Lester de Vere & Richard Stevens are probably the Shore’s leading Business Brokers. Born and bred on the Shore they represent ABC Business Brokers in their home patch. They have spent many years in business themselves before taking on the role at ABC. Their passion is to 'help vendors transition through the sales process and creating a win-win for both seller and purchaser' Lester is ABC’s No.1 Auckland Salesperson in 2018 & 2020 and being named ABC’s Trusted Advisor of the Year 2018. Richard awarded the Rising Star of the Year 2020.
Welcome to the start of another decade. I do trust it is a good start for you leading up to the election later in the year.
It all starts with a hiss and a roar… on New Year’s day I had five email enquiries for businesses I have for sale. This shows me that there is on-going activity in the market and the start of a new year is pretty much always the same: people wishing to move on from an existing business because it’s the right time for them to have a change, or alternatively, review businesses for sale as being the owner of a successful business can be very rewarding and allows you to be the master/mistress of your own destiny.
As a business owner, it's very powerful for you to understand the processes around selling a business prior to rushing headlong into it.
- business appraisal
- getting the required details/data together to create an Information Memorandum
- production of those details
- marketing/promotional material
- average time it takes for a business to sell
- engagement with buyers and confidentiality
- vendor/purchaser meetings
- negotiation and sale & purchase agreement structure and terms
- due diligence time frames
- settlement
There are a number of options available based on different ownership models
Knowing how to value a business is not required, but an understanding of what buyers will look at, and how it impacts value is critical. For instance, many business owners assume the value of their company is based on revenue. In fact, cash flow and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) are the primary metrics for determining value. Growing revenue at the expense of cash flow will often degrade the value of the business.
Also keep in mind that it's not all financial. Buyers look for things like scalable infrastructure, strong management that is not dependent on the owner, customer concentration, and growth capacity.
Now is without doubt a great time to sell your business. It starts with a conversation so please keep in touch. I'm happy to listen and offer advice.
