Selling cars is a tough way to make a living.
Volkswagen - arguably the most successful car company in the world - has a market capitalization of around 29 per cent of revenue.
I bet you'd like to get a little more than 29 per cent of revenue for your business when you're ready to sell. Yet Volkswagen, the proud owner of brands such as Audi and Bentley, is not even getting one times revenue for its business. Not even close. As taxpayers, our collective investment in GM would fetch an even lower multiple, no doubt. Cars make for a horrible business, but they offer cautionary lessons for anyone thinking of building a company they'd like to sell one day.
Create a cash-flow-positive business
Car companies sop up gobs of cash as they buy plants, parts and the steel they need to make their product. If your company is cash-hungry, expect to take a big haircut on your valuation because potential acquirers would need to invest most of their money into the working capital your company needs to run. This, of course, will diminish the appetite to write you a fat cheque.
Make your business less dependent on people
Most car companies are wrought with old, bloated unions that hold the company hostage every time it attempts to become competitive. If your business relies on the frailties of human beings, expect to take a discount when you go to sell. Document your systems so that you can replace person A with person B without interruption or histrionics.
Innovate
Both Chrysler and GM almost went away for good in 2008 because they have been commoditizing themselves for years. They have been putting a fresh wrapper on old products, trying to convince us there's a difference between a Mercury Capri and a Ford Mustang or a Chevy Blazer and a GMC Jimmy.
Perhaps with the exception of Ford in recent years, North American car companies have consistently put out such bad products they've commoditized themselves to a point where the only thing they can use to get us to buy their cars these days is deep discounts and government-engineered programs.
It's not surprising that the only real innovation in the automotive sector is coming from outsiders. Tesla offers an electric-powered sports car that will do 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds. Toronto-based start-up ZENN Motor Co. provides a zero-emissions car with no noise. Despite being cash-hungry, ZENN has a market capitalization of about $100 million, which equates to 71 times its $1.4 million in annual revenue in 2009. Now that's being paid for innovation!
Want to sell your company for a mint? Innovate. Create a better mousetrap. Look at the multiples enjoyed by companies such as Apple and Google. They're not sitting around churning out lousy products in expensive factories with swollen union labour. They create smart products that maintain fluent cash flow and have among the highest revenue to head count ratios among all businesses.
I'm glad GM and Chrysler are still around. Not because I want to drive their cars, but because they provide a perfect illustration of how not to create a valuable company.
Special to the Globe and Mail
John Warrillow is the author of Built To Sell: Turn Your Business Into One You Can Sell . Throughout his career as an entrepreneur, Mr. Warrillow has started and exited four companies. Most recently he transformed Warrillow & Co. from a boutique consultancy into a recurring revenue model subscription business, which he sold to The Corporate Executive Board in 2008. He is the author of Drilling for Gold and in 2008 was recognized by BtoB Magazine's "Who's Who" list as one of America's most influential business-to-business marketers.