Our Process

After we’ve assessed the situation and had an honest conversation with you about your goals for a sale, we’ll help you answer the big question: Is now a good time for you to sell your business?

Unlike many business brokers, we promise we will never “sell” you on selling your business. It’s either the right time or it isn’t. While we would love the opportunity to partner with you to achieve your goals for a sale, we also know that you and your business must be ready for the rigors of the selling process.

If we determine that now is not time to move forward, we’ll talk about options for building value in your business and selling at a later date. Depending on your circumstances, we may also recommend and discuss alternative exit strategies worth considering.

Further reading:

• 3 Principles of Timing the Sale of Your Business
• For Couples Selling a Business: 4 Things to Consider
• 4 Stubborn Myths About Selling Your Business
• 7 of the Worst Times to Sell Your Business

Let’s Talk

If we’ve all decided that now is a good time to sell and expectations have been set accordingly, we’ll enter into an agreement with you to sell your business. Our Engagement Letter is one of the best in the industry. Unlike a lot of folks in our line of work, we won’t lock you into a one-year commitment that comes with an expensive break-up fee. You can cancel our engagement at any time with 30 days’ written notice. It’s that simple.

Further reading:

• Signing a Business Broker’s Contract? Read This First
• Is My Business Too Small for a Business Broker?
• Why M&A People Make Me Cranky [Interview with Josh Patrick]

Our Fees M&A vs Broker eBook  

The first thing we do is create a marketing package — called the Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) — to present your business to buyers. Our CIM is second to none. We’ve received countless compliments on the quality of our CIM over the years. Some of the most sophisticated buyers tell us that our CIM rivals those created by investment banking firms.

Why do we care so much about making your business look fantastic? Because you only get one chance to make a first impression with buyers. The best buyers are typically looking at several potential acquisition targets. Our CIM makes your business impossible to ignore.

We also work with you to develop a solid strategy for generating buyer interest — both regionally and nationally — while maintaining strict confidentiality. We have a number of different tools to get your business exposure in the marketplace, some or all of which we will use to quickly generate interest amongst the right buyers.

Allan Taylor also adheres to a strict vetting process to ensure that we’re only introducing your business to serious buyers with the ability to get a deal closed.

Let’s Talk

Our goal is to bring multiple buyers to the table for you to choose from. Allan Taylor controls the flow of communication with buyers, fields and responds to requests for information, and coordinates conference calls and onsite visits with you until the right buyer has been identified.

Once we’ve had preliminary conversations with qualified buyers, we’ll halt further communication until they submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) or Indication of Interest (IOI). The LOI is a non-binding agreement that states the purchase price of the business and basic terms of an agreement. This is a critical point in the process, as the LOI will set the tone and direction for all conversations and additional negotiations going forward.

We negotiate the price and terms offered in the LOI on your behalf. Our goal is to make sure both sides are comfortable with the initial framework of a deal before moving into the due diligence phase.

Let’s Talk

After initial negotiations are complete, we’ll move into the due diligence phase of the transaction.

Due diligence is typically one of the most stressful phases in the selling process. However, if we’ve done our job right then much of the legwork will already have been done in Steps 1-4. Our goal during due diligence is to respond quickly and keep the momentum moving forward so that we can all get to the closing table without any surprises.

Allan Taylor will collaborate with you, your other advisors — and the buyer and their deal team — to structure deal terms, facilitate requests for information, and keep everyone on task until the day of closing.

It may not be easy, but at this point in the process the end will be in sight.

Further reading:

• What Due Diligence Really Feels Like

Let’s Talk

We’ve done it!

All documents have been signed. Funds have been dispersed. And you’ve joined the fortunate few entrepreneurs who have not only built a great business, but topped it all off with a successful sale. Cheers! Now it’s time to get started with the next chapter of your life.

Let’s Talk