Role of a Business Broker

An experienced Business Intermediary will help you achieve your Goals and Plans

What is the Role of a Business Broker?

A business broker plays a crucial role in facilitating a successful business sale. They appropriately price the business, find qualified, capable buyers, minimize time a business owner will spend managing the deal process, help negotiate fair terms. This is all done while maintaining confidentiality throughout the process. In our role as your exit planning and transaction advisor, our team at Exit Equity listens to your goals—and implements and advises the transaction accordingly.

Our execution can differ as we tailor our services to each client—though our brokerage and intermediary services support during all aspects of the transaction. Exit Equity has a proven, repeatable three-step process that we guide our sell-side clients through.

Phase 1: Initial Exit Planning

We help our clients decide if it’s time to ‘Hold and Grow’ or ‘Sell and Go.’ Our team is comprised of educated, experienced, and certified business brokers that will evaluate the transactional readiness of your company and determine how much your business is worth. In the first stages of our engagement, we will perform a Readiness Assessment, complete a Business Valuation that incorporates criteria relevant to potential acquirers. We also provide a “net-to-you” during these initial discussions, which is important, so you know what net value you can expect from the sale of your most valuable asset. With all data and information in hand, this is your time to decide if you are ready to sell (Sell & Go) or if you need to create more value within your company before you sell (Hold & Grow). We strive to provide you all the data and guidance so you make the decision that’s right for you, at the right time.

Phase 2: Preparing The Company For Sale

In order to achieve the best result, it is imperative that the company be presented in the best possible way by highlighting value drivers unique to the business. Preparation and packaging the business in order to emphasize the value drivers and unique features is an important function of Exit Equity.

Going to Market

Exit Equity maintains a strong pre-qualified buyer pool and communicates monthly with all of them, which allows Exit Equity to make a buyer – seller match much faster than anyone in this market.

Internet Web Sites, Web Scraping and Bots

Exit Equity utilizes numerous Web sites to find interested parties for businesses. The most effective Web sites are operated exclusively for brokers through industry affiliations and are marketed to reach selected targets. We have built website scraping tools and bots to automate internet search for relevant companies and people who may be interested in buying your business.

Existing Candidates

These buyers are usually a “pocket” group of buyers either currently looking for businesses to purchase or considered as known to the intermediary community as buyers looking for specific and non-specific businesses to purchase.

Networking with Affiliates

Exit Equity interacts and cooperates with hundreds of affiliates through various industry associations around the U.S. and foreign countries, like our membership in the IBBA, an 1,100 intermediary strong association, whereby we keep track of current buyers.

Targeted Direct Mail

Direct mail can be an effective source in a search for interested parties. As experienced intermediaries, Exit Equity has access to comprehensive information regarding potential acquirers. Such information is essential in selecting qualified candidates while preparing an effective list of mail recipients.

Networking with Investors

Private equity groups and private investor groups communicate regularly with M&A firms such as Exit Equity to review companies that may fill their investment needs. Exit Equity is well-connected and meets several times each year with principals of private equity groups at various association conferences.

Media Advertising

Exit Equity uses various media advertising sources and has a good working knowledge of the best venues to reach buyers for specific industries.

Phase 3: Structuring The Deal and Completing The Transaction

In this third phase – we work to move from the Letter of Intent into a fully completed Purchase and Sale Agreement. The LOI is serves as the base and guide for the final contract. While the attorneys are creating these contracts, the buyer is conducting Due Diligence on the business. What’s unqiue about Exit Equity is our team helps project manage and organize the data room to minimize time and churn.

Exit Equity is a business intermediary trained through formal education (requires 60 hours of continuing education classes per year) and practical experience in structuring business transactions and meeting the requirements of our clients. Without these skills, more deals fall apart than are actually consummated.

The proof is in the pudding. Click here to connect with our team and we can share more about customers who have had great exits.

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