Kipp Krukowski

20 years of helping entrepreneurs understand and create value...

After earning my mechanical engineering degree in the late 90s, I started my career in manufacturing holding positions in global purchasing, quality assurance, and production control/logistics. I received six sigma training and focused on value creation strategies to improve efficiencies and eliminate waste within production, utilizing value stream mapping and participating in make vs. buy studies and total cost analyses.

After taking several entrepreneurship courses at Carnegie Mellon, I decided to buy an existing company. Going through this process made me realize that the real opportunity was helping business owners prepare their companies for sale. So, in 2003, I opened up a business brokerage firm. In addition to recommending value creation strategies to improve operations prior to placing companies on the market, I helped in areas of business valuation, negotiation, deal structuring, and due diligence.

My business expanded to offices in three industrial cities. We completed over 100 successful transactions, and I earned the CBI credential from the International Business Brokers Association along with the CEPA credential from the Exit Planning Institute, and I was recognized by the Business Brokerage Press as an industry expert for selling manufacturing companies.

When the Global Financial Crisis hit, I looked for a service to add to our offerings. After acquiring the domain name EquipmentAppraisal.com, projects began pouring in from around the country, so I quickly spun out the machinery and equipment service to focus on its growth, selling the brokerage firm. A few years later, I acquired BusinessValuations.net, and expanded the appraisal and valuation offerings. I received the ASA in Machinery & Technical Specialties credential from the American Society of Appraisers and CVA credential from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts, and I provided expert witness testimony for million-dollar litigation cases related to valuation. In 2018, after client valuation projects reaching the 1000s, the opportunity presented itself to harvest, so I sold my company. To this day, the firm continues its growth, helping companies make informed decisions related to valuation.

I went back to school to receive my Ph.D. at Oklahoma State, eventually landing at Colorado State researching and teaching students about starting and building a business. I continue to be a trusted advisor consulting companies in valuation and value creation, providing manufacturing business valuations and business appraisals, through MFGvaluations.com and BusinessAppraisers.com. My research is focused on entrepreneurial exits and business value creation to help both students and business owners create more valuable companies.