Case study: Eric Rosenthal, former owner, Florikan E.S.A. LLC
Overview of Eric’s journey
Enter CEO Nexus. Eric joined the peer group as a way to tap into the knowledge of fellow CEOs and commit to gaining experience.
When it came to the roundtable group, Eric was all in.
“I loved our facilitator and our coach,” he said. “There was really good community that they brought with different speakers … lots of different tools, ways to manage, to run the business—and I engaged with it. I learned a lot.”
EOS® Traction® was a specific tool that connected. It was like a lightbulb went off for Eric when he was introduced to it. His father, the business’ founder, had always been the visionary for Florikan, with Eric as the integrator.
“When he left the business and stepped away, I didn’t really understand what his role was,” Eric said. “I didn’t know I was supposed to elevate to that role.”
Eric was often butting heads with his vice president because they were both trying to be the integrator. After the introduction to Traction® and especially to the Accountability Chart™, Eric said, they all started to understand their roles better. His VP even joined a CEO Nexus C-Suite roundtable specifically geared toward business integrators.
Other tools helped Eric embrace his new-found visionary role. He fell in love with the PI Behavioral Assessment™ so much so that he got his practioner’s license. He also used the Rockefeller One-Page Strategic Plan to outline everything in the business, from mission, vision and values to long-term 30-year targets.
But the most helpful tool? Simple accountability. If group members had issues the previous month, their facilitator would deep dive into progress the next month. Eric took it a step further, applying one of the facilitator’s exercises. She encouraged the group to write a performance letter on Jan. 1 to themselves on Dec. 31. Eric did, and it was a tradition he continued for many years. He would regularly pull out the year’s letter, highlighting what he accomplished in green and what he had yet to start in red.
Exiting the business
After years of letters, Eric began to realize that while the business was thriving, he would personally need a future exit. He again turned to connections made and lessons learned through CEO Nexus to start the process, including reaching out to an investment banking contact he had made through the group. Eric thought he was about two years out from selling when an old contact brought up a private equity offer.
It was life-changing money and more than Eric thought he would get for the company, even if he waited. With many lessons and tools under his belt, Eric sold in 2021.
Lessons learned and next steps
As part of the sale, Eric stayed on through the private equity firm. Florikan was a bolt-on to a larger company, all of which were then rolled up into another sale. Eric changed roles several times, gained some great experience, and saw things from a different perspective. After about three years, however, he found himself alone again as the last of the former owners. While he never saw himself retired at 47, Eric left. CEO Nexus had done well to bring him to the point of sale, but this was another lesson learned.
“Clarify your role. Make sure it’s cemented, and then even though you exited from your other business, be prepared to exit from the next one, too,” he said. “I was not prepared to exit from that one. I thought I was going to be on this trajectory, have an officer role and really grow with them.”
“I think I gained a lot of knowledge and intelligence on the positive side about how to go about it and how to build a business up and get good value for it and know what you need to do and how to prepare to sell—and then also what I would do differently and what didn’t work with private equity,” he said. “I think it’s a good story, and I can add a lot of value for people and help them find their way.”
About CEO Nexus
CEO Nexus is committed to serving business owners and executive teams leading growth-oriented, second-stage businesses*. Our facilitated peer roundtable program utilizes the CEO Nexus Content Model, which focuses on leadership, sales, operations, and finance. The program is structured to enhance Your Ownership Journey™.
Every business owner has their own personal journey with their business. CEO Nexus’ mission is to meet business owners and executive teams where they’re at on their journey and provide the resources and context needed to help them accomplish their goals.
*We define a second-stage business as being beyond the startup stage, with 10 to 150 employees and/or $1 million to $50 million in annual revenue.