As a business owner, you constantly must make adjustments, face down competition, and manage change with resilience, but are you truly ready to capitalize on what may be the greatest financial transaction of your lifetime, or have you compromised your position with procrastination? Many entrepreneurs want to be financially rewarded for the years of sweat equity, overcoming challenges, personal sacrifices, investment risks, and the dedication that was required to build their business. Even if you are not planning to sell or exit now, an opportunity or a need to exit could come and go before you have time to properly react and consider all options.
It is critical to be ready and engage head on with the business sale process from the start. Strategic buyers are proactively looking for companies to acquire, regardless of whether the company is being proactively marketed. Consequently, it is not uncommon to be approached by a potential acquirer and be faced with an opportunity that may not come around again. Taking preemptive steps towards planning your exit or expansion enables you to react from a position of strength and capitalize on an unexpected opportunity. The presentation of your business and the investment opportunity it represents is best handled by a trusted professional business intermediary experienced in all aspects of mergers and acquisition structures, procedures, negotiations, due diligence, financing, and tax consequences. Your M&A intermediary quarterbacks the team and insures that all aspects of a transaction are addressed properly.
Proceeding with constant readiness provides the edge when the time is right to “take your chips off the table”, whether by design or by circumstance. Constant readiness promotes razor focus on issues and options that would maximize value should an opportunity arise. With proper analysis and planning, you are best positioned to make tough decisions and the right choices without extreme duress. There is no substitute for having yourself in a position whereby you control your personal and professional destiny. A trusted M&A advisor can work with you to assess the operational, intangible, and overall value of the business on an annual basis. Should an opportunity arise, you will be prepared to properly assess the traction of the deal at hand. Similarly, as you monitor the direction and progress of your business you can discuss and assess areas in which the business should look to expand, be it organically or through acquisition. Changes can be made that would enhance the value of the company and make it more marketable.
Many large corporations have the resources and the disciplines in-house to remain at the constant ready position; however, many middle market businesses typically engage strategic and tactical approaches to strengthen exit planning, sale and merger consideration on an as needed basis when the opportunity arises. Business and industries are facing very swift changes. It is therefore recommended to have an advisory team in place and be ready to withstand due diligence regardless of when or why you decide the time is right to seek an exit or enter a solicited negotiation. Rest assured that the “other side of the table” will have their ducks in a row, and it is vital to even the playing field.