Category: Negotiating & Structuring The Deal

Earnouts can be a very effective condition to an offer when buying a business however, they don’t apply to every business for sale. So what exactly are earnouts and when should they be used? An earnout is when a percentage…

It's important to gauge the type of mentality a seller has about negotiating before you start the actual negotiations when buying a business for sale. Similarly, a buyer has to understand their own general strategy regarding negotiations. For a seller,…

Keeping the seller onboard for a reasonable and effective transition period can be the difference between success and failure for a business buyer to be certain the business gets off to a smooth start under their ownership. There are of…

When negotiating the purchase price of a business, a buyer would be well advised to avoid getting into the specific deal terms too early in the negotiations. The reason being is that a buyer needs to get the seller fully…

A common challenge for prospective business buyers is coming up with enough capital to purchase a business. This can be an issue related to either the down payment or total purchase price, or perhaps both. One of the most important…

This is an important lesson in negotiating you have to keep in mind while buying a business. Let me give you an example of what happened to me recently in a very similar situation and I will explain how you…

When the time comes to making a formal offer on a business, you will do so via a Letter of Intent (LOI) or a formal Offer to Purchase Agreement (PA). The one you will use depends upon several factors including…

The reason I wrote "when a problem comes up" in the title is because I guarantee that it / they will surface. In fact, prepare for plenty of them when buying a business because that's just part of the process.…

I have always been amazed by the length of time many large business sales take to complete – it's common for them to takes several months to close after the parties have reached a deal. Obviously, there can be a…

If there's one thing that prospective buyers have to realize is that part of the process is to make offers, make offers, make offers. Obviously, one should not be reckless or ridiculous about them, but you have to get over…