There have been many articles written and even some books, that recount a success story that occurred after someone acquired or became the senior executive of a business.
Each and every one of these stories provides a detailed account of the method utilized in that specific situation, and is generally touted as a “guarantee for success” providing that you do and perform exactly what the author did and in the exact same manner that they did it. And, if the circumstances are absolutely identical, and I do not mean similar I mean truly identical; the same company, under identical circumstances at the exact same time of the same day of the same month of the same year, with the identical staff, the exact financial situation and the same light bulb burnt out in the lobby and the method is delivered by the same person, it “might” actually work again.
I have had to face the first morning as the senior executive in numerous instances. In some cases the companies were in financial trouble, in other’s they were acquisitions of smaller companies, one case was a leveraged buy-out (the acquisition of a larger company) and in other’s they were acquisitions of divisions of large corporations. In each and every case I could not and did not use one of my own previously successful approaches on that first morning. Why? Because each and every situation presented a completely different set of parameters, opportunities and challenges.
I am not saying that the words of wisdom that you will obtain from reading success stories are not important. If nothing else they will make you think about what you will face on that first morning and more than likely provide you with some ideas and strategies that you can utilize. However, only you, with your knowledge of the current status of the company, your attitudes, your presentation skills and abilities, your comfort in addressing individuals and groups can determine what you want to accomplish and how to go about it in a manner that is right and comfortable for you.
If I attempted to make a list of all of the parameters that could and would affect my decision on how I would handle that first morning this manual would be at least twice as thick as it is. At the end of the day there have been numerous cases where all my plans and strategies that I had set for that first morning were shattered by an outside force or situation that demanded top priority and a set of actions that made my initial plans worthless.
You can plan exactly what you are going to say to the staff, go over it a thousand times in your mind and then when standing in front of them and looking at the expressions on their faces you change, delete and/or add to what you were planning on saying and adjust the overall method of delivery.
As an example, a number of years ago I acquired a division of a company based in the Netherlands. The due diligence and subsequent purchase was quite complex and the time frame from my first meeting with the Managing Director of the parent company to completing the transaction took seven months. During that period of time I spent more of my time in the Netherlands then I did at my home office. All of my dealings with the management of the company, both the parent and the division, the lawyers and accountants involved in the due diligence and numerous agreements were handled in English without any problems whatsoever. Then I faced the first morning after completing the acquisition. I had all of the employees assemble in the general office area and then had the Managing Director of the division, who was remaining with the company in that role, introduce me. To my amazement and dismay his introduction was in Dutch not English and as I started to speak in English he commenced translating it into Dutch and the majority of the employees were looking at him as I spoke. So much for my motivation speech, I made my translated message short and sweet, called the department managers together who luckily all spoke English and explained my reasoning for acquiring the company and my short and long term goals and asked them to relay the information to the staff in their respective departments and to apologize for the fact that I could not deliver the message in person.
If, as the new owner of the business you are also planning on being the new senior executive of the company then by far the first thing you must accomplish is to gain control of the business. This can, in many instances, become a major challenge, especially if the previous owner is staying on with the business for a period of time, as you must diminish his authority and control, and solidify yours as quickly as possible, without at the same time having the business deteriorate around you. As a general rule most individuals do not like change and if the previous owner is well liked and respected by the employees in the company it can be very difficult to wrestle employee allegiances away from him.
How you handle the transition from the previous owner to you, the new owner, can make or break the company. There are a few things, although some individuals consider some of them to be quite petty and silly, that I have discovered and utilized that seem to have helped me solidify control.
The following suggestions or ideas represent a change of ownership or management in a relatively financially stable business. If the business is a turn around situation many of the following comments may not be applicable.