Hill View Partners

The middle market and lower middle market represent the broadest spectrum of acquirers of businesses - From Fortune 500 strategics down to small family offices and individual entrepreneurs, understanding how each type of acquirer evaluates a business is a key part of understanding the broader M&A ecosystem. We were fortunate to have a friend of the firm Daniel Tagliatela join us this week, and discuss his experience in successfully acquiring, operating, and growing a portfolio of businesses. Today we have Part I and will be releasing the balance of the discussion throughout the week. #hillviewpartners

We grow our businesses by focusing on the inputs - what needs to be done whether we feel like doing it or not - and how these inputs translate to the most important outputs of business... Not likes, not kudos, not followers, but by the growth and profitability that feeds the families that depend on us, our teams, our employees, and everyone else we collectively work with. Agree or disagree with our perspectives, these are the items discussed in this week's videos. #hillviewpartners

We don't deal the cards, however, we do get to play the hands, and the nice thing about business is that the better we play the cards, we actually impact the quality of the next hand we're dealt. From our experience, the businesses we've seen become most successful are those that are obsessed with controlling the controllable variables - The inputs In this video, we look at the three attributes of inputs that allow us to move the ship of business in the right direction and, based upon the ultimate outputs, how we're able to iterate the process from there. #hillviewpartners

You don't need to be famous to be good at business - You just need to be good at business... In this video, we discuss the overarching themes of what makes an owner or operator 'good at business', and what this practically equates to. Having a presence, a personality, or an outward visibility to the market may help or hurt (although we'll note is not necessary), however, the true tailwinds of business circles these three primary elements. #hillviewpartners

If last week's videos focused on timing, this week's videos focus on decision making, and pitfalls to avoid in the decision making process. Indecisiveness over a long enough timeframe is often worse than the wrong decision - The ultimate goal is progress, and only iterations of decisions (both right and wrong) brings that progression of character, of capability, and of decisiveness. #hillviewpartners

[Insert ominous video title here] - Continuing our theme from earlier this week, we're looking further at decision making and avoiding pitfalls in business leadership. Again pounding the drum on inverse thinking - Sometimes we're best able to navigate in the direction of where we want to go by simply avoiding going to where we don't want to go. Finding all of the good can be challenging, avoiding all of the bad can be a bit more definable, and these are the primary pitfalls we see in business that we try and help our clients avoid (and avoid in our own business) #hillviewpartners

This is what we've learned about decision making... The people that make the best cakes are often those that have made the most cakes - It's therefore not a leap to think that the best decision makers are those that have made the most decisions and thereafter acted most quickly on those decisions. Have to believe there are plenty of self-proclaimed bakers that do it often yet still poorly, therefore the concept of combining iterations with the feedback loop of analysis and improvement is where real long term growth and progress comes from. We always try to plan in decades, yet between making decisions and taking action, we want that in seconds. #hillviewpartners

Business isn't that different than life in the sense that timing can oftentimes be everything - The same actions, activities, and inputs, can have very different outputs depending on the timing, sequencing, and cadence of certain decisions. These are the key motifs of this week's videos, looking at how timing and the management of processes can have outsized impacts on results. #hillviewpartners

Why do processes breakdown in business? It doesn't have to be the making of an atom smasher for their to be a mess, and it doesn't need to be something as simple as the cracking of an egg to make it work. The process, far more than the complexity of the objective, is what will determine if it is a smooth or difficult journey. Whether a simple or complicated exercise, the process, how well defined it is, how well implemented it is, and how well it is abided by, will have a tremendous impact as to whether the ultimate objectives are met. Whether you're driving a Buick or a Bugatti, if the road is a mess or impassable, you're not getting from Point A to Point B, and the same is true with all processes in business. A clear process is a clear path, clear next steps are clear highway markers, and other driving analagies aside, processes create results. #hillviewpartners

You're wanting to sell your business, but you're not sure when... From our experience the best time to sell your business is when these five elements are in place - They don't need to be perfect, however, if you can tick these boxes, the probability of a better outcome meaningfully improves. The best time is always when you want to vs. when you have to, and when you want to, these variables will further secure optimal results. #hillviewpartners