When preparing to sell a business, it doesn’t take much to spin the odds in your favor, says Tom Zucker, president of EdgePoint Capital Advisors, a merger and acquisition advisory firm in Beachwood. All it takes is a little expert help and guidance.
Shelling out a little cash on the front end for professional services can put a lot of added value on your sale, says Zucker. An expert’s preparation and experience allows him or her to discuss and negotiate key points, such as purchase points allocation, intangibles, and earn-outs and buy-backs — things the typical business owner knows very little about.
“What we end up finding is these owners, the $10 [million] to $50 million business owners, are sitting there going, ‘Boy, I don’t really have any alternatives. My tax accountant has limited knowledge about selling a business. They only know about the tax documents. And the lawyer knows about the legal process, but they don’t understand the business side or the financial side,’” says Zucker.
“The theory … is that we’re going to provide you four times more money in your pocket than the fees we charge you,” he says. “So I would think any owner that’s going out to the process trying to do it themselves, unless they’re looking just for a quick sale or a friendly sale, I would say that it is foolish.”
You’ve spent years building your business and its value. Don’t leave anything to chance.
