We have developed a 10 step process for selling your business that assures that there will be a smooth transition from start to finish… including meeting your goals, setting the right price, all the way to closing the sale:
- INITIAL MEETING AND BUSINESS EVALUATION
- GETTING THE BUSINESS READY FOR SALE
- HELPING YOU COME UP WITH THE BEST ASKING PRICE
- MARKETING YOUR BUSINESS FOR SALE
- PROTECTING THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE SALE
- SCREENING AND PRE-QUALIFYING POTENTIAL BUYERS
- MEETINGS WITH POTENTIAL BUYERS
- NEGOTIATING THE BUSINESS SALE
- OBTAINING AN OFFER FOR YOUR BUSINESS
- THE DUE DILIGENCE PERIOD AND CLOSING THE SALE
Call 812-330-7566 or complete the form to the right to start a confidential discussion about selling your business today!
Our initial meeting starts with us getting a good understanding of you and your business through an open conversation, a business evaluation and a top level analysis. We’ll discuss the process we will go through to sell your business and put a checklist together of the steps and documents that will be required in order to make the offering and close the sale. We will request the financial statements necessary to arrive at an asking price for your business. We’ll make sure we have answered all your questions regarding the process. And everything we talk about will be held in the strictest confidence.
We will work with you on preparing the business for sale rather than quickly put it on the market. This increases the chances of selling and makes the conditions of the sale much more favorable to you, the business owner. We will work very closely with you gathering necessary information, preparing the profile of your business and analyzing your financial statements, utilizing our proprietary systems and processes. We will provide you with the steps and keys to successfully staging and positioning your business to get the best offer possible.
While operating their business, owners usually strive to minimize their tax liability. Sometimes small business owners charge some expenses to the business that a new owner may not. It may have worked to their benefit for tax purposes, but it worked against them when they have decided to sell. When it’s time to sell, you want to show as much discretionary income as possible, and this helps to increase the purchase price. Through our conversations, we will do all of the necessary adjustments to your financial statements, and present the best income producing picture of your business.
We will design a marketing approach which will work best for your business type, size and geographical coverage. We will utilize state of the art internet business listing services, and we’ll utilize specialty databases. Sometimes we may do specially targeted advertising or tap in to our deep investor clientele. We will create profiles and descriptive advertisements and we will design the best advertising strategy and advertising media to be used for your business.
The role of the Business Broker is very important in maintaining the confidentiality of the transaction. We don’t want outside parties questioning your staff, vendors or customers for information about your business operation. It may damage your business by causing employees to start looking for new employment, or vendors changing supply terms, etc. We will not disclose your company or information until the interested party has been properly screened and the proper confidentiality documents are signed by the buyer.
We have found that most people inquiring about a business for sale are not qualified to buy it. At times many buyers will respond to our marketing about your business and we don’t want to waste your time with unqualified lookers. We will pre-qualify every interested party at the front of the process and eliminate those who aren’t qualified.
When a buyer is interested in looking at your business, we will be right there with you. The first meeting will be a general discussion about the business, your strategies and operations. This meeting can take place wherever you feel most comfortable…our office, your place of business, or another off-premise location. Eventually the buyer will want to tour your location, and this can be arranged outside of normal business hours if desired.
An effective negotiation really can make the difference between getting to an agreement on terms and not getting the deal done. Tension can rise when people discuss money or the running of a business and a simple mix-up may cause the end of negotiations. We will be right there, guiding the negotiations and maintaining a business-like atmosphere which hopefully will lead to a successful outcome.
When a buyer wants to make you an offer, it will usually take the form of a Letter of Intent (LOI) which will outline the terms of the offer…the purchase price, terms, proposed agreements, conditions, etc. We can help facilitate this Letter of Intent. Once you have agreed to the terms of the offer, then a Purchase Agreement will need to be drawn up. You can use your own team of professionals or we can direct you to our Professional Affiliates to assist with the Legal and Accounting documents needed.
One of the usual terms in the Purchase Agreement is a “Due Diligence Period” prior to closing, where the buyer is allowed time to request and view specific documents to verify statements made regarding the business, such as financial statements, bank statements, contracts, leases, etc. When the due diligence period is completed successfully (usually between three and six weeks), the final closing documents will need to be prepared. Again, we can recommend professionals to do that work or you can use your own.
CONCLUSION
That completes the overview of the process of selling your business. We strive to make sure that at every point along the way, in the final analysis, you have reaped the highest reward for your efforts of starting, building, and selling your business!