Finally!  Business Exit Strategies that will Maximize the Value of Your Business.  

Then, when the time is right, help you
Sell your Business for the Most Money Quickly and Quietly.

Exclusive Business Exit Strategy Software and Sell a Business Software Included

"Ready Tools"	"Set - Go Tools"
Exit Strategies that Build Business Value	How to Sell a Business
Business Exit Strategy Software	Sell a Business Software

But First, Important Background Information and  
a Well Kept Secret You Need to Know. . .

Most businesses will never be sold! Why?  

Sales are attempted using an ineffective process and without proper preparation

To summarize success in selling businesses by those doing the selling:

If large companies could be sold ninety plus percent of the time why couldn’t small and mid-size businesses enjoy similar success?  I wanted to find a way for us to become more effective helping people to buy or sell a private business.  The Business Selling System is the result of our efforts.  It took several years and a lot of persistence but the results were well worth it.  Our success and the success of those using our unique Business Selling System to sell a business improved to better than 90%.  In business, as in life, there are winners and losers.  We want to help you assure your place in the winner’s circle of life.  That is why we have developed the "Business Selling System."  

The Business Selling System improved results to better than 90%!   

How did we do it?  (The short version)

Our Merger and Acquisition (M&A) division manager came to us from Merrill Lynch where he was vice president in charge of M&A activities for Private companies.  What we did was essentially modify the Wall Street process to one that was appropriate for selling smaller private companies.  The result was what we now call "The Business Selling System."  

The process employed by essentially everyone attempting to sell a business is based upon a Real Estate Model i.e.:   

The secret to the Business Selling System's success is that it is based upon a Wall Street Model i.e.:

Now You Know Why  You Need our 
"Business Selling System"

Here's how it works:

Step One - Ready!

If your business were a public company and selling the company or a division were under consideration, your first step would be for your board of directors to bring in your investment bankers (read business broker).  The company would probably have scores of attorneys and accountants on staff and they would eventually be drawn upon to draw documents and address taxation issues but the board of directors is not ready for that just yet.  The investment bankers are brought in because of their expertise in the marketplace and your board needs real-time market place information in order that intelligent decisions can be made (and shareholder lawsuits avoided).  The board needs to know, among other things:  

• Identify acquirers active in the marketplace ranging from most appropriate to those to be avoided 

• The range of company value by type of acquirer

• Steps that could be implemented, long and short term, to enhance Company value

Armed with the investment banker's report the board can make informed decisions.  Based upon their view of what's in the Company's best interests they might decide to: 

• Sell to the type buyer identified as willing to pay the optimum price and having the ability to bring the Company to a new level

• Begin a "Roll Up" campaign to grow the Company through strategic acquisitions  

• Not sell now but implement steps to enhance Company value for sale at a later date

• Do nothing at all

• Other

The book and the software that comprises the Ready portion or Step One of the Wealth Building Exit Strategies and Business Selling System are designed to provide you with the same information investment bankers provide their Public company clients. After completing your Step One review you will be in a position to Decide upon the course of action that will best serve your interests.  
Will it be:

• It's time to sell, Conditions and the Price are right, 

• Design and implement a Wealth Building Exit Strategy

• Delay selling in order to increase value and/or attract a successor who will pay a better price and sell later, 

• Not to sell and just keep going on

• Liquidate and close it down

• Other

Our experience is that approximately 60% of  the business owners will decide to sell and continue on the selling path.  The majority of the remaining 40% choose to delay selling in order to increase value and then sell.

Frequent Question - I own a relatively small business. Would the Business Selling System be appropriate for my use or would it be overkill?   

Answer - Certainly not overkill!  The majority of the more than two thousand businesses we sold using the Business Selling System process were Main Street businesses i.e.: Hardware stores, Florists, Restaurants etc.  What we have been able to do is to make the process used to sell the largest businesses appropriate when selling the smallest.

Step One of the Business Selling System  provides you with the same quality 
pre-sale information Public companies expect and Private companies deserve

Benefits of Step One

As with any task, painting a house for example, the outcome is directly proportionate to the quality of the preparation.  Unfortunately, human nature is to forge ahead with the task and then, if all is not going as planned, read the instruction manual.  The Step One process is the crucial foundation upon which the successful sale of your business depends.  It is this foundational step that helped increase our effectiveness to more than 95% in selling our client's companies.  Remember it's Ready, Aim, Fire! not Fire, Aim, Ready!

• Access experience gained in the sale of more than 2,000 private businesses without committing to sell by signing a 
  listing agreement

• Learn how to identify the type of buyer willing to pay top dollar for your business and how to avoid the rest

• Maximize value – Learn how to increase your company’s value without having to show more profit.  

• Freedom to choose to sell on your own, with the help of a broker/intermediary or perhaps not sell at all

Step One Tools - Book and Software:

The Book - "Are You Creating Wealth or Just Making Money"

Scores of books have been written on making small businesses more profitable but, until now, essentially none on how to make a Private business MORE VALUABLE.  This book shows you how and tells you why.

Succession Planning Tips and Wealth Building Exit Strategies

 What is covered?

• How to keep the business in the family even when no family member is qualified or willing to replace the founder

• How one company, as part of their exit strategy, DOUBLED THEIR VALUATION in less than one year.

• Why the value of a business with earnings of $100,000 can range from a hundred thousand dollars to MORE THAN TWO MILLION DOLLARS!

• Why a simple graph can add more than $100,000 to a business's sale price

• Scores of Wealth Creation and Wealth Preservation Tips

• How to Identify and Attract the best buyer - Example and explanations of why a business's value will vary dramatically depending upon the type of buyer you attract

• The role of financing and value attainment

• Much, much more

Click here to see the Table of Contents

Assure that you MAXIMIZE and OBTAIN the WEALTH that's LOCKED 
in your business at whatever point in time you decide to sell

This book will show you how to employ Public company techniques to create extraordinary wealth with your business or franchise. 

Here are some of the topics the book covers.

• Employ Public company strategies to dramatically increase the value of your business

• How to avoid traps and mistakes that literally cost business owners hundreds of thousands in unrealized value

• Non financial factors that impact your business’ value

• How to increase your business’ value without increasing declared profits (besides re-casting or normalizing earnings)

• Moves you can make to maximize your company’s value before you put it on the market - both short and long term

• A complete and comprehensive description of the types of buyers in today’s marketplace and how they determine value.  

• How to determine which type buyer will be best for your business and pay you the most money and how to avoid the rest

• Ten reasons why selling a business is different from selling essentially anything else you can imagine and how to capitalize upon the differences.

• An overview of the process a savvy business person employs to sell his/her business

Step One Software:  Successor Identification, Business Valuation and  
Transaction Structuring software.  

This software has been designed to be used by the Non-Financial Entrepreneur (you may decide to acquire it for use by your accountant or other trusted advisor) and it is very easy to use.  Simply enter numbers into a template and the software will automatically:

• Develop a comprehensive financial analysis of your business designed to give you a view of your company from the outside in   (Your accountant would have to charge you much more than the cost of our program for this feature alone)

• Illustrate the price and terms different types of buyers would be willing to pay today and why   

• Show how much financing you would be expected to provide and, if you were to insist upon a cash price, what an all cash price might be  

• Identify the best type of buyer to attract as well as the type(s) of buyers you should avoid.  

• Transaction Structuring Model – Allows you to compute “what if” scenarios by changing down payments, interest rates or terms etc and calculate your ROI and Fairness Testing so you can get back to the negotiating table quickly

Don't let the ease of use fool you.  This is very powerful software and an exceptional tool that is highly valued and used by MBAs, CPAs and other financial professionals all over the world. With our software you'll be able to present your business in a most professional way, which by itself, can raise the value of your business and the price you can get for it.  

Sample Business Valuations and Transaction Structuring  

The sample business valuations will help you as you value your own company.  The samples include retail, service and manufacturing/distribution businesses representing small, medium and large private companies.  Having completed valuations to review facilitates a fast track understanding of this mysterious subject.  The combination of our book and the valuation examples will help you determine and, of equal if not more importance, defend the value of your business.

It's not what you get but, more importantly, what you get to keep that is important.  The Transaction Structuring portion of our software makes calculating fairness and workability of a deal's structure a simple and automated process.  Make sure the business stays sold and that the transaction does not fail because of faulty deal structure.

The valuation methods are those actually used by the different types of 
buyers who purchased more than 2,000 businesses from us

A case study - A company we represented for developed a valuation range from $165,000 to $1,000,000.  The best price the client could expect at that time would be $450,000 but, if our recommendations were implemented to make the company attractive to a different class of buyer, the million dollar number could be realized.  Our client decided to implement the recommendations. Eighteen months later we sold the company for $1,000,000 even though company Earnings and Balance Sheet were essentially unchanged.  

Step Two and Three - Set, Go

The Book - Step by Step Guide to Selling a Business

including How to "Sell it Quickly but. . . Don't Let Anyone Know It's For Sale"

(How to Sell Your Business for the Most Money - 
without anyone knowing it's for sale)

When you are satisfied with the value your business has attained, it's time to Cash In - Leave in Style with a Pile!  The book provides a step by step road map illustrating how to overcome the personal, emotional and financial issues that make selling a business difficult and guides you through the process to the consummation of a successful sale.  

• The book explains and walks you through the entire process one step at a time:

• Identification of proper buyer candidates 

• Learn the secrets to writing compelling ads designed to attract your ideal buyer 

• Identify the best advertising mediums

• Employ process designed to assured to maintain confidentiality 

• Fielding inquiries, internet - telephone

• Interviewing techniques used by the pros

• How to insure you know all about your candidate before they know your identity

• How to facilitate a non-binding offer without the deal going "legal" prematurely 

• The proper sequence of the release of your sensitive business records and information 

• How to handle your buyer's request to interview customers, vendors, lenders and employees and much more

This is the only book of its kind.  There are a lot of books on the subject written by attorneys, accountants and others who have been involved in the game as technical advisors and therefore are written from their technical point of view.  The information they offer is valuable but will not provide you the "on the field and in the game guidance" you need to score your touchdown. 

This is an excellent book for you to read even if you are planning to hire a broker/intermediary to sell your business. Reason - The insider information will allow you to determine the  business selling savvy of those you might interview.  Many brokers/intermediaries have excellent credentials but lack real world, on the ground savvy required to sell small to medium size private business.  If you are a business broker click here to access information we developed just for you.

Examples of some of the questions the book addresses

Should you give your Tax Returns to a prospective buyer before you have their offer?

You can safely predict that one of the first things a prospective buyer will request to see is your tax returns.  In reality, your tax returns should not be handed out until you are satisfied with several issues. For example: Are they the right type of buyer?  Do they have the skills and resources your business requires of a new owner? How much are they willing to pay?  Will you have to participate in financing the sale?  How much will you receive after taxes are paid?  How much training will you be expected to provide?  How long will you be required to stay on after the sale?

How much information you should release before you have an offer is detailed in the book.  When should a prospective buyer be allowed to speak with your vendors, your major customers?  When should you provide your customer list?  How should you handle a request to interview your key employees? These and other questions regarding the release of sensitive business information is fully addressed in the book.

What information can you safely provide a prospective buyer before you have an offer?

The type and amount of initial information you should provide will vary with the size and complexity of your business.  A simple one page business description might be all that is required for a coffee shop whereas a Prospectus or Offering Memorandum of twenty or more pages is more usual for manufacturing or distribution businesses. The CD-Rom contains three sample selling documents ranging from a one page version to one with twenty pages. 

We realize that producing an effective information sheet or prospectus for your business can be a daunting task.  That's why three different templates are included to make the job easy if you choose to sell your business on your own. To produce your company's prospectus you simply input your company information into the appropriate template provided on the CD-Rom.

All three samples are examples of:  

a) The amount and kind of information that is safe for you to reveal  

b) Comprehensive enough for a buyer to make an offer to purchase 

c) Information is presented in a professional format that positions you as a savvy businessperson

Is Seller Financing really necessary?  

Whether or not you decide to provide Seller Financing depends upon several factors primary of which are the quality of the buyer you attract and the price and terms offered. Our experience selling more than 2,000 private businesses indicates that business owners who offer to participate in the financing get higher prices for their businesses than do those owners who dig in their heels and insist upon an all cash deal.  You can diminish and perhaps eliminate the need for seller financing by following several common sense steps as outlined in the book. 

The Business Selling System software not only calculates the value of your business by type of buyer it also calculates the probable terms of sale i.e. usual buyer's down payment, the amount of financing from outside lenders and the amount of financing you may be requested to provide.  Armed with the tips contained in the book and the calculations provided by the software you now are able to make an informed decision as to how much if any seller financing you will be willing to offer.  

Set, Go Software - 

Sell a Business - Tool Kit 

In addition to the book and Buyer Identification and Business Valuation software, Sell a Business Tool Kit includes:

• Document Pack, all of the paperwork you’ll need to complete the buy/sell/transfer process all on CD-Rom ready for your customization.  

• Selling Aides

• Sample selling documents or Prospectus

• List of Buyers

Document Pack

All the essential documents required to sell a business  ~ Forms, Letters, Contracts, Special Contingencies, Checklists and Closing Documents all ready to be used as is or customized by you.  All documents have been field tested in several thousand negotiations.  All documents are designed to protect you fully during and after negotiations are completed.  The Documents - (Important should you decide to sell on your own) 

Documents, checklists etc. are considered uninteresting and mundane by many.  We can assure you they are vitally important in many subtle and not so subtle ways. Just having a checklist to assure that vital steps are not overlooked and costly traps are avoided is worth the cost of the program.  Plus they are all on the Tool Kit's  CD-ROM ready to be customized by you with very little typing required.

Selling Aids 

The Tool Kit Selling Aides are divided into seven section: 

Business Profiling Matrix

This is perhaps the most important tool in the kit. It is also the least understood element of the entire wealth creating or value building process.  We often are too close to the business to clearly recognize its opportunities just as we are not the most accurate judge of the scope and limits of our own skills and talents.  Once you have developed a clear picture and understanding of you and your company's strengths and weaknesses (areas of opportunity), you can now develop an accurate profile of your ideal acquirer.

Buyer Profiling Matrix

This tool simplifies the creation of the Ideal Buyer's Profile.  A key element in preserving confidentiality and obtaining premium value for a business begins with identifying your ideal buyer.  The ideal buyer will recognize that "all the right things are wrong" and that they have the skills and resources required to take the business to the next level of prosperity.

3 Sample Prospectus or Selling Document 

Three sample selling documents ranging from a one page version for the smallest businesses to one with twenty pages for a somewhat complex, larger business.  Knowing how your target buyer thinks and how they approach the acquisition and valuation process is like your having a spy in the enemy's camp.  It's not what they see but rather how they see it.  Every business has its weaknesses or problem issues.  The book explains how and why these factors help you define your best buyer.  The examples and the Business Profiling Matrix will help you  highlight how the "low spots" of your business can be made to represent a part of the exciting opportunity your business represents.

Deal Maker's Road Map and Check List

The selling process must followed verbatim to assure success. Deviations from the process or the taking of short cuts will result in either a lost sale or sale at a diminished value.  Leaving out even a seemingly minor step in the beginning can and usually does lead to bad results.  The Tool Kit's check lists and Road Map let you proceed with confidence to a successful sale.

A Guide to Maintaining Confidentiality

This guide is a critical part of Selling the Business Without Anyone Knowing It's For Sale.  We were able to limit the number of exposures to three or less following the elements of this all important guide.  With this Tool you can learn all you need to know about a candidate before they even know it's your company that's for sale. 

Also on the CD is a List of Buyers

The Sell a Business CD provides you with a list of scores of Investor Groups currently seeking small and mid-size private companies to acquire or Joint Venture with. The latter is often an ideal alternative to an immediate sale. The Investor group provides resources necessary to bring the company to the next level with present ownership providing the industry specific expertise.  Then, after mutually agreed upon goals are met, the company is sold and sale price split according to a predetermined formula.  This type of an arrangement usually proves very lucrative as the missing resources provided by the Investor Group typically increase the Company's valuation dramatically.  The System will also show you how to identify and attract Strategic buyers

List of Web Sites

A constantly updated listing of the multiple websites that feature businesses for sale (some are free).

If you are not sure that selling is imminent but you want to get started with the preparation process - Step One is available as a stand alone purchase. 

You have confirmed that a sale of your business is timely and have decided to proceed with a sale.  
The next steps are to:

• Refine Profile of your Ideal Buyer

• Prepare marketing documents

• Confirm availability of financing - terms and amounts plus lender's qualification requirements ,

• Gather and organize “Due Diligence” materials

This step is the basically pulling all the loose ends together, creating marketing materials and preparing for "Due Diligence."  All of this must be completed before you attempt to attract your buyer.  The book "How to Sell Your Business Without Anyone Knowing it's For Sale" will guide you step by step through the selling process.  You will learn how to create compelling marketing materials using the outlines and examples found on the CD ROM.

Your preparation has increased your chances of success by as much as 500%!  

Summary

You are finally ready to pull the trigger.  You are fully prepared to begin selling your business.  Remember the 7 Ps: Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Pitifully Poor Performance.  In preparation for arriving at this point you have:

• Identified the characteristics or profile of your ideal buyer,

• Determined a fair price and suitable terms,  

• Identified lenders willing to provide acquisition financing for your buyer,

• Reviewed taxation consequences and understand how to best structure the sale,

• Prepared marketing materials that fully describe your opportunity,

• Compiled a complete Due Diligence package

Because you have created a Profile of your ideal buyer candidate you are better prepared to write appropriate ads and advertise and search in the right places.  

By following the information and techniques outlined in our Wealth Building Exit Strategies and Business Selling System, a business will sell at the targeted price and terms with three or less exposures thereby maintaining utmost confidentiality.  Using the Business Selling System dramatically increases your chances of  success. 

The unique Business Selling System helps insure that you can sell your business:

• For the most money possible 

• To the most qualified buyer, 

• Quickly and quietly  

Plus Services and Benefits 

Benefits:

Determine your best "Action Option"

You don't have to commit to selling by signing a listing agreement in order to get this information

The Insider Information our Business Selling System provides puts you in a position to make informed and intelligent decisions regarding the action option that best suits your individual situation.  

Examples of typical Action Options business owners consider:

• Design and activate a Wealth Building Exit Strategy - then sell

• Implement changes to enhance value and then sell when the time is right  

• Sell on your own – no assistance – perhaps to a buyer already in hand  

• Sell on your own using our coaching services   

• Sell using a broker – Commission will range between 8 to 12% of sale price.  Our Nationwide Network of  "Ready, Aim Fire" brokers and intermediaries can help if you choose this option   

• Not sell – perhaps eventually just close the doors  

• Other – maybe give the business to your brother in law  :-)

Services:

Initial One to One Consultation - Free 

Initial coaching is included as part of your purchase.  Use our toll free number to discuss valuing, value creation, selling, or buying a business with an experienced dealmaker.  

Mentor/Coaching Program (Optional)

If  you decide you want to sell your business by yourself and save a broker’s commission but don't want to go it alone, we can be your coach advise you every step of the way – as much or as little as you want for a pre-agreed upon flat fee.  We will not ask for a commission. Or, BuySellBiz.com's nationwide network of brokers and intermediaries can sell your business for you.

You’ll still have access to these services even if you don’t decide to sell until several years after you purchase your Business Selling System 

The Wealth Building - Business Selling System is based upon the

thirty years of experience gained in selling more than two thousand businesses.