Too much time to close a deal?

The one question sellers consistently raise is how long will it take to close a deal once a business valuation has been completed and there is an agreed upon offer in place?

As the leading business broker in NJ, we typically rephrase the question; will there be “buyer’s remorse” and is the business buyer truly entrepreneurial enough to absorb the challenges and risks in a business – with the first ones typically facing her/him during the due diligence process.

More often than not, entrepreneurial skills are presumed to be ingrained with such business owner attitudes like ‘focused, visionary, and risk assuming’ – to mention a few. But such traits also apply to Fortune 500 executives or successful professionals. So where is the difference?

In general, buying a small or mid-sized business for sale will result in acquiring limited resources, specifically, as it relates to capital and human resources or talent. It’s the task of the entrepreneur to expand these resources by attracting suitable and skilled talent to gain a competitive advantage in his field. By gaining such an advantage, the business owner will ultimately in a position to succeed and consistently grow the business.

But can only the “born entrepreneur” succeed in this venture? Absolutely not, as long-time NJ business brokers we’ve learned that excellent analytical skills, good ‘people skills’, and a good, solid understanding of the business’ service and products– will easily out-weight other factors.

This then leads us back to the question, how long of does it take to conduct a proper business valuation and close a deal, and will there be buyer’s remorse? As a rule of thumb, if the buyer had successfully operated a business in the past, she/he is much more likely to overcome hurdles in the due diligence process by looking at the “big picture”.

However, if the buyer recently left a large corporate environment – with all the benefits and securities of a large corporation – or if the buyer was not successful in his previous venture(s)– then the likelihood that challenges in the due diligence process will trip her/him up are significantly larger.

By Achim Neumann

President

A Neumann & Associates, LLC

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Edited by Repaz Marketing