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Low Profit Is Not Necessarily A Barrier To High Price When Selling A Business It’s important to get the sale rightFor most business owners, selling their business is a once in a lifetime event. It’s also often the culmination of decades of hard graft so it’s important to get it right.When building a business, owners […]
Continue readingHow To Choose The Right ‘Broker’ (intermediary) To Sell A Mid-Market Business How to choose the right intermediary to sell your business from the circa 1,000 firms in the UK who sell businesses? One needs to do better than simply finding “a good ‘un” in order to get the best price.Even among the better firms, […]
Continue readingWhere to discuss M&A and get advice – online communities Whether you’re a buyer looking to discuss deal sourcing, brokers, financing of deals or other buyer related questions….Or you’re a seller looking to talk valuation, how to sell, how to negotiate ….There are online communities where you can meet like minded people, often those who’ve […]
Continue reading10 Ways Business Buyers Cheat SellersIf this is the first time you’re selling a business, you can’t afford to miss this page on how buyers cheat sellers. There are genuine and honest buyers out there, but there are a lot of the other kind as well – crafty, conniving and highly deceptive ones! This page […]
Continue readingAcquirers: How To Get A Response From Business Brokers And Use Them To Your Advantage Acquirers: How To Get A Response From Business Brokers & Use Them To Your Advantage Business brokers are not responding to queries? Unfortunately, it’s you, not them! In this article, we cover why they don’t respond and what buyers / acquirers […]
Continue readingThe Best Way To Sell A Larger Business, A Corporate Entity, An Enterprise, A Mid-Market Business The World’s Most Comprehensive Guide To Selling Corporate Businesses For the mid-sized business with turnover of £5m and above, selling the business is a very, very different affair to selling a small business like a corner shop or cafe. […]
Continue readingThe Business Broker 10 Facts Every Business Owner Must Know Before Engaging Business Brokers Selling a business is a significant event, whether using a business broker or not. If using a broker, getting the business broker choice wrong, as many business owners do, can be an expensive mistake. Background: We manage the UK’s […]
Continue readingHow to combat the sneaky tricks used by dodgy buyers / investors
Continue readingBUSINESS ACQUISITION FOR SUCKERS Warning: When it comes to teaching people how to buy a business, there are a lot of highly suspect courses, books, webinars, seminars and videos around! Do not spend money on any of them till you’ve read our reviews below. THE RECOMMENDED COURSES After decades of reading acquisition material pumped out […]
Continue readingSome background checks on companies & individuals who claim to be “investors” buying businesses. If you’ve been approached by investors who want to buy your business, you cannot afford to ignore this page. Beware! The person who approached you to buy your business is possibly a £1 Charlie ie. someone who looks and plays the […]
Continue readingLoan Book Valuation: Getting the Best Price For Your Debt Selling a business usually involves selling the business assets as well as liabilities. The new owner takes ownership of the debt book – the accounts receivable, the debtors who owe you money – as that is an asset. He can sell that debt or raise […]
Continue readingTurner Butler: Reviews, Feedback, Complaints, Fees, Testimonials, T&Cs… This article was originally written in 2018.Intro: The company that refers to itself as Turner Butler states this on their website: “Turner Butler has over 30 years experience in selling Businesses”. 30 years. However, the company name they disclose in the footer of their site is Turner […]
Continue readingErnest Wilson: Reviews, Feedback, Complaints, Fees, Testimonials, T&Cs… This article was originally written in 2018. The company that refers to itself as Ernest Wilson and runs from the website ernest-wilson.co.uk is actually two companies – Ernest Wilsons & Co Ltd (company #03071112 ) and Ernest Wilson’s (West Yorkshire) Ltd (company # 08476014). Yes, the website […]
Continue readingHow To Sell A Business As A Bolt-On Short answer: Don’t! Describing a business as “an ideal bolt-on” is an act of severe self-harm! One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is claiming that their business would be good as a bolt-on. I believe vendors should never, ever say refer to their business as […]
Continue readingProfit Boosting: before and after the sale of your business This is a guest post by Dave Simon of Double Your Profits Consultancy Selling A Business Is Different! While owner-managers may be very familiar with selling their products and services, selling the business as a whole is often a first experience. This sale may result […]
Continue readingFinding the ‘right’ business broker to sell a business is almost impossible* *Unless you talk to us As below, there are over 100 brokers in the UK just under the letter “C”! Which of the 1000+ brokers can find you the right buyer, in the right time frame & get the best price? It’s not […]
Continue readingHow Do You Choose A Business Broker Based On Their Success Rate With Selling Businesses Like Yours? When choosing a business broker to sell a business, it makes sense to choose one with a higher success rate rather than one with a lower success rate, right? No, it’s not! But why choose a broker who […]
Continue readingGot A Business Valuation? Throw It Away. You Can Sell For A Lot More Than That Valuation! Had a professional valuation done for your business? Ignore it. Here’s how you can get the maximum price for your business … and it could be a lot higher than the valuation. Introduction Whatever the formal valuation*, it […]
Continue readingNational Business Sales: Reviews, Feedback, Complaints, Fees, Testimonials, T&Cs… This article was written in 2019. The company that refers to itself as National Business Sales is actually National Business Sales Ltd. On first appearance it seems this company was registered in 2000 and has been operating as a business broker since then. But a closer […]
Continue readingMastering The Ad Copy That Will Sell Your Business Tip: This article contains the best ad copy writing tips that’ll get your business-for-sale advert maximum visibility and compel buyers & investors to respond. Part I: The bad examples or what not to doPart II: Our top tips to writing a killer advertisement to sell your […]
Continue readingNegotiating Price & Terms When Selling A Business or Merging / Acquiring One: A Case Study Business owners often underestimate what’s involved in negotiating price (or, more specifically, ‘deal terms’). Many think it’s just about finding a price that works for both parties. Or worse – they think the negotiator is going in there to […]
Continue readingFAQs: Real Life Questions (And Answers) On Selling Businesses Practical Questions From Small Business Owners (and the answers) – FAQs On Selling Businesses The below are FAQs received from business owners in relation to selling businesses, and the answers provided. Note that no confidential information is disclosed below and numbers and names have been modified […]
Continue readingSector Specialist Or A Generalist Business Broker To Sell A Business? What is sector specialisation? Pros and cons of using a sector specialist broker to sell your businessShould you use a sector specialist?Dealing with generalist (sector agnostic) brokers who say sector specialisation is irrelevantHow to find a sector specialist? What is sector specialisation? There are […]
Continue readingWhy Selling A Small Business Is So Difficult: The “Small” Is The Problem Summary: A business needs to be a certain size before it makes sense to try selling it. It needs to be generating a decent sized net profit of at least several tens of thousands of pounds (after paying the owner a fair […]
Continue readingBlacks Business Brokers: Reviews, Feedback, Complaints, Fees, Testimonials, T&Cs… This article was written in 2018 but there are updates in red made in November 2025 The company that refers to itself as Black Business Brokers is actually Blacks Business Brokers Ltd. Director names associated with the company over the years include Joanne Booth, Christopher Kenneth […]
Continue readingRTA Business Sales: Reviews, Feedback, Complaints, Fees, Testimonials, T&Cs… This article was written in 2018. The official name for RTA Business Sales is R.T.A Business Consultants Ltd (company number 01066879). They are one of the oldest business brokers in the UK, registered in 1972, and were originally called Grahams of Manchester Ltd (up to 1978). […]
Continue readingIntelligent Business Transfer (Intelligent Business Partners): Reviews, Feedback, Complaints, Testimonials, Fees, T&Cs… OverviewFeesReviewsFinancialsContract TermsMarketingLatest Financials Overview This article was written in 2018. Intelligent Business Transfer (IBT) is a Leeds based business transfer agent. This review was written in January 2018. Some of the information below may be out of date. You should always seek the […]
Continue readingThe Realities About Selling Businesses That They Don’t Tell You The realities of selling a business are different to what most small business owners expect. Selling a small business is a lot more difficult than commonly believed. Business brokers (and business-for-sale listing platforms) give the impression that selling is a breeze. Brokers often make out […]
Continue readingHow Best To Respond To An Offer To Buy Your Business? I Had An Offer To Buy My Business: How To Respond, Mistakes To Avoid An offer to buy your business could be very exciting, and is your chance to cash out. This article covers how best to protect your position. If you’re looking for […]
Continue readingAll You Need To Know About Buying A Newsagent, Post Office, Corner Shop Or Convenience Store This is in response to a client of mine who was considering packing in the day job in the city and moving to the country to buy a newsagent type business. I document below the discussion and advice I […]
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