* Free Opinion Of Value * Personal Advisor
* Discounted Pricing * National Advertising
* Branded Marketing * Buyer Management
* Due Diligence, Negotiations, & Closing
Company Sellers will guide and protect you through every step of the business selling process, including valuing your business, advertising your business (confidentially) on the most popular businesses for sale search websites, and qualifying buyers. We additionally will assist you with due diligence, managing the offer/counter offer process, and what forms to use and when. Our team will also help with lending, landlords, franchisors, and final closing procedures.
Ready To Sell Your Business?
Our seller registration and onboarding page will guide you through the entire process.
WHAT TO EXPECT: HOW WE WILL SELL YOUR
BUSINESS USING OUR PROVEN 9-STEP PROCESS
Preparation For Sale
Your first step will be to complete our new client questionnaire. Then you will submit your financial statements/tax returns. (Your information is fully confidential at all times.) One of our Advisors will be available to assist you if you get stuck. We will review your provided information, ask you more questions, and ‘recast’ the financials.
Business Valuation Options
With no further commitment and no financial obligation, we’ll will work with you to gather information, recast your financials, and provide you with a Summary Opinion Of Value. If you want more detailed analysis of the valuation methods used, as well as industry reports and regional demographics, we also offer Detailed and Comprehensive business valuations that are USPAP compliant and signed and certified by our ASA/CVA certified appraisers. All reports will let you know ahead of time the general parameters of what your company could be sold for. <Let us know if you’d like to see Business Valuation samples.>
Go To Market
Once you are comfortable with the established value range and have decided on a ‘go to market’ asking price, you will sign a listing agreement allowing us to advertise the business for sale, and work with buyers on your behalf.
Upon the sale of the business, we collect a success fee at closing. Our discounted fee structure is far below industry norms.
Business Profile
Next, you’ll email or upload photos and videos of your business location (if appropriate), region, or anything else that will help a buyer understand your business. We will then produce a customized Business Profile incorporating the content from your questionnaire, the photos/videos you uploaded, and our video interview. (Let us know if you’d like to see a sample Business Profile).
Our administrative staff will schedule a time to do a Zoom interview where we dialog with you as if we were buyers, what would we want to know about your business? This video will be merged with other photos and videos you’ve provided and gets edited to about 8-10 minutes long. This video interview and tour basically replaces the first phone call or onsite meeting with the buyer. Having this video will allow qualified buyers to “preview your business” without having to schedule onsite showings, thus saving hours of meetings, and further ensuring confidentiality. <This video is not mandatory, but it becomes a very helpful tool in the sale process.>
Buyer Marketing
Company Sellers will post your company for sale (*confidentially) on 4 or more of the major business for sale related websites. This would cost you over $600 to directly pay for ads on these websites. We also post your business on our CompanySellers.com business search portal. (*Most sellers prefer that the ads are generic. We sell “the sizzle” but not “the steak”. Ads are created in a way where the reader will get excited enough to ask for more info, but cannot know exactly what business it is without inquiring further.)
Company Sellers will also email your business listing as a ‘buyer blast’ to those qualified buyers already in our database seeking businesses like yours, based on location, industry, size, etc.
Buyer Management
As each buyer responds to our ads for your business, the buyer must first complete a Buyer Registration providing that they have the skills and financial resources required to purchase your business, and they must agree to a non-disclosure statement. This form will be completed and submitted direct to Company Sellers from our website. We will review their buyer profile to determine their financial abilities and skill set.
Company Sellers will email your Business Profile to each of the qualified buyers. We will make contact with the buyer a day later to answer any questions, schedule a showing, provide additional information, and more. We will continue to reach out to each buyer until they either agree to submitting an offer, or they go away.
Offer / Counter Offer / Due Diligence
In partnership with your other primary business advisors (accountants, attorneys, financial planners, etc.), we will work with the buyer to facilitate their required due diligence, and to negotiate the letter of intent, counter-offer, and asset/stock purchase agreement.
One of our most important roles is to manage expectations, and minimize emotions. Selling a business is very stressful. Our due diligence checklist ensures that every step gets it’s proper attention, including meeting deadlines with landlords, franchisors, lenders, and and closing.
Business Loan Approval
Your buyer will almost always require some form of financing, whether it be a conventional loan, asset loan, SBA guaranteed loan, factoring, home-equity loan, or seller financing. The most common business loan by far is the 7(a) business acquisition loan through the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA lending process is long and difficult. We make sure that the buyer is working with one or more lenders (preferably 2-3) to get loan approval. This will take 60-90 days or more. It’s on us to ensure that buyers are working with lenders simultaneous to all other aspects of due diligence.
Closing
The closing process is different depending on your state. It is imperative that you work with a reputable business attorney and accountant to review (and/or create) all closing documents. Depending on your state, the Closing will be facilitated by either a title & escrow company, the buyer or sellers’ attorney, or a third-party attorney that represents the ‘transaction’.
Start Selling Your Business Today with our Professional Business Brokers
Contact Us To Start The Business For Sale Process.
Maybe Our Business For Sale By Owner Toolkit Is A Better Option?
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