Documens Boss

A few months ago I was contacted by a group of investors. For the purposes of this blog, let’s call them “Jason & Co”.  They had deep pockets (£65M) but not, they confirmed, short arms . I was assured that they had plenty of money to spend in this sector.  Excellent - More money coming into the ECM sector couldn’t be a bad thing.  Money was not their issue.  They knew what they wanted (or so they thought) and they had some knowledge of the technology in this sector along with a few contacts.  

So you would think they would be ready to roll .  Well, in fact, no they weren’t.  They were in fact, in search of what we call the “Five Legged Sheep”.  I discovered after a few minutes’ conversation that they had been searching for this five legged sheep for, wait for it…………………….. 2 years.  I wondered how that had fitted in to their business plan.  

The problem they had was that they were seeking what did not exist - Especially at the price they were willing to pay.  Exacerbating the problem was the fact that they had wasted an inordinate amount of time and effort.  They could probably afford the financial expenditure; the time expended was a bigger issue.  Their initial business plan had been based upon some “consultancy” work they had commissioned.  I was fortunate enough to peruse the “consultancy” document upon which they had based their business plan.  It was 30 pages long, very well presented and written in the most perfect prose I had read for some time.  Great, you may think; a solid consultancy report.  Unfortunately it was perfectly presented but clearly boiler plate drivel - one size fits nobody. 

Basing their decisions upon this worthless pile of paper, that should have been used for another purpose, they had embarked on their business journey of adventure in search of the Golden Fleece, only to find out, two years later, that they were in fact, hunting a Five Legged Sheep.  

Before you embark on any journey, make sure that your plans are based upon solid information.  It could save a lot of time, especially when looking to make an acquisition.  Make sure you get the right information first time.  Business moves at too fast a pace and won’t wait whilst you travel on a circular voyage in search of something that does not exist.