The 8 Reasons You Should Sell Your Company Yourself, Without Working With an Investment Banker:
1. You have never done this before.
2. You are familiar with valuation multiples, market valuations, the variety of terms buyers propose, and their negotiation strategies.
3. You have the time, energy, and desire to work, what will amount to a 2nd or even 3rd job over a 6 – 12 month time period, while keeping your company running at a high level which buyers will value.
4. You have the patience to juggle numerous inquiries, answer the same stupid question 20 times, and regularly field hour-long plus conference calls.
5. You have experience in preparing marketing materials required to cast your company in the best light to catch the attention of buyers who are looking at hundreds of opportunities every week.
6. You have the time, contacts, and resources to reach a minimum of 100 qualified buyers needed in order to generate an appropriate level of interest which will favor you in negotiations.
7. Deep into the exhausting multi-month due diligence process, you will be able to emotionally detach from the buyer calling your baby “ugly” and focus on successfully closing the deal.
8. Since you have never done this before, buyers will understand and will be kind.
We thought we would start the New Year with some levity, but more importantly, share the realities business owners face when going it alone.
With good intentions, a business owner decides to sell their company themselves. Why not? Thinking who better to sell the company since they know it better than anyone else. And, the prospective buyer who has been contacting them for several months seems to know the industry, understands the company and seems good to work with.
Unfortunately, the business owner only realizes during post transaction remorse or, worse yet, after their deal implodes, that there is a whole lot more to creating a successful transaction than they anticipated. Since most business owners only have one chance to get this “right”, it’s worth hiring professionals who do this for a living.
This is exactly what we have done for our clients for many years. Let us know when you would like to talk. We always tell business owners it’s never too early to start discussing this important topic.
