103: Growth through Mergers & Acquisitions with John Bly of LBA Haynes Strand

Background on John Bly of LBA Haynes Strand:

John Bly is the founding Member of LBA Haynes Strand, PLLC and LBA Haynes Strand Capital Advisors. His entrepreneurial leadership has propelled the CPA Firm’s growth. LBA Haynes Strand ranks as one of the Charlotte Business Journal’s Top 25 CPA Firms in the Charlotte Region and a Inc. 5000 Company.

John steers the Firm’s consistent growth of personnel and expansion of client services. In 2004, the Firm offered bookkeeping and tax services. Since then, it has expanded to include services such as Assurance Services, Government Audit, Business Valuations, Merger and Acquisition consultation, Peer Review, Controller services, Tax Planning, Wealth Management, Accounting for Charter Schools and a variety of Entrepreneurial Growth services. With ten partners and over seventy professionals, John continues to grow the firm both organically and through acquisitions. John’s strategic plan led to a second and third office in Greensboro and Mount Airy to serve the rapidly growing Triad market.

John‘s far reaching professional influence expands into the business community. John is a frequently requested speaker who is called upon to share business ideas and growth strategies. John’s emphasis on proactive strategic growth has earned him a reputation as a thought leader in the business community for a wide range of entrepreneurial and business topics including taxation and mergers and acquisitions. John has a passion for listening, learning and transferring knowledge through consultations with corporate clients to benefit the firm, our clients and others. His leadership locally and globally in the Entrepreneurs’ Organization has earned client and peer accolades. John is the author of “Cracking the Code: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Growing Your Business Through Mergers and Acquisitions for Pennies on the Dollar.”

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[1:16] John Bly got interested in accounting at a very young age. It started when he became a newspaper boy and he was in charge of the monthly collection and payment.
[2:54] When he was working at Price Waterhouse Cooper, John decided he wanted to put up his own accounting firm. He was only 25 years old when he had his own firm.
[6:54] John talked about how he got the idea of acquiring an accounting firm. In the classified ads, he saw a listing of accounting firms for sale.
[10:23] In 2004, after establishing his own firm, he already gained profit and was earning more than when he was working for the big accounting firms.
[11:17] Invest in real estate with FundRise. Go to fundrise.com/millionaire to have your first 3 months of fees waived.
[13:37] John explains the factors that helped his company grow. It involves a lot of work and building up his network and connections.
[15:14] 2006 was the turning point of the company’s growth. From 2 full time workers, they jumped to 18 people in a matter of months doing nearly $1.6 million in revenue because of successful acquisitions.
[18:30] John has different ways of finding out potential firms to acquire. He also has some tips when evaluating companies and firms for acquisition.
[23:34] John made a mistake of acquiring a firm that has a totally different culture compared to their organization.
[27:53] John uses several strategies to keep his people from adopting the old culture, especially during acquisitions.
[33:56] John’s accounting firm has key differentiators that provide them the advantage over other smaller-sized firms.
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[38:26] When John was able to have more free time and stopped working as much, this allowed him to create more ideas and opportunities to grow the company.
[43:41] John makes important preparations in order to make their meetings more productive.
[44:56] John wrote a book that focuses on how to do mergers and acquisitions in small businesses. The book is called Cracking the Code.
[52:50] John emphasizes the importance of planning, following your passion, and selling while it’s not yet too late.
[54:26] John can recognize when a person loses his or her passion and interest for the business.

Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖 📚 Favorite Book(s)? Cracking The Code by John Bly
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Fitbit Charge 3
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO)
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Finding and retaining great people

Key Point from the Interview:

“One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen amongst clients and entrepreneurs is that they hold on to their business too long and ends up becoming stagnant.”

Resources Mentioned:

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