Reasons to Include a Broker on Your M&A Team

Many owners planning to sell their business wonder whether or not to hire a business broker. Many decide not to—and often suffer significant financial harm as a result. Of course, they may never even know that a business broker could have gotten them a better deal. A business broker needs to be a part of your M&A team. Here are 15 simple reasons why:

1. They help you perform a comprehensive business analysis and valuation. This prepares your business for sale, gives you a realistic idea of what to expect from the sale, and can help clean up your books in a way that attracts more potential buyers.
2. They offer a broker’s perspective on value. Sure, you know your business is valuable, but what does it look like to another person? An objective opinion is invaluable.
3. They find qualified buyers who are willing to compete for your business. They can also create a bidding environment that promotes competition, and therefore a higher sale price.
4. They help produce marketing materials that work, and that are tailored to the right kind of buyer for your business.
5. They diligently work to protect the confidentiality of your business during the sale process.
6. They craft well-worded non-disclosure agreements, and devise a reasonable schedule of disclosures.
7. They act as a buffer between the buyer and you, allowing you to preserve a good relationship and practice effective but tough negotiation tactics.
8. They support a negotiation process that favors you, that addresses everything, and that ensures everyone is happy.
9. They free your time to run the business, preventing downgrades in valuation and ensuring the buyer gets a well-run business at closing.
10. They help buyers obtain financing, and work with both parties to manage seller financing agreements.
11. They draft all relevant agreements, and educate you about how seemingly inconsequential terms can become very important.
12. They support you at every step of the deal, explaining things you don’t understand and offering actionable tips.
13. They prepare for, manage, and oversee due diligence.
14. They use their years of experience to level the playing field and ensure your interests are fairly represented.
15. They serve as a friend and advisor, helping you manage stress and make sound decisions.

About Sunbelt Atlanta
At Sunbelt Atlanta our team is made up of seasoned professionals with more than 60 years collective experience selling companies. Our backgrounds and industry experience are as varied as the companies we represent. Some come from main-street, some from wall-street. Collectively, we have closed more than 500 transactions and the companies we have sold range in size from $50,000 to $25,000,000 in transaction value and span all industries. One thing our professionals have in common is that they all have first-hand experience initiating, negotiating and managing the deal process. We can bring a main-street tenacity to a middle market transaction and middle-market finesse to a main-street transaction.