SMB Podcast- Carl Nicpon

My guest today is Carl Nicpon with Marsh Creek Advisors, an M&A advisory firm that helps business owners think through what their business is really worth, how to increase that value, and how to navigate a sale without leaving money on the table. Carl’s story is pretty unique. He’s a third-generation business owner who helped run his family’s wedding services company before selling it in a private equity roll-up. Before all of that, he spent seven years in schools as a counselor and administrator, which sounds unrelated until you hear him talk about how emotional a business sale actually is. We also get into the part of selling a business nobody talks about on LinkedIn — trying to run the company and prep it for sale at the same time. You still have to hit your numbers. You still have to lead your team. And now you’re also in due diligence, turning over financials and answering questions. Doing that without the right team around you is a recipe for disaster, and it’s a big reason so many deals fall apart after the LOI. One of my favorite lines from Carl is this: an attractive business to buy is a fun business to run. And he gives you a dead simple test for it that every business owner should consider applying immediately. Let’s get into it.