Planning and preparing for the sale of their company is the most important and valuable step an owner can take. Unfortunately, most owners never take this step. From the owner's side, the decision to sell is almost always event driven. The owner may have decided its time to retire; or the owner may have simply reached burn-out. From the market's side, the overwhelming majority of seller representation firms that advise and represent sellers are motivated to sell the company right away. They get paid when the company sells. Any delay in the sale simply delays their getting paid. Further, their analysis is that any marginal incremental value realized by taking the time to improve a company is not worth the associated delay in getting paid. Therefore, the event driven decision of the seller combined with the quick profit motivations of their advisors produce a sub-optimal outcome for the owner.

At Axxien we take a decidedly different approach to Seller Representation. Our strong preference is that our clients postpone the sale of their company until they are ready. In fact, nearly all of our Seller Representation clients began as clients within our Exit Strategy Planning practice. Exit Strategy Planning is a comprehensive six-step process that we take our clients through. Once completed, our clients are placed on a program that will lead them to a successful sale. Of course, each company is different, and therefore each program is different. In all cases, however, these client companies will have a dramatically better chance of securing superior results upon sale, including a higher selling price and more favorable deal terms.

Each step is briefly described below.

1. Understand client objectives associated with the sale. The client's objectives shape the entire engagement.
2. Undertake a comprehensive review of the client's financial statements; determine if the financial statements conform to industry standards; flag and clarify unusual patterns or items; identify all non-recurring and one time items; and recast the income statement to reflect all seller financial benefits.
3. Identify client's relative position to industry benchmarks, and to recently sold comparable companies (if available). Relative performance to benchmarks will influence whether or not a client's company obtains a premium valuation.
4. Prepare a professional Summary Business Description. This report introduces the seller's company to qualified buyers. The Summary Business Description covers all aspects of the company, from sales to distribution and from management to the financial statements. Even if the client is not ready to sell, the creation of this document often provokes increased business discipline and focus within a client's company. And, of course, when the client is ready to sell, the process is streamlined by the fact that the Summary Business Description only has to be updated.
5. Render a business valuation opinion to establish reasonable value expectations on the part of the seller.
6. Completion of the Value Improvement Checklist (VIC). This important document completes the Exit Strategy Planning engagement and establishes specific company goals and objectives for increasing the value of the client's company over its planning time frame.

The fees associated with this engagement, along with any successive annual checkups, are all creditable against our firm's success fee that is earned upon the successful sale of a client's company. This approach cements our mutual commitment to each other as we work together to maximize and realize the full potential value of the client's company.

If you are thinking about selling your company, or even if you are not, we would like to meet with you so that we can begin planning for your inevitable exit. Planning and preparation are the keys to a successful sale.

Call us now at (303) 645-5550

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