Deciding to Sell and What Comes Next

Mark Raderstorf is a Rehabilitation Psychologist by training and lifelong entrepreneur by choice. Mark was working at the University of Minnesota Medical School and decided to launch into private practice back in the 1980’s. He founded Behavioral Medical Interventions, Inc. (BMI), a disability management company and national provider of psychiatric and physical disability management services. For the next 15 years before selling the business, he helped people with injuries or disabilities in their emotional, psychological, or vocational adjustments.

If you listen, you will learn:

• How important referral relationships and reputation are to a service business
• The impact key employees/shareholders have on the value of a company
• The importance of having a coach/consultant during a company sale
• How employees are the key asset in a service business sale
• Having a plan for the sale of your company and your life after business can relieve stress and help with the adjustment

From Psychologist to Business Man

Mark describes himself as a service-oriented individual. His passion for helping people was sparked by a traumatic event in his brother’s life. His older brother had a football related head injury and almost died from an aneurysm which dramatically changed the trajectory of his career. This experience was eye opening for Mark and he knew he wanted to help people in similar situations.

Mark’s small private practice grew from Raderstorf and Associates to Behavioral Medical Interventions, Inc. when he was becoming too busy to handle the incoming business all on his own. He hired one person after another and the company continued to grow even through the financial downturn of 2009. The key to their success was a little bit of luck mixed with good relationships and reputation in the industry.

Working on a Sale

Mark took on more and more with the business which caused stress and worry. At the age of 50, he contemplated if he wanted to continue with the business for the rest of his life. He was spending more and more energy managing people and customers. He couldn’t “turn it off” at the end of the day and it was taking away from time with his wife and kids.

“The business can just gobble you up if you let it. You gotta draw a line somewhere,” says Mark.

Mark found himself spending less time impacting the daily lives of people which was why he went into psychology in the first place. He decided he wanted to do something different and figure out what his encore career was going to be.

It took Mark two to three years to get his company ready to sell with the help of a CFO advisor. He brought in key employees to increase the value and marketability of the company. He tried to first sell to a private equity group but the deal went nowhere. He talks more about his experience in the podcast and what he learned throughout this process.

Eventually Mark did sell to a partner, Crisis Care Network that later rebranded into R3 Continuum, whose services were a natural complement to BMI’s.

What’s Next?

Even though he could have stayed in the business and possible sold for more at a later stage, Mark does not regret the decision. It was his time to sell. The plan for Mark was to sell the business, take a sabbatical to Ecuador with his wife, and figure out what to do with the next stage of their lives.

“The more time and energy you can spend on what’s next around the corner, the better the adjustment is going to be. It is really hard when you’re selling a business because all the focus is on getting business ready…It is important not to get too far down the road…It is important to talk through what’s next,” concludes Mark.

Mark wanted to get back to really helping people and also focus on helping kids. This is exactly what he does today working in private practice three days a week with baby boomers that are looking for their encore career and then volunteering in school the other two. At 62 years old, he is back to living his passion in his life after business.

Contact Information and Bio for Mark: 

Email: mark@raderstorfassociates.com
Main Office Phone: 612-823-5187
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-raderstorf-0a94501/
Raderstorf Associates Website: https://raderstorfassociates.com/

Mark Raderstorf has over thirty years of clinical experience, including assessing and counseling psychiatric and physically disabled patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Mark Raderstorf earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Ohio State University and a Master’s in Rehabilitation Psychology from Texas Tech University. After relocating to the Twin Cities from Ohio, he started his private practice in 1989, providing personal adjustment counseling, psychological and vocational evaluations, and career counseling.

In 1995 Mark Raderstorf founded Behavioral Medical Interventions, Inc. (BMI), a disability management company and national provider of psychiatric and physical disability management services. He then spent fifteen years building a career path focused on helping individuals with disabilities become stable, productive, and engaged in new and rewarding career paths.

BMI became a national leader in the behavioral health disability and absence management field as Mark was fortunate to surround himself with very talented and energetic professionals.

After selling BMI in 2010, Mark enjoyed a sabbatical in Ecuador and returned with a renewed passion for his clinical practice.   Mark is now focused on providing vocational and psychological assessments to clients experiencing a major life change due to illness, injury, sexual trauma, or change in marital status. As a complement to these assessments, Mark also provides career counseling, labor market research, disability consultations, threat assessments, and fitness for duty examinations.

Mark has lectured locally and nationally on topics related to behavioral health disability management and psychological/ vocational issues in the workplace. He has also authored several peer-reviewed articles that have been published regarding work capability and mental health issues in the workplace.

As an adjunct to his clinical practice, Mark contributes to his community through leadership and direct service to several non-profit organizations in the Twin City Area. He is particularly interested in assisting organizations that want to improves the lives of children and youth. Mark presently serve on the Board of Directors for the Loppet Foundation, a non-profit committed to promoting a healthy, active lifestyle, especially to inner-city youth. He is on the Advisory Board to the Minnesota Urban Debate League, which promotes critical thinking and debate skills to junior high/ high school students in Minneapolis and St. Paul City Schools. Mark also enjoys tutoring and mentoring immigrant students at Minneapolis Roosevelt Senior High School and is a cross-country ski coach at Minneapolis Northeast Middle School.