Confidentiality was the big fear when Deb and I decided to sell the business. We knew that we wanted to let our employees know what was going on. But we knew that we had to do it at the proper time.
We waited a month before we knew that the contract was going to go through. And we called a group meeting brought them all together, said fellas this is what's going to happen. One of the big issues that Deb and I had, was that the manager and the employees had to go with the new owner, and at the new business. And we made sure we did that, when we sit down in negotiations with the new owner.
Confidentiality is very important because. I had staff, and I didn't know if the process was going to go through. And I didn't want to alarm the staff that maybe I wouldn't be here. I also have clients and patients that may have been scared off. And so it was the utmost importance that we keep it confidential between myself and the eventual buyer.
The day came when it was pretty close to closing. And we sat them down and I explained to them that I will be here on a short-term basis. Just a little bit less, but I'll be changing jobs. The other doctor will now be taking over and will be the CEO, and I will be his right-hand man. The reaction was great. They actually, I told them that I wanted to take a step back and spend more time with my family and kind of regroup over last 12 years of putting in all the hard work, so it was pretty seamless.
My employees, once I let them know about the sale were great. After the letter of intent was signed we said that there were going to be few to no changes, that they had a place in the organization going forward, and that their work in that business was critical to his success going forward. So I think everyone got on the same page, and it went very well.
For the level of confidentiality that MidStreet provided to me, they were really careful to not put my financials out there for just anyone. If they had a qualified lead, someone that they really felt was going to be a good potential match for my business, me, and my employees, then we moved forward with putting those things out there. But I really appreciate the fact they they were careful, and chose carefully when to do that.
