Monday Jul 22, 2024

Sam Oliver – £100k professional fees incurred from a disputed earn out clause

Selling a business comes with risks, but the buyer tyring to swindle you right at the end would challenge anyone’s nerve.

My guest in this episode, Sam Oliver, shares his experience of successfully selling his business and going through an earn-out clause. He discusses the challenges he faced when the buyer suddenly changed the processes at the last moment.

He shares what happened with disputes over the deferred consideration and the lengthy and costly process of resolving them. He also provides insights into what he would have done differently to protect himself and offers advice for other entrepreneurs going through similar situations.

“I thought they wouldn’t want to fire me, piss me off, and give me a shit offer” – Sam Oliver

Timestamps

02:08 - An introduction to Sam

02:53 - Did Sam plan to have an exit?

06:34 - Growing a company to 37% market share

11:57 - Why did the earn out go wrong?

14:25 - How did Sam challenge low payments?

21:14 - Could Sam have done anything differently?

24:49 - Why did the buyer have this strategy?

27:09 - Sam's new venture Openfi

Connect with Sam Oliver:

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam0liver/