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Our initial meeting is an opportunity for us to get to know each other
and see if we can work together. We understand that selling your business is a
major decision and that confidentiality is critical. As a result, the first
thing that we will do in our initial meeting is provide you with a signed
Broker's Confidentiality Agreement. We want to learn about your business and
why you are interested in selling, and you need to learn about us. Our comfort
level with each other will be the basis for going forward and developing a good
working relationship.
If our initial meeting is going well and there is a sense
that we would work well together, we would like to have a short tour of your
company to get a sense of how the business operates. Next, we would need a quick
review of your financial statements to get a sense of your profitability.
If at the end of this
meeting you are comfortable with us and we are comfortable with you, we can
agree on moving to the next stage of our business relationship. The following is
an outline of the process.
1. Gather
Information. With
your help, we collect, record and analyze all the pertinent information about
your company in our Business Information Organizer. It's a clear and
useful format, and it's the basis for preparing formal documents. It is critical
that you understand that selling your business requires a lot of input from you.
We need to know and understand your business, and we depend on you to provide
the information. We will need at least 3 years of financial information
including your P&L’s or Income Statements, Balance Sheets, and Corporate Tax
returns. Some other things that we will need include: information on your
corporate history, your products and services, your employees, the assets
included in the sale, your lease, your competition and the reason you are
selling your business. We put it all together but only you can provide the
company information.
2.
Financial Review.
We will recast the income statements from your company to adjust for the
fair market value of your business assets and to add back discretionary business
expenses. This will give us a clear picture of the true cash flow of your
business. We work with you to identify all of your current business expenses
that could be considered as income for a new owner. This is a critical step that
is required to be able to validate the highest possible price for your business.
This will require that you work with us to understand your business expenses.
3. Market
Valuation Analysis.
(This is an optional but
highly recommended service that has an upfront cost of $2,000 to $5,000
depending on the size and complexity of your business.) We will co-ordinate the
completion of an Independent Third-Party Professional Valuation for your
business. It will be the basis and justification for the business purchase price
for both potential buyers and lenders. In many ways, selling your business
without this independent valuation is similar to trying to sell your house
without a real estate appraisal. There are several very qualified and competent
valuation companies that we work with that do credible valuations. If you choose
not to have one done, we will do our own analysis and opinion of the value or
range of value for your company.
4.
Agreement to sell your business. Based on the Market Valuation Analysis (if done) or by our
own review and analysis of your business, we will decide on the specifics of
price, terms and conditions that are appropriate for the sale of your company,
and we will complete a formal Listing Agreement for AccuBrokers, Inc. to
sell your business. In most all cases the agreement is a 12 month exclusive
right to sell contract.
5.
Professional Documentation. We will prepare a sophisticated and comprehensive
Confidential Memorandum to enhance the presentation of your business
to potential buyers. This document will be the compilation of all the
information that we have collected about your company, and will be the starting
point for working with potential qualified buyers. It will include an Owner's
Justification for Purchase Price where we support the validity of the asking
price with a realistic review of the numbers.
6. Generic
Profile. We will
create a generic Business Profile for your business as the basis of
promoting your company while we maintain your confidentiality. All marketing and
promotion activities are conducted in a manner that protects your company’s
identity but generates interest in your opportunity.
7.
Marketing and Promotion. We will post your opportunity on the Business Brokers Network internet
web site. It will be accessed by 450 BBN Affiliate Offices who represent
thousands of buyers. We currently have over 3,000 qualified buyers that are
looking for business opportunities that are registered with BBN. We “co-broker”
with other brokers both locally and nationally to enhance the process of selling
your business.
We will generically list
your company on a variety of other professional web based "business for sale"
sites including: Georgia Association of Business Brokers, International Business
Brokers Association, Merger Network, Brokers Network Group, M&A Source,
Association for Corporate Growth and BizBuySell. We will also pursue other
marketing efforts such as targeted direct mailings, and advertising in local,
trade and national newspapers and publications such as The Wall Street Journal.
We will work with you to determine additional activities that will enhance the
sale of your business.
8.
Business, Marketing and Sales Advice. After a careful review of your business and in conjunction
with your expertise, we will determine the things that would be prudent for you
to do or change in order to prepare your business for sale. We will determine
the areas that may mean new potential or opportunity for a buyer or ways
that a new buyer may change, grow or expand your business. We will help you
identify and address issues related to your inventory, management structure,
business assets, pending litigation, environmental concerns and the appearance
of your physical plant that can have an impact on the sale of your business. We
will also discuss the various ways to structure the sale of your
business. Such things as terms and owner financing will have an enormous impact
on the success that you will have in selling your business. You need to focus on
running your business as profitably as possible, while we focus on selling it.
9.
Pre-Qualify Potential Buyers. We will identify interested buyers and determine their
qualifications to pursue your business opportunity. We will have them complete a
Buyers Profile and provide a confidential Financial Statement. If
a potential buyer is qualified, we will have them sign our Buyers
Confidentiality Agreement before we will provide any specific information
for them to review regarding your business.
10. Bring
Buyers and Sellers Together.
We will review your company with the interested qualified
buyer and answer all relevant questions. After determining a potential good fit,
we will discuss the interested buyer with you and arrange for the potential
buyer to meet with you and have a tour of your business and discuss your
opportunity. This is your chance to present your business and discuss its
potential with a qualified buyer.
11.
Getting an Offer.
If all goes well and you are comfortable with the buyer and the buyer is
interested in your business we will encourage the buyer to submit an Offer To
Purchase for your review. We are able to work with and provide information
to potential buyers on how to make a serious offer.
12.
Acceptance of an Offer. You will either accept, reject or counter any offers that you receive.
We will help you review and negotiate any offers and assist you in preparing
counter offers until a deal is acceptable. Once you and the buyer have agreed to
all of the terms and conditions of the sale, you will formally accept the offer.
13.
Due-Diligence. Once
you accept the negotiated formal offer to purchase your business, the buyer will
be given a scheduled “due-diligence” time to further examine your company with
access to all business and financial information. This is the buyers’
opportunity to confirm that all information regarding your business is accurate.
At the same time a closing date for the sale and transfer of your
business will be established.
14.
Closing the Sale.
To protect both the seller and the buyer, closing the transaction will require
careful preparation of all necessary documents. We will co-ordinate bringing
together all of the professionals necessary to close on the sale of your
business. We have a network of qualified closing attorneys who specialize in
business transfers that we will recommend handle the legal sale of your
business. They will save you money on closing costs, and you can be confident
that your sale will be handled properly.
15. Start the next chapter in your life…
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Selling a business is a complex and time consuming process.
