Selling a Business Articles For Entrepreneurs & Small Business OwnersBusiness Brokers – Bad Practices from the Big BoysI sit on the board of directors of the Midwest Business Brokers and Intermediaries (MBBI). An attorney from a small Chicago law firm was recently elected to the board. In his first meeting he introduced himself and said he was on the board at a Chicago attorney association. He stood up in front of our […] Selling Your Business – Business Broker or Merger and Acquisition AdvisorNumber of Clients Represented – Business Brokers want to represent as many business for sale as they can. When contacting their vast network of individual buyers it is a real benefit to have a vast inventory of companies. Because on this, their approach is more of a mass mailing, mass email, post the business on […] Business Sellers – Don’t Allow the Process to Derail the DealMost business owners sell only one business in their lifetime. It is complex, emotional and pressure packed. Given this backdrop, the odds of a great outcome are, well, not that great. As Merger and Acquisition advisors, one of our most important functions is to prepare our client for the bumpy road ahead. The worst outcome […] Selling Your Business – The Buyer VisitIn our mergers and acquisitions practice a very important event prior to receiving letters of intent is the buyer visit. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is a simple headquarters tour. Experienced buyers know just the right questions to ask to uncover risks and to discover opportunities. We try to coach our sellers on […] Selling A Business – The Eleventh Hour Contract ChangeThe next line could be, “Will it Derail Your Sale?” We have seen it go both ways, unfortunately. If a deal does blow up, everybody loses. The seller has spent six months of divided focus and many of the normal business development activities have been put on the back burner. His or her business will […] The Pricing Dynamics of Selling a BusinessHow much is my business worth? That depends. Of course it depends on profits, sales, EBITDA, and other traditional valuation metrics. A surprisingly important factor, however, is how you choose to sell it. If I could share with you how you could realize at least 20% more for your business would you read the rest […] Selling Your Business – Groom or Hire Your SuccessorOne of the exciting aspects of being involved in Mergers and Acquisitions is that we are constantly learning. One of our most productive classrooms is the buyer visit. In those visits the buyer’s motivations, priorities, concerns, and value drivers and value detractors are often revealed. This was the case in one recent buyer visit with […] FAQ’s From Business BuyersAn area of great concern to our business selling clients as we help prepare them for a buyer visit is what questions the buyer is likely to ask. Below are a representative set of questions that we have encountered. This article will not provide you with the answers because they will vary with each business […] The Offer to Buy a Business Depends on the Many CharacteristicsIn our Merger and Acquisition practice we try to prepare our business sellers for the multitude of different deal structures that they should expect from various buyers. We go through elements like cash at close, seller notes, earn outs, non-competes, escrow accounts, etc. More often than not our first time seller will actually put out […] Selling Your Business – Should It Be a Do It Yourself Job?Making the decision to sell your business is hard enough, but having a buyer tell the owner it is not worth as much as he thought can really be a blow. The emotional attachment that most owners have to their business is very deep. They remember the long hours, the financial hardships, the wearing of […] Baby Boomer Business Sellers – The Rush to the Exits Could Erode Company ValuationsThe Baby Boomers are retiring in large numbers over the next ten years and the impact on the economic landscape of America will be dramatic. This article will examine those trends and the likely impact on business valuations over the next several years. From a 40,000 foot view the number of businesses that change hands […] A Major Concern for Business Sellers – What Happens to My EmployeesOne of the biggest concerns of business sellers is what will happen to their loyal employees when the new owner takes over. There is a common misperception that the new owner will come in and slash and burn in order to hit their profit targets. The reality for the family business could not be farther […] Sell a Company – How is the Selling Price Determined?Business valuations are a valuable tool to set a range of prices when you sell a business. The only true way to determine value, however, is to present the business to the universe of buyers in a true open market bidding process. How much are you expecting when you sell your business? I always ask […] To Sell a Business or Not Sell a Business A Crossroads DecisionThinking of taking your company to the next level with a major capital investment or hiring additional sales resources? These are decisions that can impact your company’s future. It might be time to consider the alternative of selling your business. We are often approached by business owners at a crossroads of taking the company to […] How Business Buyers Value Your Business – Ten Key FactorsIf you are considering selling your business this article will help you evaluate your company as a strategic acquirer might. From that perspective it pays to focus on ten critical areas of value creation. The better your performance in these areas, the greater the selling price of your business. Below is our list of STRATEGIC […] Private Equity May Be Your Best Business Exit StrategyI must admit that I have had a bias against my clients selling their businesses to private equity firms until I discovered that there are some situations where it might be the best exit strategy. Our firm represents business sellers primarily in the information technology and healthcare industries. Because the valuation multiples in these industries […] The Owner’s New Role After the Business SaleWhen economic times are uncertain, business buyers become very cautious about a potential merger acquisition transaction. They attempt to negotiate for a lower price, but they also try to negotiate for the seller to have a significant interest in the post acquisition performance. This results in less cash at close and more of the transaction […] Persistent? … or Wasting Time?What would you do? I had been working with the Seller for two years, one buyer had gotten almost to the finish line and dropped out; others looked and said, “Not enough information,” or words to that effect, and dropped out. But I believed in this company, believed in the profit potential, and believed that […] Business Broker…a WHAT?Everyone has heard of Brokers – Stock Brokers, Mortgage Brokers, even Marriage Brokers. But what is a Business Broker? It is a little known and less understood segment of the Real Estate industry. Simply put, a Business Broker is one who assists an individual (or company) in buying a business or helping a company sell […] Putting Together A Winning Team To Sell Your BusinessWho are the primary players you need when selling your business. Just like in sports, the players on your team will make a big difference on whether you win or lose. If you were putting together a baseball team, you would not draft Wayne Gretzky to be your pitcher just because he has a well […] |
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