Your Orlando Florida Business Broker

A close up of the tab from a confidential file folder. When you are buying or selling a business confidentiality is one of the most important factors.  Now to the novice negotiator, buyer or seller with a lack of experience or understanding of all the things that can go wrong you may find that odd but let me explain. First….the sale of a business is a private matter and the only people who should be involved are those necessary: Buyer, Seller,  Broker  if there is one,  CPA’s , and  Legal Counsel .  That’s it.  No one else has a need to know.  As a seller who spends a lot of time with employees, there is often some emotion and misguided feelings of emotion/loyalty borne out of concern for your staff. But I would charge that to be misguided.  Here is how sellers should look at the deal:  Employees should be focused on their job and job alone.  The sale is to be handled by the players hired to manage the transaction.  Any tim...

Is it a Buyer or Seller Market for Selling Your Business? June 16, 2017  by  Michael Shea PA Is it a Buyer or Seller Market in Selling Your Business?  Not a simple question and reflects some specifics to your particular deal but there are some macro stats you should consider if you are considering selling your business At present the sales price to asking price gap is tight. This reflects low inventory and high demand making it, in essence, a seller’s market. So, if you were looking to sell an environment like this is ideal.  The following image accurately reflects the trends we have seen for the several quarters. The next data point is multiple of Cash Flow. Again the tight inventory has driven multiples up once more reflecting a seller’s market dynamic.  The term multiple is bandied about and sometimes confuses parties but in general buyers pay a multiple of the cash flow or profits of a business.  When it is observed that multiple...

Negotiation in a Business Sale and a “Beautiful Mind” March 10, 2017  by  Michael Shea PA All too often in business sales when negotiating a deal a seller or buyer and or their representatives look to defeat the opponent and “win”. Statistically speaking when reviewing outcomes of deals the reality is that when this approach is taken one simply does not win in the long term. Several years ago, there was a wonderful film called “A Beautiful Mind” starring Russell Crowe. The film chronicled the life of American Mathematician John Nash. Nash suffered from severe paranoid schizophrenia but pioneered the game-changing thought in “game theory” and differential geometry. If the sale of a business is anything it is a game. I would challenge all of us as principals and as consultants and intermediaries to rethink our theory regarding negotiation.  The following video largely demonstrates both the traditional mental model regarding negotiation and Nash’s innovative appro...