Think Win / Win when buying or selling a business

Last week we finalised the sale of a small chemical manufacturing business - the buying and selling of a business can be a complex exercise that can take months to conclude. With this business though, it was a real pleasure dealing with the seller and buyer and the deal was signed (from start to finish) within 3 months of commencing discussions.

I firmly believe that the main reasons for finalising this deal in a relatively short period of time were :

• The seller was serious about selling and had a good reason to sell
• The buyer was clear about the type of business he wanted to own and was prepared to invest his own money in the business ie. he was not totally reliant on raising debt for the business purchase
• Both parties were accommodating
• The seller was prepared to provide any information about the business to the buyer during the initial discussions
• The asking price was fair
• The seller was prepared to make himself available to the buyer for a period of at least 6 months after the effective date to provide any input / advice

Thinking win / win as a seller or buyer of a business goes a long way in ensuring that an acceptable deal is concluded within a relatively short period of time.