Dear Business Owner & Advisors:

If you sell a house, repair and repaint

If you sell your car, fix scratches and dents

If you sell a business, fill in the POTHOLES

When you sell your house, it is customary to touch up the paint, repair the faucet you have been meaning to get to, clean the basement and keep the lawn mowed. The homeowner needs to create a positive impression for those considering making the house their home.  Some real estate professionals make stronger recommendations to the homeowner including suggestions on modernizing the bathroom, upgrading kitchen appliances or replacing carpets in order for the house not to look “dated” and enhance value.Businesses also have deferred maintenance, too much old inventory on the shelves (and on the books), equipment in need of modernization and thirty other items in need of attention.  We call these POTHOLES.

Potholes are the bumps in the road to a deal closing  - items which cause a deal to slow down, stall or derail all together.  Sometimes they are big potholes (large customer concentration), which everybody can see so deals get worked around them, though often for lower values or terms.  Sometimes they are small, hidden in a corner, until a buyer asks for a copy of a permit, which expired two years earlier or does not cover current business operations.  Suddenly the deal is on hold for six months.  Other potholes; center on concerns buyers have – the business works fine now with the current owner in place, but what happens when that knowledge base retires. The person who solved problems for years, and knows who to call in an emergency, is no longer there and new ownership has to reinvent the wheel.

We have conducted hundreds of deals at Beacon.  Every one with aspects, which had the potholes been filled in before going to market, would have sold for more money or better terms.  To help sellers maximize value, we have prepared our Pothole Analysis™ program – to work with the company’s CPA firm and legal team to assist management in preparing the business for sale, filling in potholes and enabling the business to attract offers exciting to owners.

If the business is the owner’s most valuable financial asset, shouldn’t they insure it is in the best condition for sale?

Click see a list of 34 potholes and how Beacon can help

For more information on Beacon’s Pothole Analysis program or presentation please contact us.