THE SELLING PROCESS

Catheryn has 15+ years of selling businesses, including her own, across a range of industries. She demonstrates success in highly competitive sales environments, ensuring agreed upon KPIs and targets are consistently met, or exceeded, whilst maintaining strong client relationships. Her outstanding communication skills, a confident approach to business sales, and an ability to handle confidential information, consistently maintains her client relationships. Catheryn will collaborate with you to understand your business and assess the potential salability. She forms trusted, professional relationships with all her clients, supporting you with honest and reliable advice to provide and meet realistic expectations.

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ENGAGEMENT AND PLANNING

For business owners that want to sell, the business must be sale-ready in order to attract a quality pool of buyers. This pre-sale preparation is vital, and importantly, should be commenced well in advance of starting any sale process. Catheryn’s objective at your initial meeting is to understand your business; its value, vision, goals and philosophy, which will identify areas of the business that are great selling points to ensure successful engagement and selection of suitable buyers for the sale. Following, Catheryn will present and explain her proven marketing methods and process which takes the stress out of the business sale process for you. Catheryn will help you prepare your business for sale to maximise desirability. After discussing your business sale goals, Catheryn will present you with a detailed proposal and request to sign the Engagement Letter. The Engagement Letter contains the terms that govern your business sale partnership from start to finish. You will be given a copy of that agreement before signing if you wish to seek legal advice. The Engagement Letter also contains fees and charges, including any initial fee for preparation of Information Memorandum, selling fee and marketing/advertising costs.

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APPRAISAL

A Business Appraisal is both a provision of your business’s worth, but also an appraisal of its position in the market and its salability. It is vital that business owners are able to access fair and honest appraisals of their businesses before committing to anything. Appraisals are the first important step in what can be a long and complex process to a satisfactory settlement for all parties. Catheryn will prepare a Business Appraisal (from your prepared financials) considering its past and projected future performance, comparative market position, growth opportunities, current level of demand for the specific type of business, historical sales evidence of similar businesses, and many other factors, to assist her clients to navigate the subsequent sales process. The Business Appraisal data is used to identify the potential buyer pool, as well as to design a sales strategy to suit your business. Every business sale is different and requires a tailored approach to ensure the best possible outcome.

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INFORMATION MEMORANDUM

Using her extensive knowledge, Catheryn will create an ‘Information Memorandum’ which provides prospective buyers a view of your company, detailing your business’s key details and performance. It highlights your business using reliable facts and figures an is a comprehensive disclosure document which covers all aspects of the business. It is intended to provide all the information needed by an investor/buyer to make a fully informed decision.

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PROSPECTING BUYERS

Catheryn brings her knowledge, experience and connections to your industry to successfully match buyers to your business. You will also have the option to list your business anonymously. Any interested buyers that request a copy of the Information Memorandum will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement which will protect any sensitive information on financials and staff members. Once the signed Confidentiality Agreement has been received, Catheryn will provide you with a list of potential buyers interested in viewing more information on your business. Only after you have approved this list, Catheryn will provide your detailed Information Memorandum to the prospective buyers list. Catheryn is uncompromising in protecting your confidential information and highly skilled at providing the facts a buyer needs, without disclosing identifying details or alerting competitors. Catheryn’s proven approach to successfully selling any business is based on her experience and skilled negotiation. She will also measure and inform you of all activity throughout the sales process.

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MARKETING

When your business is ready for listing, Catheryn will implement her tried and proven marketing strategy, contacting her extensive prospective buyer’s database with targeted emails, as well advertising your business on over fourteen major business sales websites in Australia, social media, LinkedIn and networking. Maintaining confidentiality, actual pictures of your business or your exact location details will not be published in any advertising. Images are generic and non-descript, whilst location details are kept very general such city or region.

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QUALIFYING BUYERS

Catheryn will qualify interested buyers. Once Catheryn has a shortlist of interested buyers, she determines the strategic fit of each, assessing their expertise, their goals, their motivation for acquisition and their financial capacity. From there, you only progress with buyers who are able to purchase your business and give it the best chance of continued success. Catheryn will also seek indicative offers from interested parties before proceeding to the next step.

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NEGOTIATING

Catheryn will negotiate price and contract terms on your behalf, representing you in all aspects of the sale including sale price, contract terms, special conditions, management of freehold and lease terms to obtain optimum sale price and deliver efficient completion, whilst remaining transparent with you throughout the entire negotiation process.

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DUE DILIGENCE

Due diligence is executed in financial, legal and other business areas and is completed by the buyer or by external accountants and or due diligence experts working on behalf of the buyer. Catheryn will assist you in this process to ensure a seamless and successful transaction, collaborating with you and your team executing the due diligence checklist. If do require assistance with legal or financial help during this process, Catheryn partners with leading and reputable specialists including accountants, lawyers, tax advisors and fund managers to ensure you are in safe hands.

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SETTLEMENT CONTRACT

Catheryn will collaborate closely with you, the buyer and the legal team to finalise the contract and settlement. The contract is the responsibility of the buyer, drawn up by their legal counsel. Catheryn will work with both parties to facilitate and manage the formal settlement plan for you as well as assist with a transition plan for you and your business.

 

FEES AND COMMISSIONS

Fees are charged in two parts:

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A minimal upfront client engagement and marketing fee. This will cover the production of your Business Information Memorandum and all marketing costs throughout the network of specific Business Sales Websites plus a consultation to discuss your needs and requirements before selling your business.

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A successful sales fee, at a negotiated fixed rate or percentage that is only payable upon the successful sale of your business.

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