Selling a business is a complex and lengthy process—and it’s nothing like running or building a business. You have to price the business properly, find and vet prospective buyers anonymously, and manage the complexities of negotiations and due diligence—all without letting your emotional connection to your business impede your ability to get the best deal.
Our job is to leverage our experience to guide you through a process we have been through over 100 times. At Catchfire, we manage the technical and emotional aspects of the sale, allowing you and your team to continue to focus on running your business.
How To Sell Your Business
Reasons For Selling
Business owners choose to sell for all sorts of reasons. You might be selling because you want to pursue a new business opportunity. You might want to retire. You might have decided that it’s the right time to sell—because it’s a seller’s market, or because of your own personal finances.
Whatever your reason for exploring a sale, we’ll help you evaluate if the timing is right and highlight the opportunities that could make this the ideal moment—or worth waiting just a little longer to maximize value.
Our Steps in Selling a Business
- Sales Preparation We review pertinent information about your company, research the industry and develop a prospect list
- Sales Process. We reach out to prospective buyers and pre-qualify their interest in an acquisition like your business
- Letter of Intent (LOI). We negotiate the broad strokes of a purchase agreement
- Negotiate definitive agreements
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One of our key strengths is our ability to seek and find appropriate buyers or sellers for our clients. Our research group uses an exhaustive proprietary process to build comprehensive lists and follow up with business intelligence, direct outreach, and a thorough pre-qualification process.
How Catchfire Can Help You
The challenges and opportunities presented by the sale of a business can be drastically different for every business owner. When you’ve never sold a business before, the process can be daunting—especially when faced with buyers who have more experience.
With decades of strategic advisory and M&A experience, we can help you sell your business to the right buyer, at the right time, for the right amount. We have successfully completed over 100 M&A transactions; in the often treacherous landscape of business sales, we will guide you to the highest peaks.
Why Work With Catchfire?
Our partners have over 50 years of combined strategic advisory and mergers and acquisitions experience. We leverage that experience and our connections to find potential buyers. We then vet those potential buyers to find the most qualified buyers.
As we find buyers, we help get your business ready to sell. Our goal is to get the best price for your business—our sell-side fees are primarily success-based, so that we do better if your business sells for more. We keep every factor, from when you want to sell to how long you want to stay on with the business after the sale is complete, in mind when negotiating with buyers and structuring the deal.
M&A Journey
Assessment & Preparation
Before deciding to sell, you might want answers to these questions: How attractive is your business to buyers, and what sort of valuation can you expect? Are you structured in the most efficient way from a tax and legal perspective? What can you do to improve the likelihood of selling your business?
Engage Professional Advisors
Selling your business is a complex process with legal, tax, and financial elements that need to be addressed properly. We work with our clients and their professional advisors to make sure all of our efforts are coordinated in the best interests of the client.
Confidentiality Agreements
All our work is done in strictest confidence. Information is only shared about your company when three conditions are met. We have pre-qualified the prospect; we have signed a nondisclosure agreement, and you have given us permission to do so.
Marketing & Advertising
Your business needs to be marketed with the right message to the right prospects. Our reach into various markets, niches, and buyer types facilitates efficient and effective marketing of your business. WE do a lot of research into our target market, then directly reach out to the decision-makers. Our reach and frequency are strong.
Screening & Qualification
Nobody has the time to spend on unqualified prospects. We screen them to ensure they have the management and financial capacity to execute a transaction. We don’t want to waste your time, ours, or theirs, and so dig into the qualifying questions early in the process.
Negotiation & Letter of Intent
Once we have found and pre-qualified an interested prospect, and shared basic information about your company with them, we seek to enter into a Letter of Intent, which outlines, at a high level, what a deal will look like. It addresses questions of amount, payment terms, timing of transaction, ongoing role for vendor, and other important details. Once LOI is signed, Due Diligence begins.
Due Diligence
Many buyers have Due Diligence checklists that have more than 300 line items on them. As we like to tell buyers, “warts” aren’t that scary to buyers, but surprises are! Professional buyers will dig into levels of detail you likely haven’t experienced before, and their offer won’t become binding until after they do. Are you prepared to provide that level of detail? We have a good idea of what will be needed and will work with you to prepare it and help the buyer develop the deep understanding of your business that they seek.
Purchase Agreement
Purchase Agreements are lengthy and complex documents. While some people call it “legal stuff” every word in those agreements matters and is a representation, warranty, or commitment of each party to the other. Negotiating the details can be a long and difficult process – there are times you will feel they are pushing too hard and times they will feel the same way about you. Thrust and parry are a necessary part of the process and our experience allows us to guide you through it, and work through the process alongside you or on your behalf.
Closing
We remain engaged in the process through closing date, knowing that our job isn’t done until the money is in the bank. Often issues are still being resolved right up til (and sometimes even after) closing day
Transition & Handover
Often the vendor is asked to stay on through a transitionary period with the purchaser. We are often asked to support the seamless transition by providing After Deal Support.
Looking To Sell Your Business?
Contact us today. We will help you find the ideal buyer and get the best outcome possible, all while de-stressing the business sale process. Speak with one of our experts today.
