Category Archives: Selling a Business

QofE Reports—Ripoffs, Risks, Misunderstandings

Quality of Earnings – Reports and Providers Avoid Costly Mistakes in Business Acquisitions Searchers/buyers are overpaying or getting incomplete Quality of Earnings reports. Misunderstandings, about the reports and the service providers, are costly for Quality of Earnings and your financial security. TOPICS Realistic Quality of Earnings (?) Providers of Reports Who Wants/Needs QofE? Issues Inadequately […]

How to Get, Avoid, or Negotiate Personal Guarantees

  Here’s the link to the recording of my webinar, https://youtu.be/CrRVYFkxnfA Be sure to see the show notes, for the link to the supporting PDF. Some of the comments from viewers: I first downloaded and read your PDF, and then I watched the video. Seeing the checklist before watching your webinar made me more aware […]

Employees: The Biggest Risk For Business Buyers And Sellers

Taming Problematic Employees & Employers? (Behaviors & Expectations) The resources on this webpage support my series on YouTube: “Why Employees Are The Biggest Risk For Business Owners, Sellers, Buyers.” Don’t misunderstand. Employees are the biggest risk. And, it does not have to be your risk. If you want to buy a business, you can avoid […]

Why It’s Smart to Pay Attention to Retention When Buying or Selling SMBs

Inattention is a good way to a faceplant. Retention is becoming increasingly difficult. You’ve seen the headlines. About financing, employees, supply chains, landlords, customers, competitors, profits and losses. Don’t get caught with a don’t-wanter being sold by business sellers.   Let’s privately talk about why and how: Sellers provide evidence to prospective acquirers. Business brokers […]

Avoid Pitfalls and Make Better Deals

Coming 2023 What’s Possible? Examples of Creativity Searcher Stories―Trials, Tribulations, Triumph Searching Affects Creativity Avoiding Snags & Pitfalls Pre-LOI Diligence Formal Due Diligence Valuing & Pricing Raising Money & Financing Negotiating with Everyone Closing/Completing the Deal Transitioning Ownership Tips for Advisors and Clients   New, a different kind of how-to book by Ted Leverette. Hard-hitting […]

Anatomy of a dumb deal – by business buyers

This graphic (from an early edition of the syllabus I give to people attending my Zoom Business Buyer Trainings) hasn’t changed in decades, other than the numbers have gotten bigger. And so has the risk, for business buyers who don’t know how to properly adjust and forecast financial statements and/or cope with the wishful thinking […]

Demystifying Pre-LOI Due Diligence

Let’s Demystify Pre-LOI Due Diligence Defective pre-LOI due diligence enables dumb deals. It’s why so many searchers can’t make a deal, or they buy the wrong businesses, or they buy the right businesses the wrong ways. It’s also why hopeful owners lose their opportunity to sell, or sell on terms that excessively favor buyers. See […]

The Miserable M’s – For Buyers and Sellers of SMBs

The Miserable M’s – For Buyers and Sellers of SMBs (Antidotes Prescribed)   You may not want to do it, but you can consider these M’s now, or you can potentially have to cope with them later. The link to my LinkedIn article.   The Miserable M’s In alphabetical order, for no apparent reason. Misallocations […]

Links & Resources for Business & Industry Profiles & Buy/Sell Stats & Comps

You could spend several days trying to figure out the kind of information you need, and then spend more time looking for resources  . . . or you can use this report as your launching pad into the kinds of resources commonly being used by advisors, business owners and the buyers and sellers of small […]

67 Accounting Risks for Business Buyers

67 Accounting Risks      to Detect During Due Diligence          for Buyers and Sellers                of Small / Midsize Businesses You’ll love hating this exposé . . . Avoiding Accounting Hell. It can help you anticipate risks during due diligence. And then solve post-completion problems. For decades, I’ve been keeping a log of the pitfalls […]

CIMs & CBRs ― The Good • Bad • Ugly

Scroll down to see what people are saying about our presentation. (You’ll glean how-to tips from the reviews.)   Because of the controversial nature of the CIMs and our evaluation of them, you are invited to show us your perspective: Email your comments and suggestions to Ted Leverette Sometimes it’s a living nightmare for searchers […]

Too many business brokers, buyers and sellers make this mistake.

The opportunity that vanished for businesses, towns and people along Route 66 is happening today to tens of thousands of profitable small and midsize companies in the best local economies, thanks to missteps by advisors, business brokers and potential business buyers. Keep reading for street-smart insight into opportunity lost and how, today, astute people gain […]

62 Reasons for Sellers Hiring Brokers

Savvy Buyers Level Their Playing Field The most valuable brokers for sellers are the best at creating business buyer competition. The smartest owners will seek out those brokers, and verify their ability to cause buyers to bid against one another. All the other bells and whistles that business brokers pitch to perspective listings won’t make […]

Creative Financing

Amazing, I read down the list and saw many of the techniques I have used over the years and currently. Some, or most, probably came from reading your tips over the years. Good work and very helpful to those of us who follow you. I currently have investors interested in our technology company and asking […]

Ted Leverette Reveals How Business Buyers Are Blindsided By Seller’s Employees

Insights Savvy Business Buyers MUST Detect from Employees of Companies for Sale Employees can be the buyer’s BEST reality check. Too many buyers are fooled by employees working for businesses for sale. LISTEN to my 5-minute interview with a searcher whose deal cratered: You’ll hear: why he (after devoting considerable attention and time) withdrew his […]