The Complete Guide to Selling a Business – Build a Team

Selling a business

Selling a business is a long and complex process. You may be ready to sell this year or just curious into what it will take to sell – this series will help. The business sale process can be broken down into core stages – from who you need to hire, to what questions you should be prepared to answer, to how to hand off your company once you’ve signed on the dotted line.

In this post, you will learn how to build an effective team to support the sale, because when it’s time to sell your business, don’t go it alone.

Stage 1: Build A Team

Surrounding yourself with a team of experts and advisors that have experience completing transactions in your industry is key. The first step is hiring a business broker or M&A advisor (both of which are employed by Sunbelt Business Advisors) to guide you through the process. The earlier you find an advisor you can trust, the better. Engaging a professional 2-3 years before you need, or even want to sell, can help ensure that you ultimately get the valuation you expect and deserve.

How M&A Advisors Increase Value

A recent study found the “private sellers receive significantly high acquisition premiums when they retain an M&A advisor or business broker.” The high sale price comes from an M&A or broker’s ability to run smoother processes wit better buyer lists. Financial intermediaries have “greater economies of specialization and information acquisitions, and have lower search costs than their clients.”

Good M&A advisors or broker’s can also help a business owner identify the best process and timeline for exiting the business. Since many closely-held businesses often experience intense family or shareholder dynamics, which may complicate the transaction, having a full understanding of the available options is essential. Let’s say you want to sell to family or friends, a management buyout (MBO) or Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) may be most appropriate. For transactions involving highly complex family or shareholder dynamics, your advisor can also serve as an objective, third-party counsel that helps your business make decisions that maximizes a successful outcome for all stakeholders.

Often, an advisor firm or business brokerage will make suggestions for small strategic or management changes to help the company increase its value in the time before the sale. Not massive upheavals, but small tweaks to help make the business more attractive to potential buyers in a reasonably short period of time (6-12 months).

Advisors will also spend time to aggregate, interpret and present your company’s financial and business history in the best possible light. Business owners typically prepare their financial statements for tax purposes, but that is not what is needed for sale purposes, because using tax returns for business sale presentations usually obscures the earnings capability of your business. An advisor or broker can develop a “Quality of Earnings” report for the due diligence in the sale that shows your company’s financial performance in detail. This is something most buyers want to know before moving ahead with a sale.

Portions of this blog were taken from Axial Forum