The Zen of Business Acquisitions

My second book is due out this December 2019. The book is titled The Zen of Business Acquisitions.

Some of the topics I cover in the book include:

• Trends inside today’s M&A industry
• How to start a succession plan
• How to get a competent valuation of your business
• Insights as to what the largest, most successful firms are doing right now, and what’s worth emulating

In The Zen of Business Acquisitions, you will read about some of the fatal misconceptions floating around the M&A industry today, as well as some of the classic mistakes that first time buyers and sellers make so you can avoid them. You will also come to understand the importance of playing the long game, and why planning years in advance, is the ONLY way to win in this competitive environment. This book is a tool to help you build a 5 to 10-year game plan to prepare your company for a sale or merger, putting you light years ahead of your competition.

Here are two professionals that give a great summary of my book:

“Tom Hine, top producer, stand up dude, published author, compiled an excellent group of industry professionals to provide commentary on how business acquisitions are done in the financial advisory industry. Tom has brought together experts from all facets of the industry to put together a truly all-encompassing look into the inner workings of an acquisition. Tom’s book will act as a true guide for any advisor considering an acquisition and Live Oak Bank was honored to contribute to the book.” James Hughes, VP – Investment Advisory Lending, Live Oak Bank.

“The Zen of Business Acquisitions uniquely and brilliantly creates a detailed and supported metaphor of business succession plans, through Hine’s expansive martial arts experience — tying the precision and skill of sport, to the know-how and grit of business.” Jason Carver, Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions, Carson Group

But that is only half of the story.

I also emphasize throughout the book the parallels of my martial arts training, the lessons learned and the benefit of applying those lessons to business acquisitions. Each chapter starts with a quote from Eastern philosophy (Buddha or Lao Tzu, for example) and ends with some lesson that ties back into that quote.

One of my favorite quotes, (from Buddha), is:

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth

Why would this quote be important? That is because in acquisitions, and indeed in business in general, we are often trying to get at the “true” value of a company. After all, if we are going to part with hard earned money to buy that business, we should at least make the best attempt to understand the financial value of a company. This information will help develop the ultimate purchase price.

One other quote I really like is from The Dalai Lama. This is at the very end of my book.

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:

“Man.

Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.

Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.

And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;

the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;

he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

That’s all for today. Stay tuned.