Resources and Guides for Selling Your Business
from IAG M&A Advisors

Why You Should Hire The Right M&A Agency To Sell Your Business

Why You Should Hire The Right M&A Agency To Sell Your Business – A Personal Story

Takeaway: It is vital to the success of your business sale to hire an M&A firm that has your best interests in mind.

I speak from personal experience – when I sold my first business, it was very difficult.

It wasn’t difficult due to poor performance, or anything being wrong with my business.

It was difficult because I initially hired the wrong representation. In fact, I hired a broker, instead of an M&A Advisor.

What’s The Difference Between A Broker and M&A Advisor?

I know both types of firms may seem similar in what they do to sell businesses. However, the differences couldn’t be more different – make sense?

A business broker is almost just like a real estate broker. Both of them are listing agents, one for a business, and one for a property.

The business broker market is strictly a numbers game, the more businesses a broker can list, the higher the possibility that one or two may sell.

And, if one or two businesses sell – the broker makes money – even if their clients don’t.

They normally do not have large lists of qualified buyers, and their listings are often very public as they have to list on major websites showing businesses for sale.

While this may be an option for really small companies that no one wants to buy – it is not a good option for sellable businesses.

Business brokers do not take the time to properly prepare businesses for sale, and usually aren’t even involved in the selling process itself – it is more of a “Oh, a buyer filled out a request, I’ll have them call the seller…” – and that’s it!

Then, IF you sell your business – you pay the broker 20-30%!!!

If your business doesn’t sell – then you are still under contract for a few years, and still have to pay them a commission if you sell through another outlet.

Why M&A Advisor Firms Are Different

A quality Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) firm usually has many years of experience, and also team members who have started, grown, bought, and sold their own businesses.

This brings to the table large lists of interested parties, investment groups, private buyers, industry buyers, and other professionals looking to buy businesses confidentially, without ever disrupting the normal flow of the business itself.

M&A Firms also help package their clients’ businesses for sale – which means preparing documentation, financials, forecasts, marketing materials, offering memorandums, business valuations, and more.

Proper preparation ensures that the right buyer can make sense of your business quickly, at the right time.

With all of the businesses on the market for sale today – M&A Packaging is one of the most crucial elements to ensure your business gets looked at properly.

In addition to these services, M&A Firms will find buyers using their long lists of qualified prospects, help you negotiate a deal that makes sense, and get you the most money possible for your business.

The process is streamlined because most of the team have been through it themselves.

How Do I Know?

I know how the system works because I’ve been through it, and I’m just like you!

Well, maybe not exactly like you, because that would be weird. But I have been in your shoes:

I’ve started successful businesses
I’ve bought successful businesses
I’ve sold successful businesses
I’ve valued successful businesses

My first successful exit was from a business that I started from the ground up, literally, in an old warehouse.

We printed t-shirts on a hand-operated printing press by night, while still working day jobs.

Fast forward a few years, and my business had nearly 30 employees, and we were almost doubling every year in sales.

However, there was a problem, our profits weren’t that great (and I had NO CLUE what EBIDTA, pro-formas, packaging, or discretionary earnings were)…

I wanted to sell the business because I had other interests, but I wanted to make sure the business stayed running and was okay.

So, I Googled around, made some calls, and found a business broker.

Initially, the broker made me feel at ease, and did a “from the hip” valuation and told me my business was worth “millions.”

Without any packaging whatsoever, they sent me a contract, then threw the business online to all of the market places.

My business was overpriced, under packaged, and almost instantly irrelevant to buyers.

We had one call from a buyer who put me through the ringer, told me what my business was really worth, and also told me that, until my business is less reliant on me, then no one will buy it.

I was devastated, but still under contract with the business broker.

After the contract had expired over a year later – I had rebuilt the business from the ground up, streamlined our processes, and increased profits by 200%.

Then, I Hired the Right M&A Advisor

I did my homework, searched, and found the right M&A Advisor firm.

They helped me in ways that I didn’t think were possible, I received a professional valuation, pro-forma financials, offering memorandums, and they took the best parts of my business to show to buyers, and the worst parts they showed to buyers as “opportunities for improvement.” – which made sense!

I ended up receiving over 15 offers on my business, which allowed me to pick the best one, negotiate for the best price, and actually exit the business successfully.

Turns out, the firm already had interested buyer relationships in my industry, and they were able to hand deliver my business offering to them confidentially.

Of course, there are many more details in my story, but for simplicity sake I have left them out.

The point of all of this is:

If you want to sell your business in the next 1-5 years, you need to find the right M&A Advisor Firm as soon as possible.

IAG is one of the only M&A Advisor Firms in the United States to have a BBB A+ rating, and have sold literally hundreds of businesses to their list of thousands of qualified buyer prospects.

Every day, IAG receives emails from buyer groups looking for specific types of business, that meet certain criteria.

Which is why the most important part of selling your business – is getting the right help to do the job, so you can continue to run your business without having to do it yourself.

Cheers to your success!

YOU CAN GET A FREE ESTIMATE OF VALUE –

While this will not substitute for a professional, detailed valuation – this online tool can help you see an estimate of what your business could be worth in the market –