Posted 12-20-2022 1:30 pm by
When it comes to choosing the right business brokerage firm to represent your Las Vegas company for sale, it may seem difficult to choose the best business broker for you. Do you go with a larger firm while risking that your business may be too small to deserve much attention amongst all its large accounts? Do you go with the most experienced firm only to find that your listing is handed to a junior broker? How do you tell the difference between various business brokerages, and whether they will actually do a good job for you at marketing your business for sale?
It turns out that one of the best ways to tell business brokerages apart is to ask to see a sample marketing package, sometimes called a Confidential Business Review or Confidential Business Profile, for one of their clients. Better yet, go to a business for sale web site such as www.BizBuySell.com where you can look up the business brokers in Nevada and see their current listings. Request information on one of their listings and see what kind of information they send you. You will most likely need to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Once you do so, you will receive the marketing package from the brokers. Seeing the marketing package from one of their current listings will give you a lot of information on whether the brokers are doing a good job at marketing the business for their clients.
If you actually request information on businesses for sale from lots of brokers as we have, you will quickly realize that most brokers hardly give potential buyers the information they need to make a decision. The marketing package you receive will either be non-existent, or a one-pager that does not give you all that much information. In rare occasions, you will receive a marketing package that is several pages long. Still, most buyers need more information to decide whether a business opportunity is right for them than what can be contained in a few pages. As a potential buyer looking to make a good purchase, you will likely get frustrated by the amount of time you waste simply trying to gather the information you need from the brokers. In some cases, you will be told by the broker that you will not get access to any sensitive financial data until you make an offer and the offer has been accepted by the seller.
Unfortunately, the approach described above is the norm in the business brokerage industry for several reasons. First, it is easier for the broker to get the listing. If all the broker has to do is to prepare a one-page summary on the business, the seller does not have to provide the broker all that much information to get the business listed. Second, it makes the broker seem like the broker is doing a lot. After reviewing the one-pager, potential buyers are left with many unanswered questions, at which point the broker says, “Let’s arrange a meeting or conference call with the seller.” As a seller, you attend lots of meetings with potential buyers, making you feel like the broker is working hard to bring you lots of potential buyers. Finally, by telling potential buyers that they cannot see a lot of data until an accepted offer is in place, it forces the buyers to make an offer in order to get information. As a seller, you may get more offers than usual, making you feel that the broker is working hard for you.
At Advantage Commercial Brokers, we are against the one-pager approach because we believe it is a big waste of time for both the seller and potential buyers. As the seller, there is no reason you need to meet with buyer after buyer just to answer basic questions on how your business operates. The one-pager approach may bring in more offers, but most of those buyers will back out before their due diligence period is over once they receive the information they need to make a decision in the first place. Having lots of offers that fall apart is not an ideal approach to selling your company. In fact, you will likely waste valuable time because the business is taken off the market every time there is an accepted offer in place.
The marketing packages prepared by Advantage Commercial Brokers are often times over 100 pages long. We have an in-house business analyst whose job is to prepare these in-depth marketing packages. To be frank, it is not easy for sellers to list their business with Advantage Commercial Brokers. Instead of “just sign here on the listing agreement and we’ll take care of the rest,” sellers will get interviewed by Advantage Commercial Brokers in detail and asked to compile a lot of data that will help potential buyers make a decision.
The difference is stark when potential buyers receive a 100+ page marketing package. One, the marketing package is so complete and organized that it puts your business in the best light possible. Two, potential buyers no longer need to waste your time with meetings and basic questions. Three, we quickly weed out all of the wrong buyers because they receive all the information they need upfront. Four, the offers we get have a high probability of going to closing because the buyers have already reviewed most of the data they need in due diligence prior to making an offer. Five, the banks are impressed by the marketing package and are more likely to fund the loan for the buyer to purchase your business. Last but not least, we drastically shorten the time it takes to sell your business because the buyers can make a decision fast, and the banks can make a decision fast.
Advantage Commercial Brokers helps business owners in the Las Vegas area sell their businesses. For a free business seller consultation with Advantage Commercial Brokers, please contact us below.
Aaron Muller, President of Advantage Commercial Brokers, has personally sold over 200 companies for his clients as a business broker. Recognized as an Industry Expert by the Business Brokerage Press, Aaron has over 20 years of experience selling companies with sale prices ranging from $100,000 to over $50 million. Aaron is an Inc. 500 entrepreneur, having built one of America’s fastest growing private companies. Aaron owns multiple companies today, and is the #1 international bestselling author of The Lifestyle Business Owner: How to Buy a Business, Grow Your Profits, and Make It Run Without You, available on Amazon in Kindle, audiobook, and paperback. Contact Aaron at (702) 829-6373 or aaron@acbrokersinc.com for a confidential, complimentary consultation for business sellers in the Las Vegas area.
