Proven Strategic Process - BayState Business Brokers, MA, CT, NH, RI

Our Strategic Sales Process Sells Your Business Faster and for a Higher Price

What sets BayState Business Brokers apart is our strategic and proven process that effectively markets and sells businesses to qualified buyers.

We work with owners of privately held companies, tailoring our approach to effectively market businesses to sell them faster and for a higher price. We are champions of small business and that means employing best practices applied for selling larger companies and adopting them for businesses typically in the range of $1 million to $30 million.

We’ve developed and mastered our brokering process to get your business in front of the right buyers effectively and efficiently, from “main street” businesses to larger, mid-sized companies. While each business is marketed in a customized manner based on our clients’ goals, you can be assured that we employ a strategic, targeted effort to maximize return from the sale, while saving you time.

Benefits of BayState’s Strategic Sales Process for the Seller

More qualified buyers
Competitive offers, which can drive up the price
Efficient and professional process from beginning to end

An Overview of BayState’s Process to Market & Sell Your Business

Initial Meeting

After an initial consultation, a meeting (in person or online) is scheduled to further discuss your situation, what is prompting the sale and review of financials. At this meeting, the BayState Business Broker will share how we work and our process, discuss your goals and expectations so both parties can assess a fit in working together. We best serve our clients when we can work collaboratively as a team including with the business owner’s attorney and CPA for a successful, well-coordinated effort.

Valuation

A business valuation is used to define a likely sales price. We will discuss the valuation with you to confirm expectations and alignment in moving forward.

For businesses with real estate, we can sell both the business and the commercial real estate and will discuss and advise you on recommended approaches to include a real estate appraisal or comparative valuations.

The business valuation can be achieved using one of two approaches:

Business broker’s opinion of value which leverages comparative businesses and offers a quicker approach to valuation. The deliverable is typically a 5-6 page report and is ideal for smaller businesses and for companies where there are available similar businesses to compare with.

Certified Business Appraisal – this detailed report is prepared by a certified business valuation company and is a comprehensive analysis of financials and the market. This report is developed by an objective third party. The cost of this appraisal is credited back at closing. BayState Business Brokers has a business appraisal company that we work with and we facilitate this appraisal with both parties.

After coming to an agreement on price and terms, an exclusive listing agreement is put in place, affirming the mutual decision to proceed to market your business for sale.

All potential buyers must sign non-disclosure agreements before they receive any confidential information about your company. After signing an NDA and being financially qualified, interested buyers will receive copies of the BayState Confidential Brief. Our marketing efforts are focused on presenting interested and qualified buyers for your consideration.

Develop the BayState Confidential Brief

At the same time that we are identifying the best buyers for your business, we develop the BayState Confidential Brief, our version of the industry’s Confidential Business Review (CBR) or in the M&A world, often described as the CIM or Confidential Information Memorandum.

Because the contents of this brief often determine whether a potential buyer will bid on your business or walk away, we strive to present a comprehensive view into the business highlighting your company’s value, and potential opportunities for growth. Our Confidential Brief includes:

The history of the business
The company’s current structure
Description of the company’s products and/or services
Financial information
Sales and marketing information
Industry information and market outlook
Opportunities for growth and profitability

Marketing Process

We develop and implement a multi-pronged marketing plan to promote your business. Confidentiality is paramount and all interested buyers must sign an NDA. The marketing plan may include:

Online business listing on our website
Listings on the largest business for sale websites
Business listing on our co-broker marketing channels
Paid online advertising (Pay Per Click)
Videos
Targeted marketing to our database of several thousand buyers
Marketing directly to industry buyers

Offers Presented and Negotiated

At this point in the process, our goal is to generate the best offer for your business. If an asking price has not been disclosed, the ultimate goal is to create a competitive bid situation. Your BayState Business Broker will review and advise you of any and all offers to negotiate the best offer to meet your goals.

Offer to Purchase / Letter of Intent

When the best offer has been identified, we will help you and your attorney secure an agreement in the form of negotiating a formal Offer to Purchase or Letter of Intent (LOI).

Working Toward a Closing

You can count on BayState Business Brokers to be with you every step of the way throughout the sale process, since there are several steps to be completed between signing the offer and closing the deal. We quarterback the entire process, communicating and collaborating with all involved parties to address open items and facilitate forward progress. As the broker, we are the only party who can speak to everyone involved in the deal, including the attorneys and CPAs for both parties, which allows us to work on our seller’s behalf to facilitate a smooth and successful process.

This part of the process can take several months and includes the buyer reviewing the company’s books and records, securing third party financing, finalizing asset purchase agreements, negotiating leases, any licensing or franchise agreements to be completed, and negotiating and finalizing any non competes or employment agreements.

Closing Process

After all contingencies have been satisfied and both parties accept the final terms of the transaction, the closing will be scheduled. At the closing all included assets transfer to the buyer, the purchase price is paid and the sale is completed.