The number one reason most founders don't sell comes down to the disparity between their expectations and the markets' realities. Understanding what you need from the transaction, finding out how that lines up with the way buyers will value your business, and being clear on your true bottom lines and the right structure can close or eliminate the gap.

If you're selling your company, or even taking in capital, there's a few things to expect from your buyer, and they're predictable behaviors based on buyer type. Prepare for them, and you'll be ready to respond appropriately, but fail to anticipate them and you might overreact and blow up your deal. Here's a few tips...

Ever heard of Retrade?

If you're a founder in the middle of a sale, capital raising process, or negotiation with partners or stakeholders, recognize that WAITING can often be the best active decision. It's not purely intuitive to know when to push and when to wait, so be sure to have at least one member of the deal team with lots of reps at the M&A Gym!!

Many founders make one or all of these 3 understandable and potentially disastrous mistakes when selling; 1) use advisors without M&A experience, 2) get distracted by the M&A process and let business results suffer, 3) let their employees know they're selling too soon. All well-intentioned, stem from loyalty, familiarity, instinct, or transparency, and each one may lead to disaster.

If you're a #founder and moving toward a sale, or even responding to an unsolicited offer, it makes sense to get your financials in order by using an advisor with significant experience in M&A. Missing this simple step is often VERY COSTLY!

If you're a founder selling your business, and your buyer is a financial sponsor, it's important to know the difference between a traditional private equity firm and an independent or "fundless" sponsor...it matters.

What does it mean for Founders to “take chips off the table”? Many small business owners paused sale or transition plans due to the pandemic, but data from M&A sources continue to point to this being a unique moment with plentiful inexpensive capital for buyers, making it a seller’s market for high quality companies. Just might be time to find out what those M&A types mean when they talk about “taking chips off the table” …