How to grow your company while still planning your exit strategy – Ryan Will

Welcome to another episode of The Roadmap with host, Lee Heisman. The Roadmap is a weekly ASBN exclusive that educates CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs on how one day they will scale their business and exit stage left. Joining us in the studio is Ryan Will, president and founding partner of Will Technology Group, to share how he navigated through the yellow and red flags in his company before making an exit.

With almost 25 years of professional services and industry expertise, Will is a thought leader in sales management and technology strategy. His firm, Will Technology Group, is a leading technology distribution, consulting, vCIO, and technology services provider. Will joined Bridgepointe Technologies as a Managing and Equity Partner in October 2022. His previous professional experience included sales executive positions at Internap and XO Communications.

Key Takeaways:

1. “Don’t trust anything not in writing” is the most important lesson he learned from his time as the Commonwealth Telecom Service Group CEO, which eventually failed to sell.

2. Will believes the Commonwealth Company was sold too early. The reality is to ensure everything is documented, especially if you’re applying to become a partner in a firm. You should ensure that you have legal counsel assisting you from the beginning and that you will profit from any exit opportunities. 

3. With a compound annual growth structure, Will could sell 51% of his business, allowing him to take some chips off the table while still growing the business and arranging his exit. “Fortunately, that strategy allowed me to learn what was next in parallel during the transition,” Will states.

4. The sale of Commonwealth led to the creation and launch of the Will Technology group.

5. Even though his family faced hardship, Will grasped the idea of timing. Therefore, he notes, “Yes, you may succeed in growing and developing your business, but you must also recognize what’s essential to you personally. Although I wasn’t prepared to retire, I was prepared to juggle with whatever life threw at me.”

6. Anyone looking to exit a business can contact Will directly via bridgepointetechnologies.com or his personal email at rwill@bpt3.net

“In business, it’s all about gambling on yourself.” – Ryan Will