Private equity firms are paying 4x earnings for individual businesses in fragmented markets — then selling the combined platform for 10x. Same businesses. No magic. Just scale. But here’s what most operators miss: you don’t need a PE firm to run this play. You can do it yourself — with your existing business as the...

The post The Consolidation Play & Due Diligence first appeared on SCG Global.

Mailchimp raised zero dollars in outside capital. Zero. And sold for twelve billion. WeWork raised twenty-two billion dollars. And filed for bankruptcy. Both companies were growing. Both had revenue. The difference wasn’t the product, the market, or the timing. It was readiness. Capital amplifies what’s already working — or funds what’s already broken for longer....

The post How to Know When You’re Ready to Raise Capital first appeared on SCG Global.

If you think your business is in great shape right now — this episode is specifically for you. Blockbuster had 9,000 stores, 65 million registered customers, and a market position no one thought was vulnerable. They also had $800 million in annual revenue tied to a pricing model built on customer frustration. When Netflix removed...

The post How to Stress-Test Your Business Model first appeared on SCG Global.

You negotiate for months to land a $3 million purchase price. Then the deal closes and after debt payoff, taxes, transaction fees, escrow holdbacks, and earnout risk, you walk away with significantly less than you expected. Most business owners don’t know this is coming until they’re already sitting across from a buyer. And by then,...

The post Deal Structure 101 for Business Owners first appeared on SCG Global.

McDonald’s generates nearly 47 cents of operating profit for every dollar of revenue it brings in. The average small business generates 5 to 15 cents. Same dollar coming in. Completely different amount staying in the business. The gap isn’t scale. It isn’t luck. It’s operational efficiency — and it comes down to three levers that...

The post The 3 Levers of Operational Efficiency first appeared on SCG Global.

Red Lobster had $2B in revenue and less than $30M in cash when they filed for bankruptcy. Spirit Airlines generated $4.9B in revenue in 2024 and burned $758M in operating cash. Both companies watched their revenue. Neither controlled their cash. Christian and Stephen break down the five cash flow rules every operator needs — and...

The post Why Cash Flow Beats Revenue Every Time first appeared on SCG Global.

What do Kroger paying $1.65 billion for Giant Eagle, Sycamore Partners taking Walgreens private for $10 billion, and Bain Capital’s $3 billion acquisition of commercial HVAC giant Service Logic all have in common? Strategic positioning. In every case, the buyer wasn’t just purchasing revenue — they were buying a defensible, hard-to-replicate position in a market....

The post What Do Billion-Dollar Buyers Actually Pay For? first appeared on SCG Global.