Complimentary Services:
Resources and information on transferring or acquiring a business.Touchstone Value Enhancement
Touchstone Advisors and CVantage™
HOW can a Touchstone Chairman Advisor help me?
Statistics show that fewer than 1 out of 3 privately-held businesses that are deemed ready for sale by M&A firms and business brokers actually get sold - and not always at the price the owner had counted on. And that figure does not include the vastly larger number of businesses deemed not suitable to sell. That's because while many such businesses are profitable, in only a minority is that profit sustainable and transferable. A Chairman Advisor will – with the use of a proven methodology and tool set - help you address the issues in your business that are inhibiting performance and value. S/he'll help you to feel in control of your business once again, to grow it if it's stagnating, and/or to provide you with have multiple options for transition when that comes. In short, s/he'll help you build your company into a sustainable, transferable, valuable business asset – one that you'll enjoy running.
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What is CVantage?
CVantage™ is at once an idea, a philosophy, a concept, a methodology, and a technology platform for helping owners of privately held businesses transform their businesses into healthy, valuable assets.
Idea
Think and act like the owner of an asset, not just the CEO of a company. Balance the strategic and the tactical. Focus on making improvements in your business that elevate performance, and which improve sustainability and transferability, which together increase value.
Philosophy
Value in a privately-held business is not just profit. It is profit that is both sustainable into the future, and transferable to a new owner – two factors that are taken as a given in public companies, but which are often missing in private ones. To maximize the value of your business asset, you must take the necessary steps to ensure that it is not only profitable, but also sustainable and transferable.
Concept
Corporate structure – Boards of Directors, led by Chairmen overseeing CEOs for the benefit of owners (shareholders) - has helped achieve success for public companies for hundreds of years. Introduce the Power of the Chairman to into your private business to do the same for it.
Methodology
Using a proprietary tool set and methodology, and applying the concept of Corporate Structure from the world of public companies, a Chairman Advisor begins by systematically and objectively assessing the core revenue, delivery, and financial components of the your business. The Chairman Advisor then quantitatively rates your business based on findings, and against established best-practice standards, in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the business, as well as opportunities available to it, and potential threats against it. Next, the Chairman Advisor develops a plan of action to achieve your goals, and address the underlying issues compromising your business asset. The Chairman Advisor then monitors execution of the plan, and its impact on performance, profit, and value.
Technology Platform CVantage™
Supported by a secure, Chairman's View-hosted, web-based platform which Partners use to manage and store client information, and access industry data and research. It is also used by owner-clients to manage assessments and their own company metrics.
WHAT is unique about CVantage™?
CVantage™ is the only solution available to business owners that pairs a proven methodology with a seasoned executive who's been in your shoes – who's run business, just like you, and who won't depart when the recommendation is made, but rather sticks around to makes sure you achieve your objectives of improving both current performance and profit, and the overall value of the business.
How do you measure success?
When performance and value improvement objectives have been realized, and when you begin to spend more time think and acting like the owner of your business asset, and not just as the CEO of your company; when you're routinely focusing on making improvements in the business that elevate performance, and which improve sustainability and transferability, you and your Chairman Advisor will have achieved success.
WHAT are the critical Business Owner needs addressed?
- Regain control of the business
- Grow a stagnating business, or to be able to take advantage of opportunities
- Obtain better financing terms, by virtue of having a stronger business asset
- Create a more valuable business that will generate higher multiples on sale
- The assurance and security of knowing the business can continue if they cannot
- Develop multiple options for transition/continuance
- Regain the satisfaction and enjoyment of going to work
WHAT is CVantage™, and how is it used to help owners address their critical concerns?
CVantage™ is a complete package of proprietary tools, methodologies and research that enables a Chairman Advisor to efficiently and profitably execute Chairman Advisory engagements; and to build, manage and grow a successful Chairman Advisory practice. Using these tools, supported by both a technology platform and the company that built it, a Chairman Advisor systematically and objectively assesses the core revenue, delivery and financial components of an owner's business against a set of best practice standards, and quantitatively rates the various aspects of the business based on findings. The Chairman Advisor then develops and oversees the implementation of a plan of action to address the underlying issues compromising the business asset enabling the Chairman Advisor to deliver on two levels: better Performance & Profitability, plus enhanced Value. Chairman Advisors hold the Owner/CEO and his management team accountable – much as a Board of Directors would in a public company.
WHAT are the conceptual underpinnings of the CVantage™?
Value is more than just Profit Value is Profit that is both Sustainable into the future (can transcend a change in ownership by virtue of having systems and processes in place) and Transferable to new ownership (the success of the business is not dependant on the involvement of the owner). Profit is what the business has done in the past – it's backward looking. Buyers of businesses are forward looking, if they are not convinced the profit is sustainable and transferable, they will not value the business as highly. Using CVantage™, Chairman Advisors help owners improve the sustainability and transferability - and hence the value and likelihood of sale - of the business asset.
1. Be an Owner First, and a CEO Second Most Owner/CEOs spend most of their time with their CEO hats on driving performance, and too little time with their Owner hat on maximizing Value. The result of focusing primarily – or solely – on short-term performance is creating a business that is profitable, but may not be valuable, rendering it less attractive to a potential new owners, bankers and others than it could be, and limiting the owner's future options.
2. Introduce the Power of the Chairman to private businesses to do for them what Boards do for their public counterparts. Corporate structure - Boards of Directors, led by Chairmen who oversee CEOs for the benefit of owners (shareholders) - has for centuries been proven to maximize value for public companies. The same can be done for privately-held ones.
WHAT is unique about CVantage™?
CVantage™ is the only solution available to business owners that uses Private Business Standards and Quantitative Measures to assess the health and score the value of their businesses, then marries a proven methodology, process and system with a trusted Chairman Advisor to help them both improve current performance and profit, and increase the value of their businesses.