The following is a review of our Sales Process and how we approach the sale of your Childcare Center…
Our initial meeting is an opportunity for us to get to know each other and see if we would work well together. We understand that selling your business is a major decision and that confidentiality is critical. We will provide you with a Broker’s Confidentiality Agreement.
We want to learn about your business and why you are interested in selling, and you need to learn about us. Our comfort level with each other will be the basis for going forward and developing a good working relationship.
If there is a sense that we would work well together, we would like to have a short tour of your school to get a sense of how you operate. Next, together we would review the financials of your center to get a sense of your profitability.
If we are comfortable with each other, we can move forward to the next stage of our business relationship.
The following is an outline of our Sales Process.
- Gather Information.With your help, we collect, record and analyze all the pertinent information about your school. It is critical that you understand that selling your business requires a lot of input from you. We need to know and understand your business, and we depend on you to provide the information. We will need at least 3 years of financial information including your P&L’s or Income Statements, Balance Sheets, and Corporate Tax returns. Some other things that we will need include: information on your history, your enrollment, your employees, the assets included in the sale, your real estate, your competition and the reason you are selling your business. We put it all together but only you can provide the company information.
- Financial Review. We will recast the Financials from your company and adjust for the fair market value of your business assets and to identify all owner benefits and unnecessary business expenses. This will give us a clear picture of the true cash flow of your business. This is a critical step that is required to be able to validate the highest possible price for your business.
- Market Valuation Analysis. Based on the review of your financials and assets that will be included in the sale, we will provide an analysis and an opinion of the Range of Value that a qualified buyer would likely be willing to pay for your school. This will be an honest opinion based on years of experience selling Childcare Centers.
- Agreement to sell your business. Based on the Range of Value that we determine, we will agree on the specifics of price, terms and conditions that are appropriate for the sale of your company, and we will complete a formal Listing Agreement for Childcare Advisory (Atlanta Advisory LLC) to sell your business.
- Professional Documentation. We will prepare a comprehensive Confidential Memorandum to enhance the presentation of your business to potential buyers. This document will be the compilation of all the information that we have collected about your company, and will be the starting point for working with potential qualified buyers. It will include an overview of your financials and cash flow analysis so we can support the validity of the asking price with a realistic review of the numbers.
- Generic Profile. We will create a generic Business Profile for your Childcare Center as the basis of confidentially promoting your company . All marketing and promotion activities are conducted in a manner that protects your company’s identity but generates interest in your opportunity.
- Marketing and Promotion. Childcare Advisory has amassed a large data-base of qualified buyers actively looking to buy Childcare Centers. Many of our buyers are already in the childcare business and want to grow by buying additional schools. Others are first time buyers looking to get into Childcare.We also do targeted e-mail marketing through our professional Childcare affiliations. We will generically list your company on a variety of professional web based “business for sale” sites including: International Business Brokers Association, Merger Network, Brokers Network Group, M&A Source, Biz Quest and BizBuySell. We will also pursue other marketing efforts and will work with you to determine additional activities that will enhance the sale of your business.
- Business, Marketing and Sales Advice. After a careful review of your business and in conjunction with your expertise, we will determine the things that would be prudent for you to do or change to prepare your business for sale and increase the price a buyer would likely pay. We will determine the areas that may mean new opportunity for a buyer or ways that a new buyer may change, grow or expand your business. We will help you identify and address issues related to your employee/management structure, business assets, pending litigation, environmental concerns and the physical appearance of your school that can have an impact on the value and sale of your business. We will also discuss such things as deal structure, terms and conditions, owner financing, non-compete agreements and training/transition after the sale. These things will have an enormous impact on the success that you will have in selling your business. You need to focus on running your business as profitably as possible, while we focus on selling it.
- Qualify Potential Buyers. We will identify interested buyers and determine their qualifications to pursue your business opportunity. We will have them complete a Buyers Profile and provide a confidential Financial Statement. If a potential buyer is qualified, we will have them sign our Buyers Confidentiality Agreement before we will provide any specific information for them to review regarding your business.
- Bring Sellers and Buyers Together. We will review your school with interested and qualified buyers and answer all relevant questions. In most cases a serious and qualified buyer will have a confidential “Parent Tour” of your school to determine ongoing interest. If after the Parent Tour, there is a potential good fit, we will discuss the interested buyer with you and arrange for the buyer to meet with you and have an in-depth tour of your business and discuss your opportunity. This is your chance to present your business and discuss its potential with a qualified buyer.
- Getting an Offer. If all goes well and you are comfortable with the buyer and the buyer is interested in your business we will encourage them to submit a Letter of Intent or Offer to Purchase for your Center. We will provide information and work with potential buyers on how to make a serious offer. Once received we will discuss and determine how you want to respond.
- Acceptance of an Offer. You will either accept, reject or counter any offers that you receive. We will help you review and negotiate any offers and assist you in preparing counter offers until a deal is acceptable. Once you and the buyer have agreed to the terms and conditions of the sale, you will formally accept the offer.
- Due-Diligence. As part of the offer, the buyer will be given a scheduled “due-diligence” time to further examine your company with access to all business and financial information. This is the buyers’ opportunity to confirm that all information regarding your business is accurate. During this time, a closing datefor the sale and transfer of your business will be established.
- Closing the Sale. To protect both the seller and the buyer, closing the transaction will require careful preparation of all necessary documents. We will co-ordinate bringing together the professional’s necessary to close on the sale of your business. We have a network of qualified closing attorneys who specialize in business transfers that we will recommend handle the legal sale of your business. They will save you money on closing costs, and you can be confident that your sale will be handled properly.
- Start the next chapter in your life…