You will want your niche fully defined so to not only give legitimate acquirers a good look at your business, but also to drive value. It's important we share the ideation and challenges to open or grow the business, along with talk about how you developed the niche. As business-for-sale storytellers, we dive deep to identify and highlight the "Whys" and "Hows" that make your business the success that it is. The story accentuates the "well-built" niche, and well-built niches sell well.
To go to market we need a marketing price indicative of the going-concern value of the business being sold. We analyze your financial data along with your tax reports, and spreadsheet what will ultimately become the true earnings of the business -- also known as adjusted net income or seller's discretionary earnings (SDE). From this we estimate a most probable selling price to list the business at. To test the price, we apply a numerical reality check similar to what banks and the SBA use. We all want to sell at a premium, but it's also important we make sure the numbers work and a deal is (financially) do-able.
We analyze and profile our client seller's business and produce an extensive Confidential Business Review (CBR) to effectively take the business offering to market. The CBR is drafted by the business broker and contains information about the business, including its products, services, markets, competition, and financial performance. The CBR is provided ONLY to qualified buyers who have signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
We go a step further than most by presenting the business offering to a select group of preferred SBA business lenders for their pre-approval. If the business is approved ahead of time, we then are basically just looking for the right buyer. This extra effort tremendously speeds up the time it takes to go to closing on a deal.
Engage a dedicated business broker with the proper access and capability to reach the right buyers -- whether they are individual buyers, investment groups, investment families, strategic buyers, consolidators or others -- anywhere in the USA or beyond. The buyer pool of potential buyers is often small compared to other revenue-generating opportunities, and among those other opportunities it is essential buyers see your business as a candidate for acquisition. Reach is very important.
When it comes to confidentiality, a primary function of the business broker is to: 1) screen would-be buyers for seriousness, fit, and financial capability, and, 2) have them sign a non-disclosure agreement, all before any specific and detailed information is given out like business financial data. If an inquirer turns out to be a "tire kicker" or is "big hat, no cattle," then the conversation politely ends there.
Negotiation is essential if there is to be a transfer of ownership, whether it is a going-concern business or the real estate that goes with the business either as a lease or a purchase also. Our job is to lead the negotiation effort between the buyer and seller, and, each side's team of advisors such as CPAs and attorneys. We keenly act as the transaction facilitator making sure constructive and timely deal-making keeps moving toward an ultimate agreement in scope, price, and terms.