Our Process

Sunbelt Business Brokers have years of experience selling businesses with a revenue range of $1 million to $50 million, and we can put that experience to work for you. Only after we understand YOUR GOALS can we successfully sell your business using our six-step process below.

1. CONSULTATION & VALUATION

Our process starts by meeting with you so that we can clearly understand the goals you want to accomplish when selling your business. During our initial consultation, we will ask important questions, discuss how long selling a business generally takes, and how we will maintain complete confidentiality of your business throughout the entire process. We will also provide you with a list of the documents we need to perform a valuation of your business.

2. PREPARE THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (CIM)

Once the valuation has been completed and reviewed and a listing price of the business has been established, the next step will be to sign a listing agreement. After signing a listing agreement, we will prepare a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) for your business. This will require a deep dive of your business so that we have a complete understanding of how your business works. The CIM will give prospective buyers enough information about your business to know if they are interested in moving forward.

3. BUYER SEARCH

We will confidentially market your business to strategic targets, private equity groups, and list the company on select business for sale websites. In this process, we go to great lengths to keep the identity of your business confidential. Once a prospective buyer shows interest, they will sign a Confidentiality Agreement and fill out a Financial Profile before they are provided with any information about your business.

4. BUYER MEETING

Once we have located and screened buyers interested in your business, we will arrange a conference call between parties involved. A significant objective for these calls is to ensure that the buyer will be a good fit for your business. After the call, the next step will be an on-site visit to the business, which can be done after hours to maintain confidentiality. After a visit to the business, the buyer should have enough information to make an offer.

5. LETTER OF INTENT

The buyer will submit an offer in the form of an LOI or Letter of Intent. The LOI will outline the offer's details, including the purchase price, payment terms, the timeline for due diligence, the terms of a non-compete agreement, and any other terms unique to the business. Negotiating the LOI is a critical step in the process, and we advise our clients to have their attorney review this document.

6. CLOSING

The due diligence period begins after both parties have negotiated and signed the LOI. The due diligence process is meant to confirm that the business was accurately represented to the buyer. After due diligence, attorneys for both sides will work to produce the necessary documents to close the deal and ensure that everything is ready for closing.