Affiliate Marketing – Restructuring and dealmaking

When the inner purpose noticeably changes, entrepreneurs tend to make adequate decisions of moving on to the next project. Rightly so, entrepreneurs are the initial instigators of our day and age and provide employment and meaning to others. But what to do with the project that has become a serious business and occupied the majority of the last years? Many entrepreneurs become their company and their company becomes them. With great care, a cleavage should be created to clearly identify the two separate organisms, the entrepreneur, and the business. A sensitive process where two identities will go through a small crisis and must redefine themselves to continue to thrive. Plena 8 was tasked to guide the process until the sale of assets of an affiliate marketing company.

Luckily, we have dealt with many entrepreneurs during their acquisition process. Our human centred approach fully integrates the dealings of the human component. Embodying the clients’ persona, understanding the needs and desires are integral to approaching any step. Setting expectations and discussing a variety of scenarios is necessary to be realistic and conclude the aim and objectives. This is followed with a multi-step approach for a smooth transition to the new.

STEPS TO TAKE

The next steps are relatively similar to the scaling of a business. It’s about identifying and formalising each step to create an overview of the company. This contains an overview of the inner strategic compass, and the value system from growth to delivery. The value system should showcase the value drivers, dedicated playbooks, and responsibility and output within the team. This overview shall showcase what kind of KPIs and/or scorecards have been used until then while the company dashboard implies the entire structure. A crucial aspect of a company is their company culture. This is something that won’t be clearly showcased but should be experienced. Describing someone’s values and principles would help the buyer to “understand” what the company is about, but “knowing” comes when it is experienced. Success of these steps is the achievement of a singularly identified business. The ultimate test is if the founder could step away from the business without any major implications.