Another critical aspect of what should be done as Business Brokers and M&A Advisors is to keep
our ears to the ground and our eyes on the markets.
We do a significant amount of research and are in touch with over 2,000 private equity and
family fund buyers who are telling us what they are looking for in an acquisition.
Having been in this business for twenty-two years and established as a meaningful source of
business acquisitions opportunities, these people contact us with their search criteria. We
maintain a Master File of these “Buyer Criteria” and whenever we have a new opportunity, the
first thing we do is look at our Buyer Mandates for the best qualified and funded Buyers in the
USA.
After this we do research identifying companies who may be strategic buyers that might want to
add on to their existing businesses. These may be the best buyers in terms of price.
While we are researching our strategic searches, we post our Seller opportunities on over forty
websites, many of which we pay for the right to post these sell-side opportunities which give us
another category of potential buyers.
Brokers and Sellers must be aware of market and regulatory dynamics and potential impacts on
various businesses. You don’t want to be selling a business that is at the end f a major
economic cycle.
A key to success is continuing to update and maintain our business for sale listings. This
helps maintain our business listings in front of casual buyers looking for a kind of opportunity.
Finally, Sellers must have someone respond to enquiries in a timely manner. This is critical
for Sellers. Over the years, I have called on over a hundred opportunities for Buyers and not had
a call back. We have three people associated with every for-sale listing we have. If someone is
traveling or sick, it doesn’t matter if we have someone responding to calls and emails in a timely manner.
If you are going to engage with a Business Broker to sell your business, these points are keys to
success. It takes six to twelve months to sell a business, beginning to end. It is important to
have someone answering the phones, responding to enquiries, and willing to work with other
brokers.
Remember, there are people who say look at all my listings and are great at selling you.
Success is based on support for the transaction after the Listing Sale is made. These are words
to the wise for people wanting to sell their business.
Dale Shepherd,
Capital Business Solutions, Vice President and Managing Director, TN, NC, VA
Master Certified Business Intermediary and Certified Franchise Broker
Kingsport, TN
