Selling your business, whether it is a business with $75,000 in sales or a company with over $75,000,000 is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. It is important to choose the best representation available.

David Keith and Associates is highly skilled at marketing companies of all sizes. Marketing companies CONFIDENTIALITY is something we take very seriously.

We have over 1100 affiliates nationwide for small to midsize companies and a large network of high-net individuals, investment groups and public companies for mid to large size companies registered with us at any given time.

We can recommend a sale structure to fit your objectives. Using the skilled staff at David Keith and Associates can help you avoid many problems we see every day when a business is sold to the wrong person, group, or, the structure of the sale is wrong.

For mid to large size companies, if you are not interested in selling for a few years now may be the time to get together. Many times for such companies an exit strategy makes sense. Such an exit could be from 6 months to 5 years.

Unlike typical business intermediaries, we work as a team with you. Our staff has a wide variety of talents and relationships you will not find in any other business brokerage or mergers & acquisitions firm in the country.

For a free confidential consultation give us a call.

How is the value of my business determined?

There are hundreds of formulas out there to price a business. From accountants to attorneys to articles in magazines we see such a wide variety of conflicting ways to value a business that it can be very frustrating to a seller. More importantly, many times such information can hurt a seller's chances in finding a good purchaser and can cause problems down the road because of the wrong sale structure.

For as sincere and capable these "expert sources" seem to be, they do not deal in an area where they see large numbers of businesses sales or have access to market values of businesses on a daily basis. Many formulas they use are for different purposes such as estate planning or comes from an article they have read somewhere. Such formulas and price recommendations usually have nothing to do with what price or structure a business should sell for in the market place.

There are many variables that go into pricing a particular company. Those variables are different depending on the structure and nature of the company.

We will tell you what market value for your company is based on what similar businesses have sold for. We then will make expert recommendations on what we believe we could realistically get you for your business. Ultimately, market value for your business will be the price and structure you are willing to accept and the price and structure a purchaser is willing to pay. It is important in working with potential purchasers to recommend a structure that makes sense for the opportunity presented.

How long will it take to sell my business?

There are average times of sale information we can provide to you during our free consultation. Our employment contracts are set up for a term that takes into consideration the average time of sale of businesses like yours in the market place and helps us to commit our efforts and resources fully for your success.

How much does it cost to sell my business?

We charge fees and/or commissions that are customary in the industry. The fees paid more than make up for the benefits you will receive financially and the problems that can be avoided by structuring the sale correctly with the right purchaser.

Since our fees and/or commissions vary depending on your particular needs and situation, we can answer these questions during our no cost, no obligation interview.

Why don't I just sell it on my own, or, to one of my employees?

We see many companies where the seller has sold their business on their own without the help of an intermediary. The highest number of problems and lawsuits we see after a sale result from sellers not using a good intermediary for the transaction.

Not only do we see legal problems that usually result from not having a third party negotiator to help with deal structure and recommend proven solutions for problems we have dealt with hundreds of times, but often the purchaser is all wrong for the business.

We also usually see less money going to the seller when the dust settles as a result of negotiating the deal on his or her own.

Marketing for the right purchaser is a full time effort. You have a full-time job already. And, the structure and solutions to problems are important to resolve through an experienced third party negotiator. Our staff has been successful in negotiating the sale of hundreds of business transactions.

Why is confidentiality so important in marketing my business for sale?

We never recommend telling your employees that you are considering selling unless, like in some midsize to large companies, it is necessary to involve the controller or other key personnel. The risk of telling employees is that they can get nervous and look for other jobs or spread rumors about the sale that can harm your business and ability to find a good purchaser.

Go to a real estate agent and let them put a sign up in front of your business "business for sale" and let them market to everyone without confidentiality as they are trained to do and see what happens to your customer base.

Even having potential purchasers sign a confidentiality agreement yourself doesn't have the same weight as a third party will have with them. Confidentially marketing your business for sale is our number one recommendation.