As a potential seller of your business, you obviously have an emotional connection to a company you have worked so hard to build. It can feel almost like a breakup or a divorce to decide to sell this company to someone else.
Even if you know that the decision is right for you at this point in time, it’s important to engage a team of experienced professionals to help guide you through the process of listing your company for sale. There are many different complicated processes associated with selling your business, and these are also fraught with potential pitfalls such as breakdowns in
negotiations.
When you have an experienced and knowledgeable business broker at your side like those working at Website Closers, you’ll be able to fully understand each stage of the process and feel confident and fully equipped in knowing that your team is there to help you navigate any potential challenges.
Since your primary focus needs to be on continuing to run the business and preparing for the eventual transition to a new owner, relying on your team of outside professionals such as an accountant, an attorney and a business broker means that you will be firing on all cylinders. One important component of the selling process is known as due diligence.
Many questions must be answered in relation to due diligence. This process is essentially your opportunity to show to the interested party that all of the information that you have presented about your company is indeed correct. Your own
thorough review of your finances, books, records, strategies, processes, and relationships should all be completed well in advance of the due diligence phase.
No one wants to have any surprises during the due diligence portion of the process. One thing to consider and discuss with your team of professionals when preparing for due diligence is whether or not there will be a data room. A data room can keep all of the documents necessary for the buyer’s due diligence in one location. These documents can include:
- Contracts
- Financial statements
- Other legal and business documents
- Corporate governance documents
If you decide that a data room could be helpful for your situation, who is responsible for organizing this material and running it?
In general, the advisor that is running this data room should also be the same person who has the key responsibility for gathering due diligence documentation. Make sure that you understand which person in each part of your team is responsible for various aspects of due diligence. You can make this process much easier by consulting with a dedicated business broker well in advance of listing your company for sale.
With so many different facets of the sale to keep track of, your team of professionals should be on hand to manage aspects like due diligence. Responding to the buyer’s due diligence requests and gathering requested documents and information is a very time-consuming task, and you should know which person on your team is eligible to handle this as soon as possible.
