Many firms claim expertise in selling businesses. However, expertise is not the same as a devotion to the client's best interest. For example, beware of other firms that call with claims that they already have a buyer for your business. Without detailed information, nobody knows if they are interested in a given company. The firm telling you they have a potential buyer is more often than not simply trying to sign you up as a client.
It is not possible to competently maximize any business transaction without first fully understanding the business and determining its range of value. For this reason, ASG starts with providing you with a fair market valuation of your business, together with the reasoning and rationale that supports the valuation. If you agree with (and are comfortable with) that valuation, the probable tax issues, and the likely timelines, that would be the time that you would consider retaining ASG to go to work on your behalf. In most cases, the size, nature of and location of your business will indicate the most probable nature of your ideal buyer. Those insights guide ASG in developing a customized and confidential marketing effort to identify those buyers that are most likely to be willing to pay the highest price for your business.
Finding Potential Buyers
In fact, at ASG we have a strict methodology of locating potential buyers. In addition to customized and specialized marketing programs, we maintain large databases of individuals, corporations, and investment groups that are interested in buying businesses. We cross-check our database with information from your company to find buyers that:
- Have the capabilities to run the company successfully
- Are financially able to pay for the company
- That bring added value to the company and can thus afford to pay a higher price
Creation of our Buyer Database
In addition to customized marketing efforts, our investment group and industry buyer databases have been compiled over 25 years in business, resulting in a lot of potential buyers, and it is supplemented with many referrals from CPAs, lawyers, and other professionals. Because of this, each year ASG locates buyers throughout California, across the nation, and even worldwide to purchase the businesses we represent. We augment our databases through our:
- Presence on the Internet
- Referrals from past clients, lawyers, and CPAs
- Access to powerful business and private investor databases
Marketing Your Business
In addition to our database of potential buyers, ASG will market your business in a variety of ways to find the best buyer and achieve the highest price. We might use blind/no name ads to advertise your business in industry publications, on M&A websites, as well as other strategies to find a buyer for your company. Some of the other strategies include:
- Contacting industry consultants who are aware of companies interested in buying
- Contacting businesses in synergistic industries
- Contacting companies in the same industry
- Contacting the many investment groups looking for companies to acquire
