Global M&A Advisor to the Residential, Commercial, & Business Services Industries

What is my company worth?
Our Process

The world of mergers & acquisitions can be very daunting, especially if it’s your first time selling a business. 

At Potomac, our principal goal is helping you make the right decisions for you and your family. That might mean selling your business now. But sometimes it means taking a step back and thinking about how you might be able to make it more valuable for a sale in the future.

When you engage Potomac, you will always feel comfortable that we are looking out for your best interests from the very first call.

“It was on this first call with Paul that he earned our trust that he was truly putting our interests before his own. We already knew Potomac’s track record from other owners who had used Potomac, it was the way in which Paul really tried to help us that immediately sealed the deal.”

Brandon Lunsford, Inspect All Services 

“[Before hiring an advisor] I assumed there would be high pressure to sell, even if it was not the right offer or situation presented to us. Also thought it would be difficult and time consuming to get “our” message across, or not possible to find the right buyer. Finally, I wondered if the investment would be worth it. After our initial meeting and assessment, and after watching the videos showing what the process would look like, I felt very comfortable that if the timing or situation was not right, it would be OK to pivot and felt Potomac would help us go in another direction if that was best for us. We got to what we feel was the best situation for us, and could not have done that without Potomac. So glad we chose to work with Potomac!”

John Boudreaux, Hargrove Pest Solutions

“Potomac was genuinely interested in helping me realize my goals, even if it meant waiting for a few months while they helped me create more value for my company. Paul and his team were great to work with, they really care about their clients’ best interests, it’s not just all about the money with Potomac.” 

Kevin Lewis, Advanced Services

“Simply put, Paul delivers precisely what he promises and he doesn’t make promises he can’t deliver. My initial thought was an advisor would only be concerned with the deal and not me. Paul Giannamore wins your trust by earning it. Would never work with anyone else, he and Potomac are the best.”

Tony Sfreddo, Triple S Services

“The biggest concern that I had was that my advisors’ interests would not always be aligned with my own. Potomac delivered on every promise and was right beside me every step of the way… it would have never happened without them”

Ronen Amichai, Eitan Amichai IPM Ltd.

It All Begins with the Valuation

Whether you’re thinking about selling your business now or in five years, every Potomac engagement begins with a preliminary valuation.

The valuation provides insight on the following:

  1. What would the business sell for today in a competitive sale process?
  2. Potomac Scorecard: How does your gross margins, EBITDA margins and growth rates compare to the industry and the high performers in the industry?
  3. Retention Analysis: What are your customer retention rates and how do they stack up with the industry? 
  4. Pricing Analysis: Are you pricing your services effectively? Is there any opportunity to increase pricing?
  5. Density Analysis: In route-based service businesses, density dramatically impacts gross margin and profitability and part of the valuation process is digging deep into your service footprint.
  6. Tax and Structuring Considerations: We’ll look at the legal organization of your business and provide insight into what you can do to mitigate taxes upon a sale with the help of a tax and asset protection advisory team.
  7. What are key changes that management can make to increase the value of the business?

With the valuation in hand, you’ll have a roadmap to make decisions based on the facts. 

At Potomac, we put an emphasis on education. If you truly understand what creates value in your business and fully understand all your options, you’ll make better decisions for you and your family.

“Today I stand on the other side of a successful transaction and my understanding of Paul has evolved even further. In addition to being an investment banker, he is also an educator, a mentor, a counselor, a builder, an advisor, a writer, and a friend.

Shane Hoy, Pro Pacific

“I spoke to Paul first, he told me very straight-forward what to expect from beginning to end. He was honest about the amount of work that was involved and how he would be there for any questions that I may have. He was very confident that I would be happy with my decision to move forward. Everything he told me that would happen was spot on, right down to timing on how long it would take to close. Franco became my voice of reason when I would get frustrated at some of the buyers request for info. He would be the middleman and was honest on what should be given and what I didn’t need to give them until after the closing. He would answer my phone calls all hours of the night, sometimes after 11:00pm. He became a very good friend through all of this. He made me feel that I was very important, and he worked very, very hard, day and night to get me the best deal.”

Tony Tudino, A&D Professional Pest Elimination

“There was no other firm to consider as I was convinced that Potomac singlehandedly paved the way to add exponential value on the sell-side and his seemingly magical wisdom was driving valuations to heights that should be alarming to the buy-side. Despite the fact that I was a business major, albeit 22 years removed, I had never heard of a value creation zone, didn’t understand the impact of EBITDA and other nuances associated with valuing companies. Perhaps this information was out there but it wasn’t unique to the pest control industry. Paul made valuation relevant to pest control company owners and illustrated the metrics in a way that we business owners could easily understand. He is a real-life open book.”

Josh Kramer, Innovative Pest Management

“Paul was very informative from the beginning, explaining the process as well as the current market dynamics at the time we initiated our first conversation. He did a great job of setting our expectations regarding the process, and painted a realistic picture of what to expect. Franco was on top of every detail from the moment we started working with him, and kept us informed and up to date every step of the way. The initial valuation was in line with what we were able to negotiate, we ended pretty close to the middle of the range provided. Franco prepped us for every call we had with potential buyers, and followed up immediately after each call to check on us and get our thoughts, impressions and input. We never felt alone or uninformed during the process, right up until closing.”

John Boudreaux, Hargrove Pest Solutions

The Potomac Sell-Side Process Means a Lot More Money When You Sell

If you’re like most business owners, you might think that an M&A advisor earns its fee by finding a buyer for your business. And while that is true, it’s only a small portion of what a skilled and experienced advisor will do. 

Finding the buyer is the easy part, positioning the seller in a competitive sale process so that acquirers are forced to simultaneously bid for the right to acquire the target company takes skill and finesse.

Potomac’s sell-side advisory is unique in the residential and commercial services industries. We do more transactions in our industry verticals than any other advisor and you will know when you get to the closing table that you have extracted the absolute highest price possible for your business.