Comfort Keepers: A leader’s journey to successful exit

Six steps to exiting your business:

Kat Vercruyssen has come a long way as a business owner since her first visit to the SBDC.

She and her husband had started, Comfort Keepers, an in-home senior care service, in 2000. In 2004, her husband passed away suddenly. She was diagnosed with late stage cancer shortly afterward. He had handled the financial side of the business and Kat, the marketing and operations. She reached out to the SBDC of North Idaho College, hoping for guidance to keep the business afloat while navigating this difficult time of life. There she worked with a coach that helped her manage financials, improve employee retention and even plan for strategic growth.

Over the next decade she would purchase a building, expand service area and see a 30% average Year over Year growth. In her spare time, she managed to beat cancer, remarry and add a few grown children and grandchildren to her family. By 2011, they had grown to a regional business with over 200 employees. She was recognized as the 2011 Idaho Small Business Person of the Year and a National Finalist.

1) PLAN AHEAD

Kat knew that someday she would have to step away, but in her mind that was years away, she was busy with the day to day operations of running and growing her business. When approached with an offer to purchase the business, she and current husband, Jim, realized that ‘someday’ was much closer than they had thought and decided to explore the opportunity. With the business in good health and a strong economy, the timing seemed ideal. Letting go is a big transition for any business owner. Kat recognized that having a target date would have made the decision to act on an opportunity much easier.

2) CHOOSE AN EXIT STRATEGY

Exit options for business owners include transferring the business to a family member, continuing ownership with a full-time manager and retaining cash flow, or selling to a new owner.

In their case, there was no family member interested in taking over ownership. They had a fantastic manager and the business was a very profitable. But, Jim was in declining health and a sale would give them time to travel together before they got much older.

3) GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER

Since a sale was not something they had been preparing for, they spent time with their accountant to view the books through a buyer’s eyes. They made sure the account receivables were up to date, taxes paid, and unnecessary costs eliminated. Kat advises others to consider carefully how discretionary spending categories are used and to review vendor contracts. This process should start at least a year in advance to provide a buyer with clean, uncluttered books.

Investing in her team was also important. She had spent years working to improve employee retention rates by holding appreciation events and involving staff members in the creation of company goals and vision. Employee tenure, clean financials, and effective systems in place made for a smoother and more successful transition.

4) PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS

Kat believes in ‘playing to your strengths.’ She takes care of what she knows how to do and gets help in areas outside her expertise, including business coaching, outside accounting services and hiring a business broker for the sale. “I hire out what I don’t know how to do, and I had never sold a business. We wanted to make sure we covered everything in this process and there were some things we didn’t know.”

This proved critical when the initial buyer was not able to come up with the cash to purchase. The broker brought three additional offers to the table. Having additional offers allowed Kat to make sure the one she accepted would really be the best fit for her clients and team. The broker also helped walk them through steps they had not thought of, like when to tell employees and how to make the transition.

5) PLAN FOR A SMOOTH TRANSITION

Deciding when to inform the team of the potential sale was a challenge, especially after the initial offer fell through. “They had become our family and we felt awkward about keeping this from them, but had to be sure the sale would go through,” Kat said.

She wanted to make sure everyone knew at the same time. “I wanted this to be something really positive for the employees.” A required training event for all employees offered the opportunity to make the transition and introduce the new owner. It gave everyone a space to air uncertainties and provide reassurances, as well as share memories and hopes for future.

Reflecting on the process, Kat says the key is to plan ahead. “Make sure this is something that you are really ready to do.” For her, it had been a difficult personal transition. Caring for families and loved ones in the last chapters in their lives had become a huge part of her life. She suggests planning for your life beyond business… for your exit — it will be here soon. Working hard on your exit plan today is an investment in tomorrow.

Today, Kat and Jim are enjoying their time together, with their children and grandchildren. They are still looking forward to being able to get out and do the traveling they had planned, once travel restrictions are lifted. In the meantime, it has been nice to look back and realize the benefit of building a great team and business over the past 10 years. Their investment in the leadership time, the goal setting, team building, financial diligence and the marketing efforts have all paid off.

• Learn more about Comfort Keepers of North Idaho: https://bit.ly/3cN23UK

• Learn more about business coaching at the NIC Small Business Development Center: https://bit.ly/3rKmZ2X

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Katrina Boyer is the marketing assistant for the Idaho Small Business Development Center at North Idaho College.