We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Peek a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, appreciate you joining us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

My firm works with lower middle market companies that are going through an acquisition or sale. One of the biggest trends we are seeing is more skepticism on the part of buyers. As general market conditions have continued to moderate, fueled by interest rates and slower overall company growth rates in many sectors, buyers have begun to rely less on projections and expectations are rely more on historical results.

In one of our most recent deals, the seller expected to sell his company for $3 million. The historic company results would only support a sale price of $2 million. The gap was created by a set of financial projections that were not met. The seller argued that, due to the nature of the business, those projections were possible in any given year. The challenge, for the buyer and the lender, is that a sale can’t be closed on projections in a traditional financing situation.

As lenders get more pressure to hold their ratios and potentially have more clients that are facing economic challenges, this issue is going to become an even greater one for business owners who want to sell their company.

Jennifer, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I founded Peek Advisory Group after a combined 20+ years in public accounting and corporate America. My experience during that time included traditional accounting and financial reporting as well as numerous mergers & acquisition (M&A) projects. The M&A projects were the most fulfilling.

When I started the firm, my goal was to bring the expertise of “big corporate” to the lower middle market – creating a boutique experience for the lower middle market without the marquee price tag. Initial services included financial analysis, information memorandums, funding write-ups and outsourced CFO services. We have honed our M&A support work since then to focus on certified business valuations and financial due diligence while expanding our outsourced CFO service work nationally.

What sets us apart is that we believe in win-win in the M&A space. Many transactions become adversarial or antagonistic because many advisors are most interested in protecting only their clients’ view – and thus can miss the opportunity to achieve the actual goal: getting the deal closed. We operate more in the collaborative space so that our clients achieve their goal in a way that works for them and the other parties.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

We have built our business almost solely on referrals. We have strategic partners that have been referring us business for over 10 years. We have past clients that refer their business counterparts.

This is possible on a long-term basis because we operate with integrity and do what we say we will do.

But, building a referral-based business is not for everyone. It can seem like you have 2 clients: your actual client and your referral partner (depending on the type of relationship and referral). It can be hard to get and maintain a certain momentum if those referrrals are project-based work.

For me, I am best at creating long-term relationships on a more intimate level so creating and sustaining a network of professionals is a great fit. Other people might be better suited for social media or large in-person events.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I first started my business, the general marketing advice was to either 1) make your former employer your first client or 2) breakfast, lunch and coffee network with some BNI thrown in. That marketing advice might work great for some people but it didn’t for me.

On the first point, I came from a publicly traded Fortune 50 company. They didn’t hire any contractors or consultants in my areas of expertise that weren’t from national marquee firms. On the second point, I wasn’t and am not in the B2C space. So many of my initial contacts were. The BNI groups I attended were filled with mortgage bankers, roofers, carpeting companies, etc. They were lovely, but it was hard for me to get any business traction.

Once I realized the gap, I pivoted my marketing (all aspects) to focus on connecting with other experts who served my clients, particularly those who were more likely to “meet” those clients before I did. (Our services are downstream from investment bankers, business brokers, other accountants and attorneys.) I also received additional credentialing in valuations which allowed us to be considered more seriously in the M&A space.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://peekadvisory.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferjpeek/

Image Credits
Adri Guyer Rebecca Clair Photography