We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marla DiCarlo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Marla, appreciate you joining us today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job
I owned a fractional CFO business prior to Raincatcher and grew the company to 225 clients. I sold the company to a National group in 2016. I did not realize how hard it would be to sell my business and learned a lot about selling my business, and the emotions of letting go of your baby.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am an accomplished CFO and business consultant with more than 30 years of professional accounting experience. As co-owner and CEO of Raincatcher, we help business owners get their business ready to sell so they find the best buyer and get paid the maximum value for their business. We believe small business owners are the heartbeat of America and every small business owner deserves a chance at the American Dream.
From 2000 to 2008, Marla worked as Director of Accounting for an M&A and Investment group specializing in purchasing, capitalizing, and managing real estate and businesses in various industries. While there, she was responsible for new business deals, investments, and financing. She worked with groups such as Credit Suisse First Boston, ISS Group, Venture West Group, and Madison Dearborn Partners.
In 2009, she opened Kaizen Business Results, a fractional CFO, accounting, and bookkeeping firm, to help small business owners understand the story behind their numbers and get to the next level.
Marla is an accomplished speaker and has taught classes with her local SBDC and SBA, plus various lenders, and banking institutions.
As a serial entrepreneur and small business owner, Marla has helped over 500 small business owners to grow and scale their business.
Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.
I have sold two businesses that I owned and have sold several businesses during the course of my career. I like to talk about that journey of selling my business and how it impacted what I do today. I also would like to discuss why creating a sellable business helps to create a valuable business, even if you don’t want to sell. The 8 drivers that create value and why a buyer would discount a business.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
What helped build our reputation within our market is our differentiator. We want to change the stereotype in our industry and raise the bar. Business brokers often treat business owners like transactions and are rewarded for this. We want to educate small business owners on their options and how to maximize the full value of their hard work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.raincatcher.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raincatcherllc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RaincatcherLLC
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/raincatcher/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/raincatcherllc
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzvc22di9cIb3gBijF1-V-w/videos