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Discussions > Buying A Business Is Not Like Playing Poker: You Need To Show Your Cards
Buying A Business Is Not Like Playing Poker: You Need To Show Your Cards
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Posted By: Ken Oppeltz 
Buyers, when inquiring about a business, remember that you are asking for confidential information. Even the fact that the business is for sale is confidential and the premature exposure of the sale could damage the business and its owner.
Topics: Buying A Business Tags: buying a business
Buyers, when inquiring about a business, remember that you are asking for confidential information. Even the fact that the business is for sale is confidential and the premature exposure of the sale could damage the business and its owner.
Topics: Buying A Business Tags: buying a business
Contributor: Ken Oppeltz, CBI, CBB: San Diego Business Broker
Buyers, when inquiring about a business, remember that you are asking for confidential information. Even the fact that the business is for sale is confidential and the premature exposure of the sale could damage the business and its owner. You of course will want to know the name, address, financial performance information, rental rates, etc. This information is not available to the general public, so the seller or their broker will want you to sign a non-disclosure agreement, plus know more about you prior to releasing that information.
Our firm, plus most other professional business brokerage offices, will want to at least have some basic contact information, know a little bit about your background, and have some representation from you that you have the financial capacity to complete the transaction, Most of the time, this need not be you providing your tax returns or bank statements, but rather just a signed buyer profile stating that you have a certain amount of money to work with. This seems like a fair request given the information that will be provided by the seller.
What happens if you fill out the NDA with the address listed as the local UPS Store, no telephone number, and a an email address that looks suspicious. The Seller or the Broker has no way to know who you really are and are very likely to not provide you with the information. Same for the financial representation. A bunch of zeros or N/A's inserted on your Buyer Profile form doesn't exactly provide comfort to the Seller and again, will likely result in no response from the Seller.
Now, I certainly understand a buyer's reluctance to provide their financial information if the advertisement is vague and has no financial information. I too would be irritated if I saw an ad/posting for a "Service Company" asking $500,000, with no revenues or earnings listed, and no other description. Beside the fact that I would never have inquired about such a vague ad/posting to begin with, I certainly wouldn't want to provide detailed information about myself not knowing even the type of business or if its profitable. But if by the ad you can determine its likely a fit, then it's time to "show your cards."
Our firm, plus most other professional business brokerage offices, will want to at least have some basic contact information, know a little bit about your background, and have some representation from you that you have the financial capacity to complete the transaction, Most of the time, this need not be you providing your tax returns or bank statements, but rather just a signed buyer profile stating that you have a certain amount of money to work with. This seems like a fair request given the information that will be provided by the seller.
What happens if you fill out the NDA with the address listed as the local UPS Store, no telephone number, and a an email address that looks suspicious. The Seller or the Broker has no way to know who you really are and are very likely to not provide you with the information. Same for the financial representation. A bunch of zeros or N/A's inserted on your Buyer Profile form doesn't exactly provide comfort to the Seller and again, will likely result in no response from the Seller.
Now, I certainly understand a buyer's reluctance to provide their financial information if the advertisement is vague and has no financial information. I too would be irritated if I saw an ad/posting for a "Service Company" asking $500,000, with no revenues or earnings listed, and no other description. Beside the fact that I would never have inquired about such a vague ad/posting to begin with, I certainly wouldn't want to provide detailed information about myself not knowing even the type of business or if its profitable. But if by the ad you can determine its likely a fit, then it's time to "show your cards."
Buyers, as well as sellers, may not know how many inquires a business broker will get on a given business either from email or phone, and the frustration there is when they call and forget to leave their area code on the phone number or just include the email address. Business inquires come so fast some days that a business broker may not have time to research just who left a message and forgot to leave pertinent information. For a buyer to be taken seriously and have their calls or email returned in a timely matter, or at all for that matter, it's important for buyers to fill out all the information completely on the NDA and when leaving phone messages to speak clearly, name the business they are calling about and give the area code for their phone number. Business brokers do receive calls from other brokers and agents who pose as buyers in hopes of soliciting their listings, and so vague information will look suspicious to some business brokers and calls may go unreturned for that matter.
| Helpful Resources To Assist In Selling And Buying California Businesses |
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Willard Michlin, CPA, Certified Fraud Examiner, Due Diligence Services Willard Michlin, CPA #106752, offers buyers step by step training & assistance in doing Due Diligence Services when they are thinking of making an offer, or are in process of investigating a business purchase. He helps to determine the actual net profit even when there is cash. Call 805-428-2063. |
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Jordan Green, JRG Communications - Marketing Services For Brokers, Agents JRG Communications is a marketing communications company assisting business brokers & agents. Services include: social media management, custom website creation & design, content creation services, optimizing and posting listings on business-for-sale websites, custom articles & blog post creation. |
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Diane Boudreau-Tschetter: Escrow And Bulk Sale Services California Business Escrow, Inc. is a full service independent escrow company serving all of California and has expertise in a wide range of escrows. Our team prides itself on providing an exceptional escrow experience. For more info phone Diane Boudreau-Tschetter at 888-383-3331 or 209-838-1100. |
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Mark Chatow, Esq.: Legal Services For Buying, Selling Businesses Mark has a broad range of small business purchase & sale experience from analyzing potential acquisition targets to successfully guiding buyers and sellers through the purchase & sale of small businesses. Mark can assist with contracts, negotiations, legal matters, etc. Reach Mark at 949-478-8393. |
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Peter Siegel, MBA - SBA Loans, Non SBA Financing Assistance For over 25 years I have provided niche business purchase financial advisory and loan placement services with SBA and Non-SBA Loans, Retirement Plan Conversions, Private Investors, etc. Financing amounts available: $20K to $7MM. Call today to get pre-qualified or receive financing: 866-270-6278. |
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Ken Oppeltz, Business Broker, San Diego County We have been San Diegos premier business broker and merger and acquisition specialist since 1989. Staffed with some of the best-qualified and most experienced business brokers in the industry, our professionals have all earned or are candidates for the Certified Business Intermediary (CBI). |
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Brad Steinberg, Broker - Laundromat Specialists Laundry specialists - founded in 1968 by three laundry professionals, PWS is a family-owned corporation. Through the years it has grown to become the largest vended laundry equipment distributor in the United States. Call Brad Steinberg at 323-721-8832 to sell or buy a coin or card laundromat. |
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Michael Davidson, Business Broker - Southern California Los Angeles Business Broker providing M&A quality services for Small Business Owners. We leverage our technology and expertise to Simplify & Expedite the Business Sales Process. Matching the right buyer with the right business is how we define success. |
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