If the past month is any indication, the lull of 2016 is in the rear view mirror and we’re headed into an uptick in the IPO market. As more well-known and highly anticipated companies are going public, there are rumors of who might be next. With that said, history has shown the public offering windows opens and close quickly, and in order to take advantage of a healthy market, when IPOs tend to fare best, companies must be prepared when the market is ready. Below are several points on getting a company IPO-ready:
Prioritize. When the market is hot, it’s easy to want to ride the wave. But, trying to skip ahead or take shortcuts could put an IPO at risk. Conversely, shifting full focus to IPO readiness activities can cause the day-to-day business to suffer. In cases like this, working with partners to help prioritize activities and plan the IPO can be a good decision as it frees up time for management to focus on the business while keeping all strategic initiatives in sight.
Set the tone. As every C-suite executive knows, major transformations, like launching an IPO and operating in the public realm, require a great deal of both internal and external communication. Public companies operate in a fishbowl of disclosure and regulatory compliance. Therefore, executives need to set a positive tone early on to ensure that every single person in an organization – not just the functions at the center of an IPO – is aware and supportive of the process. The executive team must promote a compliance infrastructure not just as a system of controls, but as a tool for growth and scalability.
Scale your infrastructure. The internal infrastructure of the company must be able to support and withstand the transformation requirements of going public. With new requirements and regulations, companies need to review their financial reporting applications and systems to identify and correct scalability issues.
Think cybersecurity. IT security should not be an afterthought to growth. Organizations need to scrutinize their IT systems for readiness and security, particularly when selecting and implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. We now hear almost daily of major cyberattacks against public companies. When customer data and/or company IP are at risk or actually compromised, shareholders and regulators take notice.
Learn from others. The basic requirements for transforming a company from private to public rarely change. A new legislation or new requirements might pop up but, at the end of day, every CEO who has taken their company public has a similar story to tell – one of hard work, sleepless nights and serious commitment to the goal. It’s important to take the time to hear these stories from the frontlines, understand what CEOs and CFOs say they wish they had done differently, what they could have avoided, or what wasn’t worth the trouble. To this end, I invite you to join us at our upcoming webinar with executive Vice President and CFO of GOGO, Norm Smagley, who will be sharing his stories from the frontlines.
To learn more, also check out our IPO FAQ guide, available for a free download here.
