Transfair, the business transmission meeting, was held on November 30 in Paris. The opportunity for Pascal Ferron, vice-president of Walter France, and Stéphane Meunier, transmission recovery advisor to the CCI of Paris Ile-de-France, to explain why the buyer must demonstrate a lot of psychology.
Generally, before sitting down in his brand new executive chair, the buyer spent a certain number of months negotiating with the seller. But as soon as the recovery is effective, very often, he will discover another facet of his personality. And on both sides, the first day is synonymous with a lot of emotions. The buyer must leave his role as a manager to take on that of a business manager, and he will discover the requirements of his new posture ! It’s a real cultural revolution. Transferor side, he turns one of the most important pages of his professional life and must agree to give way. It’s anything but obvious… The journey to business takeover is strewn with pitfalls : difficulty finding a company, negotiation difficulties, waste of time with sellers who are not really salespeople, etc. This can be tiring. On the other hand, just before the restart, not much happens anymore. It’s time for the buyer to regain strength. Because from day one, it is an often frantic rhythm that will be triggered. And it is not always easy for the family who has been able to get used to more availability.
The buyer, new boss
First pitfall : ensure that the transferor does not present his successor as an apprentice buyer. It’s the buyer who is the new boss, who makes the decisions, and immediately, not in three months. He generally got into a lot of debt, sometimes he doesn't know, or little, the job of the company he takes over, he will therefore manage taking into account, notably, constraints caused by its debt. He is condemned to do better than the transferor. But at the same time, he must take care of him so as not to offend him, often because of insignificant details. It’s delicate on a human level, and it's all a matter of psychology. The transferor is sometimes more relaxed after signing, but it can happen that it is harmful. Indeed, he chose his buyer, the important thing is not to disappoint him. There is nothing worse than a transferor who “scrubs the buyer”, even unconsciously, with customers or the team, because the latter disappoints him in relation to the idea he had of it !
Capture from the transferor everything that is not documented
From the first day, the buyer gets to the heart of the matter by trying to “keep things simple” ! And above all, by trying to capture all the information of which the transferor is aware and which cannot be found anywhere documented. This requires a certain roundness on the part of the buyer. Advice from Pascal Ferron : “If after a few days, the buyer discovers facts which would justify the implementation of the liability guarantee, better think twice. If the amount involved remains reasonable, we have seen some buyers prefer to give it up rather than permanently alienate the seller ! »
Don't let bad news get you down
Indeed, all the good news, the transferor has already announced them during the negotiations to sell his business at the best price. As a result, once at the head of the company, at first, the buyer will only discover bad news. According to Stéphane Meunier, “if the transferor has properly prepared his takeover, he will have optimized his accounts. Clear : he could have blocked salaries, or delay machine maintenance. It will be up to the buyer to reopen, if necessary, the taps. » Even if the audits are well carried out, the buyer, upon arrival, has only a superficial knowledge of the business. To summarize, he will save 20 years in 20% of known spaces...
Don't revolutionize everything at first
The company lived without the buyer for years, it can last a few more days like this. This is not always easy, because the buyer tends to want to immediately initiate his action plan. Yes, but… it is just as important for him to immerse himself in the company culture and understand all interactions. Especially since the to-do list will never be the one that was initially planned ! One thing is the business plan sold to the bankers to obtain the loan, another thing is the reality of the business and the necessary pragmatism, even if it is entirely legitimate for the buyer to act in his own way and not allow himself to be influenced by others.
The priority : discuss with employees
Everything that is human, the entrepreneur will discover it in the first days. For Pascal Ferron, “the first urgency is to meet the employees, one by one, at their workplace, not in the management office ! Indeed, the buyer is the new boss, and even if he has reassuring language, employees know that this will change, and what worries them, this is what will change for them. » And be careful not to keep the same rhythm as during the road shows in front of bankers and business angels ! Because otherwise the employees will be paralyzed, and will let their new boss go ahead alone...
The second priority : go see customers
If the temptation is strong to meet the biggest clients as a priority, this is far from a good idea. Indeed, better to get your hands on small customers, and only go see the most important ones when the buyer is sufficiently armed. On the supplier side, remember that the first money earned is the one you don’t spend. It may therefore be wise to renegotiate contracts with certain suppliers., think twice before paying the bills, etc. And of course, the bankers' tour will be obligatory quite quickly... Stéphane Meunier insists : “Whoever the interlocutor is – employee, client, supplier, banker – the key word is : to reassure. »
Define a short period of support by the transferor
In the recovery protocol, it is recommended not to freeze the support period, because most often, after fifteen days, the buyer will have difficulty supporting the presence of the transferor who will not be able to help but point out that, his, did not do like this or like that… The best is to set a short period, then to occasionally call on the transferor for help with a call for tender or a technical problem, for example, with fees in return. This is really a point of attention for the buyer : the confrontation of two egos can quickly become complicated. “The important thing for the buyer is to arrive on the first day calm and relaxed, with great humility in the face of the transferor who has spent twenty or thirty years at the head of his company. He must observe, listen and reassure. Hurry up and take the time…” underlines Pascal Ferron.
