Why Use a Business Broker?
(Hint: There’s no Upfront Cost, it Saves Time & You Get a Higher Quality Buyer)
If you have concluded that exiting your business is the best option, it’s time to craft a comprehensive exit strategy. After the blood, sweat, and tears, the decision to sell your business is not an easy one. For this reason, you should design an exit plan. A solid exit plan guarantees a smooth business sale while also getting the best value for your investment.
How do you Sell?
For successful entrepreneurs, there’s an emotional attachment with their companies that grows over time. When it comes to the exit, these business owners feel entitled to control the process. It might look like a smart decision but selling your company is a long-drawn process that requires special skills. It is not as easy as putting up a sale sign or advertising the company on social media.
The most important decision you can make is to work with a business broker. This is an intermediary between the business/owner and the seller. With so many entities going up for sale, these brokerage services are on the rise.
Entrepreneurs can now leverage business brokerage services for business valuation, marketing, preparing documents, legal processes, and other exit processes. It is an event that can take years and for this reason, you need someone with expertise by your side.
But why should you hire a business broker when you know everything about the enterprise? To answer this question, you have to consider how business brokers work and some specific services they offer.
What a Business Broker Does
A business broker facilitates the sale of a business. They act as intermediaries between you and the buyer for a commission. The broker takes time to review your business and understand everything about it. The idea is to understand the vision and objectives of the investor and consider these in the exit strategy.
Your broker works with you for months or years to prepare the company sale. They identify key value drivers and work on these to make your business more attractive to buyers. From the moment you hire a business broker, they will work in the background to help you streamline operations and meet the highest industry standards. Their input makes the business more appealing to buyers.
Your broker does more than put up a business for sale signs. They understand the market and work hard to get you the best deal. The business transfer agent gives you an objective business valuation using different valuation methods at their disposal. They also pinpoint your company’s value proposition, assist with negotiations and prepare business paperwork.
Why use a Business Broker?
The decision to use a business broker or not can make or break your business sale. It requires a lot of thought and due diligence to determine is these agents add any value to the exit process. Here are some reasons that should convince you of the importance of using a business broker.
1. No Upfront Cost
If you want to sell your company, getting the highest value is at the top of your mind. In some cases, the entrepreneur has constrained cash flow and they don’t want to take up any more unnecessary costs or risk.
When hiring a business broker, you have nothing to lose. An established business transfer agent works on commission without any upfront fees. Their contract agreement is to sell your company and receive payment from the sale. A trustworthy broker will not ask for an upfront fee and this should be one of the things to look out for.
Without any upfront cost, there’s no reason not to use this business transfer agent. They have the expertise required to prepare your business and present it to the buyer. You will benefit from their input in prepping the company at no cost.
From the business valuation, business plan exit strategy, identifying and boosting key drivers to the negotiations, you have an experienced representative working for you at no initial fees. Without an upfront fee, you harness the business selling expertise of your broker to deal with different buyers.
2. Time-Saving
The average time to sell a business is from six to nine months. However, selling your company might take even more depending on your preparedness, the industry or market situation. When working on the business sale alone, you have to put in many hours, and this can drain your energy.
You still have to work on the core business and ensure it runs smoothly to attract buyers. With time, your focus will shift towards the sale and this can affect the performance of the company. You need more and more time as they exit plan unfolds.
From consultations, marketing, negotiations, preparation of documents, tracking metrics, and data reporting, selling your own business is an arduous task. Working with a business broker can save you a lot of time. These professionals know how to speed up the company process.
Business transfer agents have the tools and resources required for the business valuation, tracking metrics and reporting, among other crucial tasks. Your broker also knows how to streamline operations and make the entity more appealing to the buyer. This reduces the sale time and saves you the agony of waiting for years before closing a deal.
3. Get a Higher quality buyer
A business broker only deals with qualified buyers. These are the buyers from their contact list who already meet certain criteria. Many business owners waste time haggling with everyone who contacts them for inquiries.
A broker, on the other hand, creates a shortlist of buyers based on their financial capacity, experience in investments, and industry background. They identify higher quality buyers with approved finances to improve the quality of negotiations. If a buyer is serious about putting an offer on the table, that’s when the broker brings you to the picture. You don’t have to waste time scouring through hundreds of time-wasting inquiries that are energy draining.
Creating a Custom Exit Plan
For the best experience when selling your business, we help you create a custom exit strategy that suits your plans. Whether you want to go on to retire or the business has drained you, we take a lot of time to understand your needs to guarantee a smooth exit and the most value from the investment.
Let’s hop on a quick call to discuss the timing and prospects of an exit based on your goals and the current state of your business. Schedule your free exit consultation today.
You're guaranteed to come away from the call with:
Clarity about your business
Knowledge of the landscape
A high-level exit plan
A rough valuation
Actionable insights
Specific next steps
Testimonials
What our clients say
In my career you get to deal with a lot of service providers. There are the below average, the average the the above average. Then there is one category that no one talks about which is the exception. We engaged Hello Exit to source acquisition targets for us. The communication, personal service, attention to details, availability, interaction with the team has been nothing short of exceptional. If ANYONE wants further in-depth conversation about the exceptional experience please reach out.
I worked with Hello Exit for the sale of a business and everything went smoothly. The team was very hands-on and provided a lot of guidance throughout every part of the process. They took the time to get to know my business well and were able to communicate our operation effectively to potential buyers. The sale was a success and I couldn’t have done it without them.
Hello Exit was great working with me to help sell my software company. They made everything clear, were patient, never over pressured me, but kept a strong sense of urgency. I would recommend Hello Exit to anyone looking to sell their business and plan on working with them again in any capacity that I can.
The team Hello Exit is simply incredible! Their expertise and support throughout the entire process of selling my company were a game changer. Their expertise and guidance throughout the entire process was invaluable. They took the time to truly understand my needs and goals, and helped me navigate every step of the way with ease. Hello Exit is exceptional, and they truly go above and beyond to ensure their clients are not only satisfied, but actually excited about their exit!! I cannot recommend Hello Exit enough! Their professionalism, knowledge, and dedication to their clients are unmatched. If you’re looking for a top-notch company to help you sell your business, look no further than Hello Exit. Thank you guys, for all that you do!
It was a pleasure working with Hello Exit and they have my most sincere recommendation. They bring a sophistication and etiquette that is very hard to find in the lower, lower middle market – outstanding preparation, excellent sell-side coaching, a rationale / unbiased disposition, and so on. In addition, they bring a powerful network to the conversation and can add value well beyond the transaction. I hope to work with Hello Exit on many more deals to come!
Hello Exit added tremendous value for our portfolio of companies. They made a complex sale process easier and significantly more efficient. We received 5 offers (two above ask) and were extremely happy with the outcome. As a serial trouble maker that has acquired 7 companies and sold 4 we will be using Hello Exit for future exits.
Hello Exit has built one of the best online business brokerages out there. As a buyer, the company has continuously provided us with acquisition targets that have been very well qualified. Every opportunity has fit directly into the criteria we’ve been looking for which has saved a ton of time on due diligence. If you want to get a jump start on your acquisition pipeline, it’s easy to recommend Hello Exit.
Hello Exit is one of the most knowledgeable business brokerages out there for tech & web businesses. We used they to buy a significant business operated by 15+ employees. Our work in diligence was substantially reduced given the strong & accurate information package he provided. All questions were proactively answered, all supporting data was there and presented in the right format, and everything was accurately represented. This saved us weeks of work! In discussions & negotiations, they played a fair role & helped resolve issues by understanding the issue from the perspective of both buyer & seller. With their knowledge and experience, they were able to make smart suggestions and helped everyone reach a common ground quickly. I would surely work with Hello Exit again. They are super!
What can I say other than Hello Exit delivered on everything they promised… and then some. At first, I didn’t believe it when they said he would sell my agency in a few months. But they were so passionate about working together, a part of me believed they would deliver. And they did. We had 3 offers in 30 days and went under contract with the highest offer. 3 months later we closed on the sale at the price they evaluated us on. During the entire process, their knowledge and experience helped immensely. Any time there was confusion or a hurdle that myself or the buyer had, the team stepped in and smoothed every over. Selling a business is one of the most invigorating yet stressful experience I’ve ever went through and I’m so grateful that I picked the right broker to help me through it. I’d use Hello Exit again in a heartbeat.
The Hello Exit team was great to work with. They helped increase our deal flow with strategic deals. If someone is looking to increase their targeted deal flow I would definitely recommend working with Hello Exit.
Hello Exit was awesome to work with on the deal. They provided great support and advice all through – from initial interest discussions, negotiations, contract closure to execution. They’re very prompt and proactive which sails the deal making through. They also provided great support and mediation help post transition on some key contract payout clauses, which is highly appreciated. I recommend Hello Exit highly to SaaS business owners and entrepreneurs.
I’ve known Dustin (Hello Exit’s Founder) for over 10 years, and actually acquired a SaaS company he founded. I’ve always found Dustin to be extremely sharp, fair and honest, reasonable to deal with, and the kind of person you would want to do business with again in the future (which is rare these days). I’m currently mentoring and incubating over 150 international startup companies, and have already talked with Dustin about bringing Hello Exit into these businesses to broker the exit once they are profitable and solidly into their momentum phase.
Hello Exit is one of the best and most trustworthy SaaS advisories and brokerages in the industry! If you run a SaaS business, and Hello Exit contacts you, you should definitely talk to them! Even if you decide not to sell, it will be a very worthwhile and fruitful conversation.
