Preparing For Growth With Keystone Technology Consultants

Keystone Technology Consultants

Based in the Cleveland, OH (USA) area, Keystone Technology Consultants chose to name itself after the center stone on arch structures, which holds everything together. For 25+ years, the folks at Keystone Technology Consultants have provided safe, reliable IT solutions that help businesses maintain continuity.

Challenge

Focused on the legacy of Keystone Technology Consultants, Brian Fontanella, a partner at the firm, started exploring ways to achieve those legacy plans.

Solution

With a growth mindset front and center and stiff organic progression, Fontanella wanted to dip his toes into mergers and acquisitions to expedite business development.

Results

Attending IT Nation Grow™ introduced Fontanella and the rest of the Keystone Technology Consultants team to the people who could make that growth happen through mergers and acquisitions. Fontanella learned that his business wasn’t ready for M&A yet, but left the conference with the knowledge, tools and drive required to amend internal processes to better prepare for the future.

“You need to be way out ahead before you start thinking you can just sell in a year,” said Fontanella. “IT Nation Grow™ will prepare you for when your time comes and for what you want for your business.”

“Whether it’s M&A, selling to private equity, or handing your business off to your children, IT Nation Grow™ helps you get prepared for what you want to do next with your business”

Developing a Legacy

Planning for the future of your business takes time and resources — and the best move isn’t always clear. Brian Fontanella, partner at Keystone Technology Consultants, was adamant about investigating mergers and acquisitions as a way to supercharge the business’s organic growth.

“IT Nation Grow™ was our first introduction to mergers and acquisitions,” he said. “For me, it was about learning, growing and finding out if this is something we wanted to explore.”

During the event, Fontanella says he learned a lot from folks who have taken their businesses through the process of mergers and acquisitions. One of the most valuable lessons he learned was the importance of building solid relationships with the right people; lawyers, bankers, accountants, etc. Without those relationships, M&A becomes even more challenging than it already is.

Understanding the Right Time To Take Action

As it turned out, it wasn’t the right time for Keystone Technology Consultants to undergo mergers and acquisitions, with Fontanella calling it a “big ‘aha!’ moment.”

“We decided that we still have some things to fix internally before we can dabble in this thing,” he said — something that would've taken much longer to realize if he hadn’t learned from industry leaders at IT Nation Grow™.

Coming to this realization allowed Keystone Technology Consultants to focus on other business goals, such as developing an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). “We’re trying to grow the business to get to a certain level so that we can sell it back to the employees and become an employee-owned company,” said Fontanella. “I was able to talk to other ESOPs while I was there [at IT Nation Grow™].”

Choosing the Right Exit Strategy

Mergers and acquisitions are just one business strategy for leaving a legacy. At IT Nation Grow™, experts “talked about all these different ways to exit,” said Fontanella.

Fontanella summed it up with some sage parting advice:

“Go to IT Nation Grow™. It's a very great learning experience. It helps you get prepared for what you want to do next for your business.” Whether it’s M&A, selling to private equity, or handing your business off to your children, IT Nation Grow™ “helps you get prepared for what you want to do next with your business,” said Fontanella.