How we guided first-time business sellers on their exit journey

Introduction
Our first-time business seller client was a specialist design and production company creating a variety of graphic signage needs.
After building and operating the business successfully for many years, the husband and wife owners decided it was time to sell.

Being their first company sale, the owners were looking to be supported and guided in doing what was right in selling their business with a well-organised and documented sale process.

We are incredibly grateful to Andrew, Kaoruko and Sarah-Jane for their outstanding support throughout the sale of our business.

The story of our first-time business sellers

One of our client’s main services was to supply specialist signage solutions for the needs of operators or exhibitors at large trade and business shows. Much of their success had been built on providing a reliable and quality service to the operators of large international exhibitions. In fact their company sale straddled the organisation and delivery of their largest exhibition in the year.

The challenge for our first-time business sellers

The greatest challenge these first-time business sellers faced is shared with all other business owners who have invested their working careers in building and operating a business – they had never sold a business!

It would be extraordinarily difficult or hazardous to contemplate handling the legal and documentation aspects of selling a business – it would just take too much time and too many mistakes would be made along the way. Along with that, you run the risk of a purchaser walking away from the transaction.

Clearly, the company needed us to guide them as to the proper steps to take but also to inform them, when issues arose, about what actions were reasonable or not, and to give them confidence that they understood the implications of the decisions they were being asked to make.

From start to finish, they held our hands through every step, explaining complex matters in clear, simple terms and always making sure we felt informed and reassured.

We put at the client’s disposal a senior lawyer experienced in business sales, with the support of our trainee solicitor. Their first task was to build a relationship with the client and establish their goals and talk them through what they would need to do, practically, to complete the sale process, what they might expect to happen, timescales and the different ways which this would be addressed.

The Results

In this particular business sale, the purchaser brought up several unexpected changes to the original timing plan and terms of the deal, resulting in a great deal of anxiety and confusion for the client. The client was put under a lot of pressure to make compromises and without the support of an independent advisor who could counsel them on what was and was not an issue of real concern they risked not completing the sale or completing it on much less favourable terms.

We supported the client through to their goal of selling the business, despite the purchaser creating stumbling blocks on the way. We pride ourselves on having an empathetic approach to our clients and we knew keeping them calm was key and we did what we could to shield them from too much stress.

Their professionalism, responsiveness and genuine friendliness made what could have been a very painful process far more bearable. They are a formidable team and we couldn’t have asked for better solicitors by our side.