subject: Marketing a Trucking Company for Sale by Ahern and Associates [print this page] They want us to tell the Buyer exactly what they want, and they want us to make sure that their goals and objective are met.
That is not how the process works! The process works when awilling Buyer and the transportation advisor understand what the Seller is trying to accomplish. The advisor directs the Buyer and the Seller to interact on a regular basis. The transportation advisor instructs what information to release and when to release specific information, and;
The transportation advisor's job is to keep the attorneys and accountants out of the transaction, until a Letter of Intent has been issued. Then, the final contracts are worked out by legal.
At all times, it's not the transportation advisors position to try and control the deal. It's not the transportation advisors position to get in between. The transportation advisors job is to move the process along, let the Buyer and Seller communicate and then when there is a sticking point or an issue that is where the transportation advisors expertise becomes valuable.
The negotiation process is a very difficult process. It's a very emotional process. It's a very "draining" process, and depending on how skilled your advisor is, determines whether you will have a successful closing or not. The same applies when utilizing an accountant and attorney. The Sellers/Buyers' attorney should have extensive transportation experience.
The Seller should advise his/her attorney what he/she wants to accomplish as it's not the attorneys position to negotiate on the Sellers behalf; that is the kiss of death, but it is the attorney's position to protect the Sellers interest, and get the deal completed.
At the same time, it is important to understand that there is no purchase contract that is "ironclad". There has to be "give and take" on both sides; when two attorneys continually disagree with each other, it is nearly impossible to close a deal.
As the Seller, it's your job to instruct your attorney that:
1. You want a deal completed.
2. You want your interest protected to the best of his/her ability, but;
3. They are to advise you of your risk, so that you can make an intelligent decision on what risks you are willing to assume.
The same principles apply for an accountant. Don't demand a stock sale; if you do you are going to eliminate 60% to 70% of the market place. Begin with a pool of money, work backwards, once you receive a Letter of Intent, and you can still get to where you want to be if both the Buyer and Seller respect each other, have the same values, and both feel that this is a deal that they want to complete.
You should not "mass market" your business! I'm not a proponent of bidding out a business, because it's too time consuming, it's very frustrating, and at the end of the day, if you start with a pool of money and both a Buyer and Seller agree to that pool of money, then there is no reason to "muddy up the waters"; it's too dangerous.
As part of the sales process, you have to understand that you need to keep your business moving in the right direction, you need to spend a certain amount of time moving the process along to sell your business, but you cannot lose focus on your business, and you cannot assume that a deal will take place.
You have to run your business as usual. Many times a sale does not go through, but the owner has spent so much time focusing on the sale, that the business suffers.
There is a golden rule in the sales process; "never take your eye off the ball" when you are negotiating the sale of your business. Assume, that until you have a signed and executed purchase agreement, that you are directly responsible for the financial future of your business.
In closing, I cannot over emphasize the importance to realistically price a business and to instruct your advisors properly. I've seen hundreds of deals "go sideways" because the advisors took control but they didn't know what they were doing.
Marketing a Trucking Company for Sale by Ahern and Associates
