Founder/owners of medium-sized businesses, especially those who represent the Baby Boom generation, have been pouring their passion, their hearts and their souls into successful companies for the past 25 or 30 years. Now in the mood to wind down, many have concluded the time has come to withdraw equity from the businesses they've built with so much effort and loving care.

Perhaps, after pouring blood, sweat and cash into the business for three decades, they feel the need for a little risk aversion.

"Let us help you manage your team."

If it's time to cash in on all that hard work, where can you turn to find the assistance and guidance you need to make it happen?

In Western Canada, the answer is Viking Pacific Inc., Advisors to Business.

A multi-talented team of former-bankers, lawyers, management consultants, accountants and entrepreneurs, Viking Pacific performs a variety of essential services for corporate clients, including succession/exit strategies, business planning and business brokerage services.

"Our business brokerage and succession planning components represent the fastest-growing component of our firm," confirms Viking Pacific president Troy Fimrite.

"We're able to act on behalf of both those interested in purchasing or those interested in selling a business. We help to identify both potential buyers and sellers, and then expedite the entire process going forward."

The professionals from Viking Pacific begin by conducting an in-depth analysis of a vendor's operation, analysing financial statements, assessing the real value of the business and looking at constructive strategies for maximizing that value.

Viking Pacific's Troy Fimrite

"Ideally, we set up a three- to five-year go-forward action plan, in an effort to take the business to the next level, before it's time to hand things off, either to succession-minded family members, an interested and well-financed management group or to an outside interest such as private equity. But if the ideal amount of time isn't possible, we'll make it happen to our clients satisfaction," Fimrite explains.

"Our objective is to maximize the value of the business before we put it on the market. We want to help our client get the most he possibly can in return for his years of strong performance and hard work."

Viking Pacific consultants guarantee strict confidentiality while bringing to the table a demonstrable ability to assess and evaluate even highly intangible assets, such as the good will you've built up after years of serving your customers at the highest performance level.

The company also enjoys access to a large database of potential purchasers, including private equity groups across North America that are perpetually on the lookout for opportunities.

"If you want to sell, we're going to be involved in the entire process, maximizing value/ performance, cleaning up your balance sheets, establishing an optimal price for the business," Fimrite adds. "Our role as intermediary and client advocate also includes the responsibility to make sure that there is documented support for whatever value the owner may wind up placing on the business."

But outstanding brokerage and strategic exit planning tell only part of the Viking Pacific story.

A large percentage of Fimrite's clients have no desire to sell or exit from their companies. On the contrary, they have come to the experts to ask for help in re-vitalizing and re-shaping business plans that have outlived their usefulness.

"Our research tells us that about seven of every 10 companies are going forward without an updated business plan. We believe that's a mistake," says Fimrite.

Viking Pacific insists that successful companies should re-evaluate their business plans on an annual basis and the expert consultants on Fimrite's staff are ideally qualified to help with identifying the need for revisions and new directions.

"Any number of companies, particularly those with a relatively small employee base, are working so hard that this kind of re-assessment tends to slip through the cracks," says Bill Nash, chief of marketing and business development. "External factors, such as rising operating costs, can have a profound effect on any company's bottom line. That's why it's important to schedule frequent pauses to evaluate the business plan."

The pros at Viking Pacific have the skills to evaluate your plan from an objective viewpoint, subsequently suggesting constructive ways to adjust to changing times and conditions.

Although its corporate HQ is located in Grande Prairie, Viking Pacific has opened busy offices in both Edmonton and Calgary, while extending its matchless service package to clients all across the West.

For more information, please call our toll-free number: 1.888.986.0007 and take a look at the website www.vikingpacific.ca.