Monday May 29, 2023

Stephen Brogan - The challenge of buying owner operated businesses

Understanding the culture of a business is critical to the success of an acquisition. Many buyers don’t perform their due diligence to ensure the structure of the team is going to make the acquisition succeed. Stephen Brogan has experienced both sides of the coin in successful and unsuccessful acquisitions for this very reason. In this episode he gives insight in how to make sure yours goes well.

Stephen Brogan is the Founder and Managing Director of Ascot Capital. With a distinguished career spanning 25-years in the drinks industry, Stephen left his role as senior director in Heineken UK and took the plunge setting up his own drinks export business in 2008 in the midst of the financial crisis.

Under Stephen's management, the start-up grew rapidly to £70m in just 8 years and won multiple awards along the way. This was not without the ups and downs that came with owning and running a high growth, demanding SME and his experience through this time, along with the other businesses that he created alongside, stands him in good stead to assess the health and requirements of SMEs that he can support.

“Understanding the culture and personnel is critical” – Stephen Brogan

Timestamps

02:51 - What makes a good team structure for acquisitions?

05:34 - Did the business run well from day 1 of acquisition?

06:43 - How often should you review finances?

07:42 - The impacts of poor acquisition team structures

11:53 - Questions to ask during due diligence

14:06 - Is HR part of Stephen's due diligence?

16:44 - How team structure impacts strategy implementation

Connect with Stephen Brogan

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

Ascot Capital - https://www.ascotcapital.co.uk/