Poor Preparation: Too many sellers come to the table woefully unprepared. Financial information is lacking, agreements expired or non-
existing, personalised goodwill, too many open-ended items, etc. Time is wasted gathering information which the buyer expects to be readily available. It’s not a great start to negotiations!
2
Poor Timing: It can take 6 months to sell a business so if you’re planning on retiring in 5 months you’ve left your run a bit late.
Also, if business is good you’ll obviously get a much higher price, so delaying because ‘business is good’ may cost you much more in the long run.
3
Inexperienced Representation: Make sure you utilise the services of a professional business broker/ intermediary.
They know how to value, market, negotiate and complete often complex transactions.
4
Not in Agreement: Too many transactions fall apart because family members, partners, or stakeholders are not in agreement about the
details or of actually selling the business. Agreement is paramount prior to commencement of the selling process.
5
Not Using Your Sixth Sense: The business owner built the business using his or her own judgment or sixth sense or “gut feel.” Is it the right deal,
the right buyer, the right deal structure, etc.? Sellers need to remember to use their sixth sense that served them so well in the past to make a good commercial decision, not an emotional decision.
From an article by Kevin A Nery from MA, USA.
HotIndustry Opportunities
Jamieson has many years of experience in most of today’s well sought after industries. These include:
Business to business services
Logistics and transport
Customs broking/freight
forwarding
Finance - insurance broking and financial planning
Import and distribution
Education and training
Injury/rehabilitation
management
We currently have several excellent business opportunities, in particular:
Insurance Brokers – Jamieson is currently conducting an acquisition search in NSW, Victoria and Queensland on behalf of a buyer.
IT / Computer Services Industry – Currently for sale is a specialised computer software, maintenance and support business, established
For more information don’t delay and call us today.
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Helpful Tip Many entrepreneurs have unrealistic expectations about how quickly they will have positive cash flow with a start-up business. More often than not, losses are much higher than entrepreneurs anticipate before the business matures to the point of being cash flow positive.
In contrast, if a buyer is acquiring a proven business which is cash flow positive and will support indebtedness required to buy the business, there should be a cash flow surplus from day one.
