Someone Else’s Shoes

Insights by Peter Watson.

Every so often we recommend that you bring a different mindset to work. Imagine you are in the shoes of a potential buyer. How does the business look to you? Can you recognise any customer dependencies or troubling churn rates? Or the weak administration, or even the general untidiness of the business? Try it out – and see what you find.  Then try to decide how much of your personal money you’d put at risk to buy it back!

Better still, ask a third party to do the same as they will almost certainly be more dispassionate and objective in their approach – especially if like Prism, that is what they do day in, day out.

At worst you’ll start to understand the risks that a buyer sees and thus get a more realistic view of value. At best you’ll be in a position to address some of the most critical risks. You will then be in a good place to start to increase the value of the business.

We’ve just released the latest issue of our M&A report for the UK software and IT services (SITS) sector. Our research shows that although M&A activity in this sector decreased very slightly in 2025 (-0.9%) compared to 2024, deal volume is still historically high and in line with expectations. The report also contains the results of our SITS owner-manager survey that we undertook at the beginning of this year. It is reassuring to know that 92% of those surveyed say their business is performing the same as or better than a year ago.

The new report also includes interesting updates from both sides of a deal that we completed in March 2025. It then concludes with mine and Robert’s thoughts on the sector and how current events might affect it.

To receive your free copy of the report, please reply back to your newsletter email or complete the form here: www.prismcorporatebroking.com/report