180 days
736
18
8
$500,000 - $1,000,000
The vendor had brought this business back to life when he took control over 8 years ago.
After eight fruitful years, it was becoming evident that it was time to retire and enjoy the fruits of the sale.
Although the business had plenty of potential to grow further, each growth stage of a business takes a lot of time and energy, and there’s no guarantee it will be successful.
This classic risk vs reward conundrum allowed the owner to realise it was now an excellent time to put the business on the market. But this led to the problem of how? This was my process…
After meeting with the vendor, I determined he was honest, open and a genuine seller. We discussed my process and how I would package Seatech Marine into a saleable asset and facilitate a sale, transferring the business’s goodwill into cash for maximum value and in good time.
To do this, I thoroughly analysed the business, its earnings and expenses, and the market and predicted what a buyer would look like. After delivering my findings through a Business Sale Report, the vendor was happy with my analysis and accepted my recommendations, including list price, price range, estimate time and associated fees.
From there, I delivered a comprehensive commitment to sell Seatech Marine Services that included:
- Creating a detailed information memorandum
- Drafting specialised SEO ad copy so the business listing could be easily found
- Listing the business across 5 different platforms
- Promoted via social media
- Promoted to Benchmark's registered buyer database (over 60,000 at the time of this post!)
- EDM campaign to industry-specific databases
- EDM campaign to my own marine network that I have built over the years
- After 2 months, I duplicated the listing with a higher price that included SAV, making it a WIWO purchase price that captured the next tier of search price, doubling the enquiry rate.
The listing attracted over 700 views, with 25 inquiries made and 18 confidentiality agreements signed. A potential buyer who’s signed a C.A. has already gone through 2 stages of vetting, meaning I put a premium on protecting my client’s business.
I talked at length with prospective buyers, discussing the business in-depth and keeping my finger on the market pulse of what buyers were willing to accept as this was constantly changing throughout the Covid19 environment.
Through dialogue, I negotiated the price up 32% from the successful buyer’s original offer. This resulted in an excellent outcome for both buyer and seller, primarily through the challenges of how banks and the market were viewing government stimulus payments.
The vendor has excellent handover terms, and I don’t believe I could have found a more suited new owner than Nic. Nic has the skills, motivation and industry knowledge to take Seatech Marine to the next level and beyond, and I am excited to stay in touch and watch that space.
The business has an extremely bright future, and both buyer and seller couldn’t be happier.