Selling Your Business

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Sell Your Business & Exit with Style, Grace, and More Money!®

Nokomis Advisory Services does solely sell-side representation. Our target clients are in what’s called the “Lower Middle Market.” This means the businesses are larger than Main Street businesses and smaller than what investment bankers work on. The 80-20 rule says client EBITDA will be $750,000 to $3 million. We are industry agnostic and our goal is to get our clients a great buyer, more cash at closing than they expected, and preserve their legacy.

For businesses or owners not ready to sell we help them get ready. We don’t do fractional C-Level work or major consulting projects. We approach from a coaching perspective, as you can see by clicking here.

Where the name comes from:

For almost 60 years, our family had a cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin on North Nokomis Lake. Having a seasonal cabin meant there are a lot of things that had to be done, done right (it gets really cold in the winter), and, above all, enjoy your time when there.

We take the same approach to our client work. We do all the things needed to be done, we do them right, and this allows our clients to move on and enjoy their next great adventure in life.

Note that the scenic pictures on this website are from North Nokomis Lake.

Whether exiting in six months or six years, we can help. We create large exits for small businesses™ by doing the right preparation, finding and selling to the right buyer, and allowing our clients to preserve their legacy, let their employees thrive, and be fairly compensated for what they’ve built.

Download our selling process overview by clicking here: Nokomis Advisory Services – Selling a business process

See information about our current projects:

Project Aerospace

For Business Sellers

We change lives through business transitions!

We offer complete sell-side intermediary services for mid-sized to lower-middle-market companies. And it all starts with being ready to sell. Our goal is to have our clients exit with style, grace, and more money!®

Why even have an exit strategy and plan? To create a large exit for your small business!®

Another reason is the upcoming demographic change. Many sources predicted that 50-70% of small to mid-sized businesses will change hands in the  2020’s (and we’re seeing it). Even if this is off by half, it’s a lot of businesses and a lot of seller competition.

Exiting your business can be an emotional time. There are family dynamics, trusted employees to take care of, financial planning concerns, and the question of what will you do if you sell your business?

We help our clients choose an exit strategy. This includes planning, preparation, and exploration of options. It means not only preparing the business but also preparing the owner. A transition to family members, a management buy-out, an ESOP, and absentee ownership are options. Selling to outside parties, however, is often the top choice, and often the most lucrative. Of course, whom do you sell to, and for how much, is a key issue.

Different buyer types have different needs and want. Understanding what each type of buyer wants is a key element of any exit plan and related company preparation.

Deal structure, due diligence (on the buyer), negotiations, educating the buyer, closing the deal and escrow supervision are skills we’ve refined over the years of working on numerous deals!

The key to selling a business for top dollar and with less stress is to follow an Action Plan to Sell a Business.™

  • Arrange all the affairs of the company.
  • Coach and counsel the company. Its people, process, and systems must all be running efficiently.
  • Transmit and teach all the good “things” about your firm to the buyer. Those “things” are:
  • Intricacies that make your company special.
  • Operations and management systems that are in place and will make a transition smooth.
  • Numbers, all the financials in understandable form, straightforward with no “tricks.”

We specialize in a systematic, organized approach to the selling process.

Planning starts with the valuation and the identification of where we can make improvements (given the time parameters for the situation). Then we identify likely buyer types, do market research and answer the question, “Why are you selling?” Preparation is doing the little things that make the business more attractive to a buyer. Every business has risks. By documenting how the risks are overcome you make it much more appealing.

Selling & Exiting A Business

There are three areas that must be addressed in any exit plan and company preparation. They are:

1

The Financial Systems and Reports

Too many sellers have left too much money on the table through sloppy accounting, an excess of blending of personal and business expenses and inaccurate reports.
2

The Sales and Marketing Plan

Implementation and monitoring is key. Nothing frustrates business owners and buyers more than marketing. What was done? How did it work? How do you know it worked? The right answers can increase the price and terms.
3

Systems & Growth

The systems you have in place, in all departments. Buyers often have energy and want to grow the business they buy. The less involved you (the seller) are the better. A big factor in value/price reduction is an over dependency on the owner.

Presentation Can Be a Key Issue

In many situations when there wasn’t time to plan or prepare, a dynamic presentation has saved the day. Emphasizing the business’ strengths and acknowledging the weaknesses (and how you have neutralized them) in an attractive and professional package can sway a buyer. An Action Plan saves time and anguish because we now know:

What were the weaknesses, and how they were fixed so the value is increased.
What exactly you are selling and what it’s worth?
When do you need to sell (timing can be everything)?
Who your potential buyers are (individual, family, equity group, employees or corporate)?
Where your buyer will come from (local, regional, national)?
Why you are selling (how you explain it can make or break a deal)?
How you are going to market the company (by yourself or with an intermediary)?

Get The Book!

If They Can Sell Pet Rocks Why Can’t You Sell Your Business (For What You Want)?

Buy the Book on Amazon

Featured Case Studies

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How to Kill a Deal

When You Don’t Disclose Everything There’s No Deal Our client had a sleepy multi-generation business. Making money, not really growing, doing things the way they’ve…
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When It’s Fun Again Why Sell?

Selling Takes a Back Burner I was referred to a manufacturing business with over 100 employees. They were a leader in their field and at…
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Selling a Business – It’s a Timing and Numbers Game

Timing is Everything Our client was a stagnant construction supply business (hardware of all types and sizes), in a red-hot market. Started decades prior it…
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