Frequently asked questions

Ultimately the simple answer is the maximum amount a committed buyer will offer.

However, it is important before seeking a buyer to have calculated a realistic valuation that has taken into consideration all the key features of your business, accounting for its strengths and minimising any weaknesses.

Using recognised methods and being able to fully support the basis of any projections upon which the valuation depends demonstrates to buyers that the price you are seeking is realistic.

Remember, as with all sales transactions, the price is an ‘offer to treat’, starting at too high a price could result in having no buyers to ‘treat with’.

Our aim would be to get the best value for your business.

Click here for further information on valuations.   

You see in the news that some organisations are sold very quickly, say within a month; this is generally in the case that the target business is either in administration or very close to that. In those cases finding a buyer who is willing to rescue the business is more important than extracting full value.

The period of time that a planned and considered sale should take from preparation to completion can generally be between six and twelve months. To embark on the process seeking to achieve full value within a very short timeframe can only result in frustration and possibly losing the ‘right’ buyer.

Between the decision to begin selling a business and completing the sale there are a number of phases that have to be worked through. Keeping the deal as simple as possible is a good idea as the more complicated the deal the longer the entire process will take as well as possibly jeopardising achieving a sale.

 Click here for further information on the sales process.

The obvious answer is when your business has an established record of growth, achieves a high level of profitability compared to your industry sector and has a sound financial basis.

However, just sitting there waiting for it to happen before leaping to sell your business is not a course of action to be recommended.

Forward planning and the development of an exit strategy would enable you to identify the best probable timing for the sale of your business taking regard of advice on personal circumstances both now and that which can be projected.

Trade Transfer can assist you in the development of an exit strategy through an evaluation of your business and provide guidance on matters that would need attention prior to a sale.

Click here to email us if you would like to find out more how Trade Transfer can be of service to you, or complete the Contact form from the links to the right.

From our experience many owners of SMEs do not often change their accountants, in fact in a large proportion of cases the services of the same accountant has been retained from the start of the business.

Before marketing the business your accountant, based upon the knowledge gained over the years of your tax affairs and that of the business, will be able to advise you as to features of an offer that should be avoided. Receiving this advice prior to marketing the business will enable Trade Transfer to indicate to potential buyers the structure of an offer you would favour, or alternatively would wish to avoid.

When you begin receiving offers from potential buyers, you accountant can evaluate the impact of each on your circumstances, and advise on possible amendments to the structure/detail of the offer.

Your accountant should also be prepared for any potential buyer requesting an inspection of the audit files.

Trade Transfer will not attempt to supplant the relationship that you have established over the years, but would work in collaboration to ensure that you make decisions based on the best possible advice.

From our experience, the single largest mistake made by many owners of SMEs is to engage the solicitor that handles their personal affairs but unfortunately often has limited or no experience of commercial law. Engaging such a solicitor will put you at a disadvantage. Large organisations often have a specific solicitor within a practice that specialises in the purchase of businesses, together with a standard contract that they amend for each transaction. Within these contracts lie pitfalls and traps for the unwary and ill-advised.

Trade Transfer, will if required, assist you in appointing an experienced solicitor. The value of such an advisor is not simply to review and negotiate changes to the original contract but to be by your side at the Completion Meeting if final amendments are being made to the contract.  Without proper representation you risk making ill-advised concessions.

Using a business transfer agent or broker such as Trade Transfer has three primary advantages:

1. You benefit from our experience of the process
2. It enables you to concentrate on running your business, keeping your ‘eye on the ball’, thus maintaining the value of the business you are selling.
3. We act as a buffer between you and potential buyers, allowing you time to consider proposals and answer questions after careful consideration free of the pressure to respond immediately.

The value in using a business transfer agent is that the consideration offered for your business is maximised, and the advice and guidance given has been derived from a number of years experience of the process.

The service that Trade Transfer offers is aimed at maximising the value you can receive by ensuring that you are properly prepared, and to avoid the pitfalls we observed during our previous experience of evaluating acquisition targets.

Click here to email us if you would like to find out more how Trade Transfer can be of service to you, or complete the Contact form from the links to the right.

Trade Transfer welcomes contact with all businesses whether they are sole traders, partnership, private or public companies.

Trade Transfer targets its service primarily at SMEs, with a value of approximately £250,000 and upwards, and aims to be recognised as a provider of a tailored professional service rather than a hawker of businesses in the manner of a ‘market trader’.

Trade Transfer does not accept engagements as administrators or liquidation managers, though as part of our business evaluation service we can provide guidance and advice to businesses that have run into temporary difficulties.

Click here to email us if you would like to find out more how Trade Transfer can be of service to you, or complete the Contact form from the links to the right.

Primarily our fees are conditional on achieving a successful sale of your business.

Prior to you engaging Trade Transfer to represent you we would agree in writing the fee structure, which is all inclusive based on a percentage of the sale price; there are no hidden extras.

Some buyers will pay a ‘finder’s fee’, in which case this would be subtracted from the cost to you. This could mean the possibility that you would receive the full service from Trade Transfer Free of Charge. If any buyer was to offer such a fee, you would be informed of this during the discussion of the potential buyers before your first meeting with them.

However, if you have engaged Trade Transfer to perform an evaluation of your business before deciding whether to sell, with or without a valuation the fee structure for this service will again be agreed in writing prior to commencement. If you later engaged Trade Transfer to sell your business, then some or the total fee would be taken as a credit against the agreed fee for achieving a sale. The proportion of credit would be open to negotiation, depending on the period of time between the presentation of the report and your decision to sell.

Click here to email us if you would like to find out more how Trade Transfer can be of service to you, or complete the Contact form from the links to the right.

Initially your time, in addition to meetings with Trade Transfer, would be limited to that required for the provision of information as requested and the review of reports.

The greater demands on your time will come once you have reached an outline agreement called ‘Heads of Terms’ with the preferred potential buyer. You will then have meetings with your accountant and solicitor to consider the terms and implications of the purchase contract, and will be required to be available for questions and the provision of additional information by the buyers staff and/or external advisors who are performing a due diligence exercise.

The above may seem onerous, but is a relatively small amount of time when compared to that spent in producing the documentation to be sent to potential buyers; then searching for, meeting and verifying potential buyers.

This is the reason for engaging a business transfer agent such as Trade Transfer. In addition to benefiting from the agent’s experience you will also be able to concentrate on running your business thereby maintaining the value your agent seeks to maximise.   

Trade Transfer will also aid you in the latter stages by maintaining contacts with your other advisors, the potential buyer, his staff and contractors that are performing the due diligence exercise and informing you of progress and swiftly resolving any issues.

It is not possible to quantify exactly the amount of time you would be required to devote to the process of selling, as this depends primarily on the scale and degree of complexity unique to each sale. However, engaging a broker or agent such as Trade Transfer will enable you to concentrate your attention to the management of your business throughout the sale process.

Click here to email us if you would like to find out more how Trade Transfer can be of service to you, or complete the Contact form from the links to the right.

Following your initial contact with Trade Transfer, you will be requested to send us a copy of your latest audited accounts, any management information on your current financial year and any business plans you may have. Further information may be requested, depending upon the nature of your business and any possible complexity highlighted by information initially provided.

After the first meeting, if you decide to engage Trade Transfer to perform an evaluation report whether or not you decide to embark on a sale, a full review of your records will be required.

Click here for an indication of the nature of the records that would be required to be inspected.

Click here to email us if you would like to find out more how Trade Transfer can be of service to you, or complete the Contact form from the links to the right.

Trade Transfer’s first duty is to ensure that no information that would compromise your personal confidentiality or that of your business is released unless expressly authorised by yourself.

The first contact with potential buyers would assess their likely interest in purchasing a business such as yours. The information given to them would previously have been authorised by yourself. Those expressing interest would be screened to ensure that they match the agreed profile.

Any buyers expressing interest and approved by you would be required to sign a confidentiality/non disclosure agreement before receiving the full Memorandum of Sale. Trade Transfer will meet these approved potential buyers to gauge the level of interest and capacity to purchase your business.

At this point, having reviewed the buyers who have expressed interest in continuing the process further, and with your prior approval, Trade Transfer will arrange the first meetings between you and the potential buyers. The time and place of these meetings would be at neutral locations and times convenient to you. This is a ‘getting to know you’ meeting for both sides.

At no time will Trade Transfer discuss or inform any person or organisation of your identity, the identity of your business, the terms of any offer or the identity of the source of any offer unless they have a specific role to perform to market or complete the sale of the business and have been authorised by you.

As Trade Transfer’s motto is ‘With you every step of the way’, we regard each assignment as a partnership with yourself, working towards a common goal.

This partnership can only achieve the shared goal on the basis that no information is hidden from either party.

Apart from those instances when time is of the essence when you will be contacted immediately, generally you will receive an detailed update periodically as agreed in the terms of engagement.

Having been engaged to find your buyer, we embark on a wide-ranging exercise of research  to determine those that would be the best match to achieve the agreed goals of our client.

Our aim is to promote your best interest by finding the buyer that matches the criteria agreed, and has the capability to progress in a timely and professional manner to a successful result.

The exact method and research process will never be the same for each assignment. The type of business, nature of its trade, the buyer profile you have specified and structure of the deal sought, will influence the search.

Trade Transfer acts as an agent on the behalf of business owners such as yourself. Our primary duty is to you and the protection and enhancement of your interests.

In general any advice provided by Trade Transfer will be made in order to assist with achieving the goals shared with you our client. You will be informed of the nature, detail and identity of the recipient of any such guidance or advice given.

At no time will Trade Transfer provide any information to a third party without your express authority.