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If you are Serious About Buying a Business – Please Read This!

You can’t sell a secret – it’s a phrase I have used myself only this week when discussing the possible sale of a vendor’s business….and in his case, it was entirely correct. He is a one-man band with some great clients and excellent contacts overseas where he sources product. He is building a brand, and also drop-shipping containers direct to big box retail when possible. Fantastic business – but one that needs a well organised individual who enjoys sales & selling, with access to a reasonable amount of working capital – and who is used to dealing with the owners of decent sized retail businesses and/or buying groups.

There’s plenty of you out there – but my vendor is hoping to simply bump into one as he goes about his daily business…..which could be anything from driving a forklift, to liaising with suppliers to meeting clients and getting commitments to indent stock. If he comes on board, I’ll let you know!

Nobody owns buyers…..you are free, independent spirits who can jump on (and off) broker databases at your leisure. But there are definitely benefits to being on Tabak’s database, as we sell 80% of our businesses through our database of buyers….and there are even more benefits if you are a highly motivated buyer, who actively engages with us and who we can meet either virtually or over a coffee.

The fact is that there are 6000+ buyers on our database and we’d only sell 1% of this number of businesses in any given year – so finding the right business for any particular buyer is difficult…..but not impossible. 

And sometimes you can “sell a secret” as described by Sam Cherry, one of our Tabak owners, recently on Linked In:

“You can’t sell a secret.”

It’s a phrase you often hear from business brokers when discussing how best to market a business for sale.

Over the past two months, I’ve sold two “secrets” with a combined value of more than $8 million.

Both transactions were completed off-market. Both received multiple offers. And for both vendors, absolute discretion was a key priority.

The accountants who referred these businesses to me understood that. They knew I had access to a network of pre-qualified buyers I’ve dealt with previously — buyers who understand the importance of confidentiality and discretion.

One vendor summed it up particularly well:

“This is for the buyer as much as it is for me. If I’m buying a business, I don’t necessarily want to know that 30 people — including competitors — have recently been poking under the hood of the business I’ve just bought.”

Wise Words!

For many businesses, going to market and creating broad exposure is absolutely the right strategy.

But not every business needs to be widely marketed to achieve a successful sale.

Sometimes, knowing exactly who to approach — and doing so discreetly — can be just as important as knowing how to market the opportunity.

So please do not be strangers, make yourselves known to us…..return our calls when we follow up IM’s that you may have received, or when we need to chat after receiving your Confidentiality Agreement….it will certainly not harm your chances of succeeding in your business search.

Damien Fahey & Sam Cherry; Partners
Tabak Business Sales, Christchurch