An Entrepreneur Ready to Sell? You Need A M&A Expert For That.

You’re an entrepreneur with a nicely operating and secure business, and it seems like you have built it to a place where exiting may be the right move to take some chips off the table.

But how do you find a potential buyer who you can rely on to build on your hard work and take the business to a new level while ensuring you get suitably rewarded for all the years you have invested in the business?

It may help to hire an expert in the field who can take you through the selling process and offer a network of potential acquirers. But who do you choose?

Michigan-based Exitwise says it offers the expertise and network you might need. With a management team of seasoned entrepreneurs and merger and acquisition specialists, Exitwise reports that it can guide business owners through the entire selling process and help ensure the best overall outcome in an eventual sale.

Entrepreneurial Expertise?

The company reports that its leadership has founded and sold multiple companies. Managing Partner Todd Sullivan has more than 20 years of experience founding, growing and selling technology companies in Silicon Valley, Chicago, New York and Detroit. While trying to sell some of those businesses, Sullivan hired M&A advisers and legal experts to help him navigate the process.

One of the companies he sold even went on to be acquired by Microsoft Corp. MSFT.

Hiring outside help comes with both benefits and downsides, Sullivan said. Getting outside expertise is generally advisable but bad choices can backfire; each business owner must make sure their business does not slip during the M&A process or their sale price could drop.

One of the key things when contemplating any possible business sale is knowing how and when to reveal potentially sensitive business information during the process. It pays to have an industry specialized M&A expert with whom you can safely share and knows what you want, Sullivan said.

If selling to a competitor, business owners should pay attention to not revealing too much sensitive information. Only disclosing that information during the due diligence process can help mitigate giving away information that could eventually be used against a business owner if a likely sale subsequently collapses. 

“We've heard too many horror stories from founders about their failed transactions", says Sullivan.  "And that's why hiring the right M&A expert for your business is so important, and why we are so excited about the mission of Exitwise." 

The bottom line is there are multiple challenges involved in selling businesses, and it helps if an entrepreneur decides to hire outside help. For the best results, find an M&A expert who specializes in your industry and has sold similar companies in the past.

“We're here to help our fellow founders,” Sullivan told Benzinga. “It’s a true honor to be part of any entrepreneur’s journey.”

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.

Picture credit: Ian Schneider on Unsplash