Author Profile – John Warrillow: Built To Sell
Q: Why did you decide to write this book?
A: I have started and exited 4 businesses in my career. In 1997, I started Warrillow & Co. as a boutique consultancy. Over time, I built the company up to $5 million in revenue but eventually hit a plateau: I was doing most of the selling and clients expected me to be personally involved in their project’s execution. This of course constrained our ability to grow. I earned a good living but the cash flow was inconsistent and I continually struggled to balance client service and business development.
By 2004, I had decided to sell the business. I met with a few M&A advisors who explained to me that my business was not worth very much: I was told the best price I could hope for was 50% of revenue or 3 or 4 x EBITDA and even a deal at these low multiples would only be possible if I agreed to stay on for 3-5 years. I did not receive this news well.
At the beginning of 2005, I committed to changing our model so I could sell the business for a higher multiple. Over the next year, I transformed our offering from a billable hour consultancy to a subscription business where we charged an annual, up-front fee for a series of market research reports. We discontinued custom consulting and transitioned 100% of our revenue to recurring subscriptions. We went from 5 or 6 clients to 100 subscribers. Personally, I went from hand-holding each client to not knowing most of our subscribers.
In 2008, I sold the business to an American-based Fortune 1000 company for a price that was a multiple of the initial valuation I was quoted in 2004.
I took some time off and realized I wasn’t ready to “retire” so I wrote Built To Sell to share my experiences of transforming a business into something sellable with other business owners who are looking to exit their company. 50% of all business owners want to exit in the next 10 years yet just 1% of all businesses successfully sell each year. It’s a big market in desperate need of a blue print for creating sellable companies.
Q: Do you have any secret writing tips you’d like to share?
A: Double Americano. Small Cup. Repeat
Q: Tell us a quirky or funny story about you!
A: Once worked at a radio station and lost the company’s blimp (think Goodyear Blimp). Had to delay an air show for fear the planes would run into the rogue blimp. Managed to not get fired.
Q: Have you ever battled writer’s block? How do you deal with it?
A: Sure. I go have lunch with a member of my target market and listen 95% of the time
Q: What’s your favorite quote?
A: “The secret to entrepreneurship is to avoid getting too high on the highs and too low on the lows.” Greig Clark, founder, College pro Painters.
Q: Who inspires you the most?
A: Muhammad Yunus the founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Peace Prize Winner. It is the largest micro lending bank in the developing world. Can you imagine having the lives of so many in your hands?
