Life After the Exit: The Silence Following My Sale to Pizza Express with Edin Basic
How does it feel to sell your business to a multinational chain?
Edin Basic did just that. Building his chain of restaurants up to 17 sites before selling it to Pizza Express.
But when the deal was done, he didn’t go out celebrating, he was left with the feeling of “was that it?”
For him the journey of building the business had been the real enjoyment of the whole process. He talks candidly about how he felt at every step of the way and afterwards. He shares the complexities of exiting as well as the importance of preparation and governance.
Edin emphasizes the significance of understanding the market dynamics and being ready for unexpected changes that can influence your decision of when is best to make the deal.
Now helping other business owners with their own growth and exit strategies there is a lot to learn from Edin.
"It's all about the journey rather than the destination." – Edin Basic
Timestamps
01:05 - An introduction to Edin
03:06 - Scaling to exit position
07:28 - Getting clear about what you want
13:25 - How did the exit with Pizza Express happen?
18:36 - Knowing the right time to exit
22:25 - How Edin felt after selling
25:55 - Did the deal change before the end?
32:03 - The emotional side of selling a business
37:04 - Working after the exit
Connect with Edin Basic:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/edinbasic-help-food-and-beverage-founders-grow-and-exit-their-business/
We Amplify - https://we-amplify.co/
Connect With Julie Wilkinson
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliewilkinson-accounting/
Tik Tok – https://www.tiktok.com/@wasolutions
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvq6gfNoP_4dfIJulL6C6A
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/wilkinsonaccountingsolutions
Website - https://wilkinsonaccountingsolutions.co.uk/
Before you go, don’t forget to leave a comment and review if you got something out of this episode!
Build and Exit
As a chartered management accountant by trade, I uncovered my true potential at 37, moving from a well-paid corporate job to building my own accounting and consultancy firm. Having worked on 5-10 acquisitions or business exits each month for clients, I understand the key challenges business owners face, including getting the real value they want for their business, whilst having the right controls and processes in place so the business can run independently of the owners.
The Build and Exit podcast will include conversations, stories and real-life examples of day-to-day challenges business owners face, different methods of growth including acquisitions and top tips on how owners can transition from working in their business to working on it, enabling them to maximize their value on exit. I will also include episodes where I share my own learnings on business management and how Wilkinson Accounting Solutions are planning to continue to grow by acquisition.
- No. of episodes: 55
- Latest episode: 2025-05-11
- Business Entrepreneurship Investing
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