What do you protect at all costs? Your people, your reputation, your service quality.
If you can't answer that in a way that's specific and alive, then your values haven't been clarified. They're basically just been assumed and assumed values are absolutely invisible to buyers. Remember, buyers are looking for signals, clues that show them what kind of business this really is. When your values are vague or they're missing, the buyer is forced
to guess and I'll tell you what, when people guess, they hesitate and they don't trust. But when your values are defined, when they're real and when they're specific, absolutely everything changes. The buyer says, ⁓ I know what this founder is all about. I know what this business is anchored to. You see, this kind of clarity makes it easier for a buyer to say yes, because they're not just buying your numbers.
They're buying your belief system and people, I'll tell you what, people pay more for a business that they believe in. Now let's move on to pillar number two. Once your values are clear, the next step is in making them visible in how the business actually runs. So this is where most founders I think fall short. They define the values, but they don't embed them into their daily operations. Buyers
don't want just beliefs, they want proof. And the proof shows up in the way that your team acts, the way that it decides and delivers even when you as the business owner aren't in the room. So think about your hiring process, for example. Do you recruit people who align with your values or just the right skill set? And then what does your onboarding look like? Is it just compliance and checklists or do new hires
get immersed in what your business stands for. And what about your internal rituals? So things like your team meetings, your feedback loops, how decisions are made under pressure. Do they reinforce or contradict them?
Because remember, buyers notice these things. A values driven culture tells them your team is likely to stick around. It tells them this business isn't just held together by your personal involvement. It's held together by shared beliefs. And I'll tell you what, that's pretty powerful because if a buyer can see that your culture is consistent, that your people are aligned and that your values shape behavior,
They won't just believe in the business, they'll believe that they can trust in it. And this is where really the confidence starts to compound and where multiples begin to rise.
All right, the third pillar. This is all about making your values visible to the outside world, because if your brand doesn't reflect your values, then you're really leaving your best asset hidden. Your brand isn't just your logo or your colors. It's the promise that you make and experience and how you deliver. It's how your business speaks, what it says and how it shows up in every interaction from your homepage.
to your help desk, buyers are watching all of it. They're constantly scanning your website, your socials, your reviews. They're looking for consistency. does the story...
that you're telling, does it match your IM? Does it match what your customers are saying? Is the tone of your site aligned with the values you claim to lead with? Yeah, ask yourself this. If a buyer spent 15 minutes on your website, could they describe what your values are without you ever telling them? And that right there is pretty much the goal. The most attractive businesses,
They don't just say what they stand for. They show it in every touch point that they have. That clarity creates emotional resonance and emotional resonance builds trust faster, way faster than any spreadsheet ever could. And when your brand expresses your values clearly, buyers feel like they already know you.
They trust the culture, they believe the promise, and they're more than likely to want in. Remember, a well expressed brand doesn't just attract customers, it attracts buyers who are already aligned, and these are the ones who will pay more.
All right, here we go. Pillar number four, because this is really where everything comes together. The clarity, the culture, the brand, and it all gets packaged up for the buyer because when it's time to sell, you're not just presenting your business, you're telling a story. The one that positions the buyer is the next chapter, not just the next transaction. Way too many founders rely on numbers alone. But
P&L doesn't create any emotional buying a forecast doesn't make someone believe in your team. That happens when you tell a story that reflects the values behind the business and reflects them to the buyers aspirations. So what kinds of stories am I talking about? Well, I'm talking about stories about the hard calls that you've had to make to protect the quality or even your culture.
Stories about how your values shape product decisions, your team growth, or even your customer loyalty. Proof that your values drive results, not just fuzzy wuzzy feelings. This story needs to live in your information memorandum, your IM, in your pitch deck and your conversations. Don't save your best material for the second meeting. Lead with what makes your business different because
when a buyer hears a story that aligns with how they want to lead, something clicks. They stop seeing your business as just a revenue stream. They start seeing it as a legacy that they can build on. And that's when deals move quickly. And that's when price becomes secondary to fit.
All right, let's do a bit of a case study. Let me show you what this looks like in action. Now, this is a real business that I worked with. It was a, it was a good business, strong financials, 480,000 and EBITDA and Profit has a stable team, solid customer base. And on paper, it should have sold easily, but I'll tell you what, it actually didn't. And why? was because the messaging was flat. The IM focused entirely on the operations and the numbers.
The founders vision was missing. The values were, I'll tell you what, nowhere to be found and buyers couldn't see the story. So they walked. We stepped in and we reworked the entire positioning. We started by clarifying the founders core values and what they stood for, what the business was built around and why it mattered.
Then we embedded those values into the pitch. We rewrote the IM, we restructured the deck, we brought the business to life. It just unbelievable once we started sharing what the values were. You see, it wasn't just a service provider anymore. It was a mission driven team solving a meaningful problem in a specific way. And that shift right there attracted buyers who weren't even originally
looking in that space. One buyer from outside the industry connected deeply with the vision and they actually made an offer at 3.4 times EBITDA. And it was all because the story made sense to them. It felt like it was theirs. And this is the power of a values based positioning. It doesn't just add polish. It expands your pool of buyers.
and it increases what they're willing to pay for.
All right, let's talk about the execution now because theory's great. Theory's actually pretty boring a lot of the time. But if you want to turn this into real positioning power, you need the tools to make it practical. The first is the business readiness report. This is where you get a clear objective score across the key drivers of value.
including how well your values are actually embedded in your operations. This is a mirror for your business and it shows you where to focus before going to market. The next is the brand mastery course. This is the system that I use with founders and it helps them get clear on what they stand for and turn those values into a competitive edge. We go deep on defining values, expressing them
through their brand and embedding them in their business in a way that a buyer feels. This is about positioning as a strategic asset. And finally, there's the exit strategy roadmap. This is for business owners who are getting serious about preparing for sale.
and want a clear stage path to do it right. So there's no guesswork, there's no fluff. This is focused action plan to increase value, to reduce risk and position the business to attract the right buyer. these three tools, they're all about alignment and alignment is what turns a maybe into a hell yes. That's exactly what we want.
These three tools available on my website, sampenny.com. All right, let's bring it all together. Quick recap. If you want to attract premium buyers, and these are the ones who move fast, who pay more and stick the landing, you need more than just clean numbers. You need clarity and alignment. And here's what that looks like. So firstly,
You know your ideal buyer, not just financially, not just philosophically, you've defined what kind of leader would thrive inside your business. You lead with values and not just profit. You understand that what you stand for is just as important as what you earn. Third, you use your brand to signal culture. The way your business presents itself online,
in conversations, in the deal room is aligned with what's behind the scenes. Now fourth, you make your buyers feel like they already belong to you. Your positioning gives them a sense of identity, gives them a sense of ownership and also possibility. And finally, you back it up with systems and handover clarity. This isn't a business they have to rebuild.
It's one that they can trust and step into. Now, this is right here, magnetic positioning in action. It's not about trying to appeal to everyone. It's about being irresistible to the right one. And when that happens, you shift from hoping for a buyer to selecting the best fit from quite a few buyers.
now look, if you've been listening, you're thinking, yep, this is exactly what my business needs, but I'm not sure where to start. This is where we get to do it together because most business owners are way too close to their own story. You've probably spent years building this thing, and you know it inside out, but that closeness can make it hard to see what buyers see. What's obvious to you.
might be invisible to them
And what you're overlooking might be exactly what makes your business valuable. And this is really where I come in. In a strategy call, we'll define your ideal buyer, who they are, how they think, and what they value. We'll look at your current positioning, your brand, your messaging, and your handover plan and assess how well it actually speaks to the right buyer. Then we'll build a values driven narrative that makes your business not just profitable.
but desirable. Look, this isn't just surface level polish. It's deep clarity. It's the kind that translates into stronger offers and better deals. And if you're serious about getting this right, whether you want to exit in six months or even just three years out, let's talk. All you have to do is go to sampenny.com forward slash strategy, book the call. It's free. ⁓ And let's make sure your business is positioned.
for what it truly deserves. And if this resonated and you know you need help applying it, let's talk. I work with business owners who are ready to position their business for serious buyers and not someday, but now. You don't need to have everything figured out. You just need to be willing to do the work that gets your business seen, it valued and sold the right way. So remember.
head to sampenny.com forward slash strategy, book a call, let's build your next move, huh?
All right. To wrap things up, I wanted to tell you about our next session that we have coming up. We're going to move from positioning to process because a great business with poor deal flow, it still falls over. It's called build a sale process that doesn't blow the deal.
and we'll break down the real reasons why deals collapse, not just price, but poor pacing, broken trust, unclear communications. I'll walk you through how to control the narrative from the first inquiry to the final handover and how to structure momentum without losing leverage and how to give buyers confidence without giving away your power.
This is the session that turns your preparation into performance because it's not just what your business is, it's how you set it.
how you sell it that gets the deal done. Don't miss this one. It's the final piece of the puzzle.
So there we have it. I hope you enjoyed that session. It was a great one. Positioning it's so important, building core values into the business and living your core values. And I'll tell you what, you're going to increase your valuation unbelievably. Great to have you here. I'm Sam Penny. Make sure you keep building strong and go forth and conquer.