In looking for a husband for your daughter, says an old proverb, don’t ask: “Who’ll make the best husband for her?” Ask instead: “For which kind of a man would she make a good wife?”
Divestment is a “marketing” rather than a “selling” problem. The question is not: “What do we want to sell and for how much?” It is: “For whom is this venture ‘value’ and under what conditions?” The salient point is finding the potential buyer for whom what is misfit to the seller is a perfect fit, the buyer to whom the venture to be sold offers the best opportunity or solves the worst problem. This is then also the buyer who will pay the most.
A major printing company decided that a mass-circulation magazine it owned was at best a partial fit and should be sold. The magazine had been bought originally to hold it printing contract. They asked, “What is value to a magazine publishing company?” “If it is a growing magazine company,” they answered, “its greatest need is cash. For a growing magazine requires heavy cash investments in building circulation for several years. “How can we supply this need of the potential buyer to our own advantage?” was the next question. And the answer was. “By giving him ninety days rather than the customary thirty days to pay his print and paper bill to our printing plants.” The printing company then rapidly found a publishing group that filled their requirements.
ACTION POINT: identify a “partial fit” business of yours. For whom is this misfit a perfect fit?
Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices
* Source: The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker