Advice for CEOs

Most of us have listened to great business speakers, or read best-selling business books extolling the virtues of growth and the common denominators of growing businesses. Many large and mid-sized growing businesses have a “rock star” sales person, a terrific growth culture or sales processes involving cutting edge techniques and systems. These factors are indeed critical to growth, and are frequently missing in slow growth or stagnant businesses. But the biggest obstacles to growth for smaller businesses can be the CEO/owner’s lack of confidence, their fear of taking risks that are necessary to grow, or simply a comfort with the lifestyle that their current businesses provides them.

There are many reasons why a business would merge or acquire another. Whether the goal of a merger is to expand product lines or capabilities, increase geographical reach, respond to a crisis, or simply to increase scale, there are factors that are critical in determining whether the post-merger integration is successful. Here are four areas where the most positive impact can result from a merger.