Selling a Business

After being involved in selling a business hundreds of times we know buyers love increasing values.

If you are selling a business and want a premium for your business you need to move past potential and provide value growth.

Business owners often talk about the “potential” that a new owner can realize. This is great and buyers MAY buy a business because of it’s potential, but they won’t pay for it.  Buyers need to see they can buy and continue increasing value!

Steps to Selling a Business

Pre-Market Planning

A successful business sale hinges on the planning!
  • Develop a detailed ideal buyer persona to help in the preparation and search.
  • Create a business readiness assessment and valuation
  • Establish goals, and develop business sale action plan
  • Disclose weaknesses and turn into opportunities.
  • Create and implement changes to attract target buyers

Steps to Selling a Business

Marketing the Opportunity & Getting the LOI

Successfully selling a business means finding ideal potential buyers and getting quality offers.

  • Comprehensive materials communicate your business’s unique value to potential buyers.
  • Potential buyers interact with experienced business operators well versed on your business and speaking their language.
  • Exit Your Way® business sale team communicates the hidden opportunities to the potential buyer.
  • Buyers go through a qualification process prior to the letter of intent ensuring only the best buyers are considered.
  • Buyer questions are answered to obtain the best quality offers possible.

Steps to Selling a Business

Due Diligence

Offers have been presented and analyzed. You have accepted an offer and a Letter of Intent from a great buyer.
You are only 50% of the way there. LOI’s are non-binding. They commit you exclusively to the offer, but the deal can be withdrawn at anytime. The offer can be re-negotiated based on things discovered in diligence.
If diligence takes longer than 90 days your chances of a deal are reduced by 50%.
With Exit Your Way® pre-market planning we significantly shorten the diligence process and negotiations, increasing the chance of getting to the finish line.

Steps to Selling a Business

Negotiation

A business sale rarely gets done without significant negotiation. Our skilled negotiators have the experience and knowledge to navigate these challenges
Negotiation takes developed listening and problems solving. Your deal is not left to one person.
We always negotiate in teams so we can better understand the nuances and key points that will allow a deal to get done.
We utilize the same approach taken by high stakes negotiating teams to get your deal done!

Steps to Selling a Business

Confidentiality

We are sensitive to our client’s need for confidentiality in approaching the market place. We utilize a proven and tested process for conducting a confidential sale.
As a firm we are committed to confidentiality for our clients to protect their business, their privacy, and any industry or trade secrets; therefore, we require all interested parties to sign an onerous Confidentiality Agreement (CA), as part of the pre-screening process.
All Client confidential data is controlled within secure online portals that allows complete control of access to business information.
This is a proven process and standard of service that our clients expect and appreciate.

LEGAL COORDINATION

Attorneys can be one of your leading expenses as you approach an exit. We have a long history with a number of lawyers expert in deals, practicing securities and p, as well as general counsel for customer agreements. Our working relations streamline projects resulting in lower costs and faster turn-around time.

CLOSING

The Exit Your Way® deal advisors will help coordinate all activities between legal representation, escrow and principles to assure a smooth closing. And, now that the deal is done the work is not. The work begins now to assist the new ownership to ensure a successful transition into the business.

POST TRANSACTION TRANSITION

The #1 reason acquisitions are considered unsuccessful, is due to the transition phase post-closing. This is true whether you are a small lower middle-market company or a giant multi-national. You may ask why I would care. I just sold the company. The reality is a failed acquisition is not good for anyone.

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