This story begins with a routine call to help a colleague with a few questions about advertising. We were discussing her business and she mentioned her hope to retire in the near future. Fast forward to the next morning when I was walking our dogs with my husband. I was sharing the conversation with him when he responded with “Why don’t YOU buy her publishing company?”
Honestly, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind and looking back, I am disappointed in the reasons why. In sharing what I learned from my lesson, I thought I could help other female business owners! Here are three things that almost stopped me from taking the leap in an acquisition.
Imposter Syndrome
You’ve heard of the nasty Imposter Syndrome where feelings of inadequacy creep into your mindset and make you feel like you are less than worthy, that’s why I never considered buying another company. Women business owners are awesome in so many ways and shouldn’t let that little voice in their heads prevent them from doing great things.
Lack of Confidence
School for me was to get my teaching certificate. I never set out, over two decades ago in college to run a business. When building my publishing company, I learned everything I needed to know from podcasts, books and mentors. Thinking about buying an additional company never crossed my mind because it would be an additional part of running a business that I would need to learn to do on top of the day to day work that always piled up.
Complacence
It’s so nice when you what’s working is going well. Why is there a need to change? Change is also scary! Things were just fine when my husband suggested making an offer. Sometimes bigger things are beyond our reach and our comfort zone and we just don’t know it!
Once I was able to get past the mental games of why I shouldn’t or couldn’t buy another publishing house, it was time to get the deal under way! I reached out to mentors and colleagues to hop on calls and learn from others experiences in the industry. Remember industry specific experiences are important to learn from. We are lucky to have an analyst on our team who did the majority of the due diligence for us. The other key team member was our attorney. He drew up the deal as the previous owner and I worked up terms. She had her attorney look everything over as well. The process took us around nine months from start to finish due to the way contracts work in distribution.
Women can lead and women can do great things like purchase companies. I hope my experience inspires you to think outside the box and allow greatness to come your way!
Founder of the publishing company, Cardinal Rule Press, Maria Dismondy inspires and educates others in business. When Maria isn’t working, she can be found embarking on adventures throughout southeast Michigan and beyond, where she lives with her husband and three book-loving children.
