Business acquisition with confidence

How MD2MD membership can help.

MD2MD

Buying a business is one of the biggest decisions a Managing Director ever makes. Integrating two businesses is one of the most important operational challenges a business leader faces. The problem is, unless you are a specialist in acquiring and merging businesses either within or without a business, you won’t do it very often. So it’s usually a new challenge and an opportunity to learn from mistakes.

So, how does a business leader get advice?

Obviously, the specialist advisors in the corporate finance team will be delighted to help, but they are usually financiers with a vested interest in the deal completing. In any case, financiers aren’t usually experts in winning the hearts and minds of staff. One alternative which many find helpful is to talk the situation through with fellow business leaders at an MD2MD meeting.

Whilst clearly no two situations are the same, the perspectives of other business leaders who may themselves have learned the hard way can be invaluable. Even if they haven’t led a deal, they may have been on the receiving end of one and be able to share those insights. Or they might just come up with useful alternative perspectives. So if you are thinking of buying or selling a business, why not give MD2MD membership a try?

You benefit from MD2MD if you...

Are ambitious for greater business success and recognise that to achieve that you need to develop your leadership skills to effectively lead the team to deliver more and better.

Have the humility to recognise that everyone – no matter how brilliant and experienced a leader – can raise their game further.

Are willing to challenge and be challenged with alternative views, constructive questions and different insights.

Want to learn from a diverse group of experienced business leaders.

Are an operational leader managing profit and loss, and making decisions on priorities and people.

MD2MD meetings

MD2MD membership includes four valuable meeting formats all geared to the different needs of the modern day operational leader. These include two regular monthly meetings, available online or in-person plus two larger format, annual events.

Leadership challenge board

Leaders like you discuss in private how best to deal with real business leadership challenges. A chance to develop your thinking on leadership as well as sound out how others would deal with a challenge you face.

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Speaker-led workshops

Weekly interactive workshops led by world-class practitioner speakers of a standard rarely available to business leaders in a small group.

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Speaker webinars

Speaker webinars are similar to workshops but have unlimited attendees and are not fully interactive. There is no requirement to have cameras on and interactivity is via the text chat box.

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Sponsored speaker briefings

The speaker for sponsored briefings is not funded by your subscription. The speaker is a volunteer or is being paid for by a sponsor with an interest in promoting their angle. Which they are briefed to do appropriately and in the context of adding value to demonstrate their worth!

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Trending topics discussion groups

Trending topic discussion groups are an ad hoc chance for members to meet, share and discuss best practice in an area of shared interest with other members with an interest in the same subject.

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Special interest groups

Special interest groups (SIG) bring together members who have a common interest based on sector, on role, on ownership model, according to a common challenge or indeed by any ongoing shared interest which members are keen to discuss with others like them, addressing or considering addressing the same situation.

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LeaderFest

An opportunity for you to hear first hand the leadership thoughts of some very experienced and interesting business leaders whilst discussing business with a hundred or so business leaders like you.

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Retreat to advance

A chance for you to take time out at an inspirational venue. Consider where you and your business might be in 5, 10 or even 100 years. Where are you heading, why you are heading there and how will you get there?

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Trial membership

You the operational leader

Leader – Your primary role is to engage and enthuse a team in driving towards a shared vision. You probably have a team of tens or hundreds.

Operational – Your challenge is managing sales, marketing, operations and development to efficiently and effectively deliver the right balance between profit now and investment for future growth.

Ambitious – You are ambitious to achieve more success for your business with less stress for yourself.

Learning – Whilst competent and confident you have the humility to realise you can be an even better leader and have the desire to develop further.

Commitment – You are committed to investing in continuous improvement for you, your team and your business.

Free confidential advice

Business acquisition is naturally a popular and recurring topic of discussion within our community of operational business leaders. If you are facing an acquisition challenge right now or in the near future then MD2MD are in a great position to offer some invaluable help.

Being in a leadership role during the acquisition process can feel like a lonely place.  Within our community of business leaders we have a number of members with experience of acquisitions that they share at our regular peer group meetings. This sharing of insights can save you a significant amount of time and money by being better prepared when you come to facing the challenge yourself.

To illustrate this, we are pleased to offer you an opportunity to explore your challenge in a free confidential call with our founder, an experienced business leader and coach. The advice is built on real world experience and insights gained from discussions with other leaders in a similar position to you.

The call is completely without obligation. Our purpose is simply to help and as a consequence, to build a relationship. If following the call you are interested in joining MD2MD that’s great, but if not, no worries.  Continue to read more detail about our meetings below.

Apply for free confidential advice

Headshot of Rick Lorenzo

Rick Lorenzo

Managing Director - Inventive Creations

"My experience with MD2MD has been extremely helpful in many ways and even more so with the changing business environment this year. I have made many new helpful relationships with all kinds of MD’s. "
View full case study

Frequently asked questions

Are meetings online or in-person?

Time is a precious asset for every business leader.

We endeavour to optimise return on time by blending an online core service that allows members to stay in regular contact efficiently with in-person meetings that encourage the development of the powerful in-depth relationships that make MD2MD work so well.

Do I have to commit to a lengthy contract?

There is no long term legal commitment involved in MD2MD membership.

Membership continues only as long as you choose.

Whilst we’d encourage you to think carefully before joining and most leavers exit gracefully in a planned way with a chance to say farewell, membership can be terminated at any time. You stop paying and you stop attending.

How do I know MD2MD is right for my needs?

If you are an operational business leader and you have the ambition to drive more success for your business and recognise that to achieve that you need to raise your own game as the leader, then MD2MD is very probably right for you.

The only way to know for certain is to try.  If you are willing to invest in yourself and even greater success for your business, we’ll invest in you.

We offer suitable and committed prospective members a free trial meeting and then a free trial period so they, we, and our members, can make sure your membership adds value for all.

What is the trial membership offer?

We offer suitable candidates the opportunity first-hand how our meetings work.  We invite you to join a demonstration meeting as our cost so you can see how the process provides an opportunity for MD’s to learn with and from other MD’s.

If, after that guest meeting, we mutually agree membership is right we offer you a place in a member group. We then invest in providing the first meeting and a speaker-led workshop with our compliments so you can confirm the reality before your first subscription is due.

Are the meetings confidential?

Yes. Its vital that everyone can talk in confidence with their peers. All members are asked to sign a non disclosure agreement upon joining MD2MD.

Is the MD2MD subscription expensive?

Adding value and delivering a return on our members’ investment in membership is fundamental to us. Doing so isn’t actually that challenging. Our members all have tens or hundreds of staff. A 1% improvement in engagement from a leadership insight gained at a meeting is worth far more than our subscription.

Likewise members often run decisions worth 5 or 6 figures past their trusted but independent fellow members.

Just one better decision easily justifies the subscription. And if one alternative view shared in a meeting helps clarify a better strategy then again the subscription is justified for many years.

Are you a networking organisation?

Not like most are.  Whilst revenues are critical to all businesses our members typically employ others to generate leads. Members do get to know, like and trust each other and so sometimes do business together. But arrangements are driven by the ethos of mutual support rather than inappropriate pitching.

Which industry sectors do members come from?

MD2MD recruits from all sectors. Every group is a diverse mix with ownership structures from owner manager to corporate subsidiary and a variety in between, and at all stages of development from start up to scale up, to growth, maturity and exit. The common ground is all face the challenge of dealing with people, finances, strategies, decisions and risks. With differing values, beliefs, experiences and attitudes.

That is deliberate.  Business leaders like you know your industry and how it operates and know people in your sector.  MD2MD members provide the alternative perspective. You’ll develop your thinking by answering intelligent ‘dumb’ questions from wise and independent peers that approach things differently.

Do I have to be a Managing Director to join?

No. Members come with many titles. It is key that you are an operational business leader and are ambitious for more business success whilst recognising that to achieve that you need to raise your game even higher as the leader of the organisation.  You recognise that even with all your experience, you still have things to learn.

MD2MD membership

  • You meet your peer group privately for structured confidential conversations about real business challenges. You meet online and, if you choose, face to face.
  • You attend open workshops led by top professional speakers sharing best practice on a wide range of leadership topics.
  • You join our annual conference LeaderFest and our annual ‘Retreat to advance’.

 

Apply for trial membership