Getting a business sale transaction 'over the line' is not about tips and tricks.
Instead it's about efficiently managing the information flow through the detailed due diligence process to ensure:
- all parties are well informed,
- the negotiating process progresses smoothly, and
- everyone can feel comfortable with the end result.
A good advisor or broker will successfully manage that interface for you.
The cheat sheet below introduces some of the tools the JPAbusiness team uses to manage information flows during the detailed due diligence process and, ultimately, seal the deal.
Transparency critical to selling success
Sometimes, despite everyone’s best efforts, sales unravel for very plausible reasons. For example, the purchaser, despite their genuine interest, finds something about the business during their due diligence that causes them to reconsider.
Or the purchaser, despite what they’ve told the vendor and their broker upfront about their finance capability, in the final analysis is unable to get finance.
A good broker will do their best to identify these issues early and flush them out.
As an advisor to business, whether it’s on the broking side or the advisory side, I always work on the basis of transparency.
If the parties are transparent with each other in terms of their intentions, right from the start, there is a much better chance of either a ‘happy marriage’, or a mutual understanding that it is not going to work out.
If you would like advice about any aspect of selling a business, contact the team at JPAbusiness on 02 6360 0360 or 02 9893 1803 for a confidential, obligation-free discussion.
James Price has over 30 years' experience in providing strategic, commercial and financial advice to Australian and international business clients. James' blogs provide business advice for aspiring and current small to mid-sized business owners, operators and managers.