Are You Prepared To Search For Three Years? A Story From The Trenches

The final session of the inaugural EtA Forum was a hugely entertaining and insightful story about the searcher’s journey. Richard Hernan decided, at the age of 40, that it was “now or never” to follow his dream to become an entrepreneur and business owner. At the time he had 12 months’ worth of financial reserves, which he assumed would be ample to find and acquire a business. 

Three years later he found himself in Centrelink for benefits, and still trying to finalise a deal. It was at that critical moment that it came together for him and the search was finally successful. 

This is a story of discipline, confidence and belief, and really highlights the kind of resolve and determination that searchers sometimes need. The payoff, of course, is well worth it, as they can then follow through with their entrepreneurial ambitions. However, it is a process that requires a particular profile of a person to see it through to success. 

Richard also shares his thoughts on the “four seasons” philosophy towards search, one that I love myself. It starts in Spring, when the entire process is exciting and the search is underway. Then it moves to Summer, when the acquisition is hot and the business growth and opportunity is dynamic. Then comes Autumn, which is the time for the searcher to start to ease back on their role within the business, before finishing with the exit in Winter. This “four seasons” approach is an excellent way to look at the journey of a searcher, and Richard’s own story is the perfect example of it. 

For anyone looking to get into search, this is a must-listen presentation because it will help you to prepare for your own journey.

Connect with Richard Hernan - https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-hernan-a655267b/?originalSubdomain=au

What we discussed:

2:26 Richard starts his presentation and introduces the “four seasons of search” concept.

5:25 Richard shares his backstory: how he got involved in Search and why he took that path.

10:52 The importance of self-awareness when starting the search journey.

12:37 Getting the search started – where searchers can start learning what they need to know.

17:07 The psychology of search – what can searchers do to help keep themselves grounded and positive?

20:27 Richard shares a story about the challenges he had getting a deal finalised even after it had been accepted by all parties.

22:40 Going from solo search to partner search, and the difference that made to the search effort.

23:50 Richard shares the story of when his financial reserves had just about run dry and he needed to seek assistance from Centrelink.

28:22 Having now acquired the company, what should your first priorities be?

29:20 The good and the bad – Richard highlights some of the most memorable experiences on both extremes from his search journey.

32:34 Richard shares an update on where Broadleaf stands now and its ongoing growth.

35:37 Richard finishes with closing thoughts – “was it worth it?”

Key quotes:

• “I had a moment where I was sitting across the table having lunch with the CEO of the world's biggest or second biggest mining company. And I found myself thinking “I don't want to be you.” But then, when I reached out to entrepreneurs I realised that that's who I want to be – an entrepreneur who's in control of what they do.”
• “At the start, in the Spring, what you want to do is leave your eyes open and your ears open, and really try and learn as much as you possibly can.”
• “To quote Otto von Bismarck, “any fool can learn from experience, but the trick is to learn from other people's experience.” So what I tried to do, even before I jumped out of the corporate world, and then certainly after I jumped out of that was to say, “who's done this before? I'm not trying to do anything that hasn't been done before.” So I went and met with the three or four people in Perth, who had previously acquired a handful of businesses.”
• “To achieve the aspiration I had about having an impact on a million lives, I knew I needed to acquire something of service. And so, while I looked at a lot of different businesses, I narrowed that down to service businesses.”
• “I felt that with search, there's not much tangible progress that you can show. So, I feel that you need to have hobbies or different things that are going on in your life that give you that, that release and a sense of tangible progress. For me, I ran a couple of marathons.”
• “I prided myself on being able to say “what's the time period between one deal falling over and the point where I fully focus on the next one,” and then build that muscle that would allow me to then get up and go again.”
• “Along the way, I joined up with a co-founder who had deep experience in financial planning and financial services. So I went from that solo search to a partnered search, and that was game-changing for me thanks to his industry knowledge.”
• “There wasn't a second where I thought, “oh, no, I’m done.” There was one day where I'd gone from a visit to Centrelink and having to spend $170 that I didn’t have to recover my car after having it wheel planted, to having lunch with the execs from Macquarie Bank and outlining for them that I need 50 million dollars for a planned acquisition.”
• “The MBA book would tell you to get in there with your new business in the first 90 days and smash it out, and change everything. However, the search book says that for your first 90 days or the first six months, whatever it is, don't go and smash things. Try not to touch anything.”
• “There are going to be surprises. People ask what you were most surprised by, and I always respond that I’ve never really been surprised by them. Because I'm putting myself in there thinking, “there's going to be a whole heap of stuff that I don't know about.” It’s also important to note that there are not just bad surprises, there are good surprises too.”