Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory

A Neumann & Associates, LLC

June 8, 2022

Motivated Business Sellers

By Achim Neumann

Quite often, motivated investors seeking to buy a business approach our firm directly. This request can take different forms. Investors might respond to a particular business we have advertised for sale (naturally without our firm disclosing the name or location of the company for sale). Another instance an investor might reach out is the desire for an investment in a specific geographical location or market segment/niche for acquisition – and hire us under our Preferred Investor Program (PIP).

“Over the years we have seen many different buy-side inquiries, “ says Achim Neumann, President of A Neumann & Associates, a leading Mergers & Acquisitions and business brokerage advisory firm, headquartered in New Jersey, “however, the number of such inquiries by and large depends on changing macro-economic factors such as available equity funds, favorable lending and good taxation. At this point, buyer inquiries out-number seller offerings by a ratio of 5 to 1 – with buyer inquiries having tripled in the past three months.”

So where are the motivated sellers in this market to satisfy this buyer demand?

One of the key constraints in the market is that sellers have been very busy with keeping their companies afloat during the challenges of the Covid pandemic over the past two years.

Naturally, there were demands to ensure liquidity for their companies when sales dropped significantly, but then there are also structural challenges. For example, many companies have experienced significant shifts in their customer behavior; whereas the best example applies to retail where consumers started to shift from brick & mortar visits to online purchases. Another example is the hospitality industry undergoing tremendous challenges with consumers staying home.

Changes were not just limited to shifts in customer behavior alone: employees, too, stayed at home, demanding tremendous changes in the communications structure of companies and giving rise to the popularity of video conferencing platforms like Zoom or Teams.

Not surprisingly, many business owners had to address the day-to-day challenges first – some of which are here to stay – before allocating time to selling their businesses.

It typically takes one year, beginning to end, to sell a business. Detailed preparation is a “must” which includes things like a business valuation, development of marketing materials for investors and the execution of a well-defined marketing campaign. Despite our firm making this one of the easiest processes in the industry, it takes some time on the seller’s part, nevertheless.

Once a marketing campaign has been launched and investors are being approached, then such investors are introduced to a seller, after they had previously reviewed the company’s prospectus. Again such introductions typically take an hour, even though our firm is in the fortunate position to often limit such introductions to 3 or 5 investors before a deal is struck.

Finally, the due diligence will require the seller to extract certain materials and documentations from his operations for the buyer to verify what was previously presented.

The good news is that our firm has streamlined the entire process over the past twenty years in order to minimize the time requirements imposed on business sellers.

As time progresses and business owners have increasingly moved their companies back onto strong footing, more business sellers have the time to focus on a sale and will enter the market, increasing the competition for viable investors. Accordingly, we now see the pendulum slowly swinging back to a more balanced ratio of investor inquiries to available businesses for sale.

Motivated business sellers, however, should not wait too long to entertain the idea of retirement. At this time, it is still an excellent market to sell a business, nobody knows what it will be in 6 to 12 months from now, in particular, if the often-discussed recession does indeed strike. This might be one of these times, where good timing is everything!

About A Neumann & Associates, LLC

A Neumann & Associates, LLC is a professional mergers & acquisitions and business brokerage firm having assisted business owners and buyers in the business valuation and business transfer process through its affiliations for the past 30 years. With an A+ Better Business Bureau rating, the company has senior trusted professionals with a deep knowledge based in multiple field offices along the East Coast and has performed hundreds of business valuations in its history. The firm’s competitive transaction fees are based on successfully completing transactions. For more information, please contact A Neumann & Associates at 732-872-6777 or info@neumannassociates.com

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Client Testimonials

“Your vetting is simply outstanding, among the best I've seen from a broker.”

Eric H., Investor

“I recently contacted A. Neumann and Associates about getting a valuation of my business done. I spoke with Marc, who explained the process in detail. After meeting with Marc in order to get a clear understanding of my business, and what I was hoping to accomplish. His patience in answering all my questions and his knowledge of the proper way to market my business gave me great confidence that this is the firm I will be using to sell my business for max value. Working with Marc at A Neumann & Associates was very easy and professional. I did not know all that was going to be involved in selling my business but they helped me through the process. What I thought was going to be a just another one of those pushy sales companies was just the opposite. Polite, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to talk to and deal with. I highly recommend this firm to anybody who wants to sell now or down the road. Marc not only knows his stuff, but actually is a real nice guy.”

Double Diamond

“Used A Neumann & Associates to sale my business. could not imagine having done it with out the patience and experience Gary provided. Thanks Gary,”

Dennis Frazier

“Working with Marc and his company was a pleasure. What I thought was going to be a just another one of those pushy sales companies was just the opposite. Polite, knowledgeable, and a pleasure to talk to and deal with. Marc handled most of the interaction and he has one of the greatest demeanors. Again, it was a pleasure working with him and his firm.”

Douglas DiCeglio

“I recently completed an acquisition using A Neumann & Associates. Tony Valentino was very helpful and accessible during the entire process. They do a thorough job vetting both parties and got us to the finish line.”

Srini Mudambi

“Claus out of Florida helped us with the sale of our business. We had never done anything like this and him and his team walked us through the process from start to finish. We had some challenges through the process and Claus continued to show up even in the difficult conversations.”

Colby Harris, Co-Owner, Del Mar Designs

“Claus Madsen thoroughly helped us with selling our company. From the 1st introductory meeting explaining to us what was possible, to providing us with resources to assist with the sale. Claus was invaluable throughout the whole sales process. Claus was with us every step of the journey and always made himself available for any questions or issues that came up along the way. If you are interested in selling your business, I encourage you to reach out to Claus and the ANA team so that they can let you know what’s achievable. These guys will make it happen!”

Ron Harris, Co-Owner and Vice President, Del Mar Designs

“A Neumann & Associates is the only business broker I would use or consult with. They have assisted with 3 business sales over the past 15 years with me. They are honest and sincere and have always performed better than my expectations. They are the only one i would use for the sales of my businesses.”

James Belanger, Business Owner

“I wanted to take a second to commend the exemplary customer service from both you [Karin Neumann] and Mr. Valentino. It’s both a rarity in the industry, and very much appreciated.”

Andrew G., Investor

“We worked with Neumann & Associates to investigate the purchase of a research company in 2010 and found Achim to be capable, forthright and realistic. His depth of experience enabled us to fully understand our options, offering creative options that might enable the acquisition. While we didn’t acquire that particular company at that time, we know exactly who to call whenever we’re looking to buy or sell a business.”

Daniel Coates, Buyer
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Contact A Neumann & Associates, LLC

If you are considering selling your business, please contact us to learn more about our comprehensive service spectrum. Our experienced professionals will answer all your questions about selling a privately held business in complete confidentiality. Please fill out our contact form, or call us at 732-872-6777. We will contact you directly and will never identify ourselves to your employees.

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