About me
In just a few words. I moved to the UK in 2013 from the French Alps to study. That was the start of a long journey of education, and personal and professional development. During this time I grew my passion for sport science and how much is can change someone’s life. I’ve decided to combine my passion for this sector with my entrepreneurial heritage.
I specialize in acquiring businesses in the Sport, Health, and Fitness industries, providing motivated owners with a seamless exit solution. With my expertise in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), I offer a low-risk option for scaling up your business. Additionally, I develop tailored, long-term growth strategies for companies seeking to expand or restructure, even in challenging situations.
The challenge of business exits
I stepped in the world of sports in 2014 as a part time job to pay my bills. Since that day, I’ve met numerous business owners that had a passion for what they have created. So much that they devoted everything to this company. They’ve dedicated endless hours to perfecting their craft and expanding their networks, often sacrificing their free time for the success of their companies.
The biggest problem they usually face, is when they try to find a successor to take on the legacy they have built.
- Family businesses face a new generation that may not have any interest in the industry nor being a business owner.
- The management team knows the values of the business best, but they don’t have the entrepreneurial spirit to grow it to something bigger.
- The competition that is only interested in buying your customers and will let go all the staff and legacy that you have.
- Brokers that sells you a dream and how much interest your business will get. But after a couple of years waiting, the promise isn’t so glamorous anymore.
- As a last resort they may look into a liquidator to sell the assets for a fraction of the price.
The options available to a business owner to exit smoothly from their company is restricted.
That’s why I’ve developed a comprehensive plan to tackle these challenges head-on.
My solution
It all starts with my love for entrepreneurship. The beauty of it is to provide a solution to a problem through a service or product while creating an entity that creates employment. A successful business is what creates a ‘win win’ scenario for everyone involved.
When I saw that every year there are thousands of companies (over 25,000 in 2023 in the UK) that go through insolvencies due to a structural problem or a lake of exit options. I had to come up with a plan to help the ones that couldn’t find an exit.
To do this I offer a bespoke plan that is more flexible than what is available on the market. To do this I consider a comprehensive amount of parameters such as:
- Motives to exit (Retirement, medical, new business ventures, property investments, etc).
- Valuation of the business (there are over 100 methods to value a business, and typically the valuation made is a number that would benefit either parties).
- The brand, the identity, and the legacy of the business (I would keep 100% of the branding associated with the company as it defines its values and reputation).
- The systems in place (my philosophy is ‘don’t fix what’s not broken’)
- The existing staff team (I retain every members of staff that are in the team unless if there is any HR concerns).
My only conditions are that I only work with highly motivated individuals. I am in contact with over 100 business owners every week, and I prefer to stay away from plans that are not quite defined yet.
If you are unsure if exiting from your business is the right idea, then answer the self assessment tool below.
The limitations of business investments
When I positioned myself as an entrepreneur and investor, I got bombarded by investment requests in various businesses. As much as investments can greatly accelerate a start-up, I tend to see that most companies look for investments to cover their losses.
It’s would be easy to think that to fix a cash-flow issue is to inject more capital to cover their expenses and debts. And in complete truth, numerous businesses were profitable for years, had a great market share, but they never recovered from COVID-19. Comparing the financial landscape pre and post pandemic, in the UK there is over double the amount of businesses in debts. Furthermore, there are 6 times more companies that have monthly payments higher than their monthly incomes.
This is where business owners seek funds to recover financially. Unfortunately, with the current market interest rates are raising which will lead to a similar issue further down the line. This is also the case for businesses that are healthy and looking to expand. Both could also raise some funds from private investors which are typically uncommon for companies under £10 Million in turnover.
Over the past couple of years networking with like-minded entrepreneurs, I came across multiple ways to scale a business or re-structure a business’ finance without any capital investments which I now implement.
Damien Baudhuin 