You’ve contemplated this day for years and you’ve stressed about it intensely for the past several months. You recently missed another of your grandchildren’s little league games. A few months before that you had to cut a vacation short. As you’ve gotten older you’ve been more and more aware that you don’t own your business, your business owns you.

A few years back, these sacrifices were not a big deal to you, but they feel much bigger these days. After talking it over with your family, friends, and close advisers you have decided it is time to move on and sell the business. After reviewing your exit options, you also decided to sell to the highest bidder. You feel the release of this decision to sell. Now what do you do?

Do you put up a for sale sign on the front lawn? Do you put an ad in the newspaper? Do you create a website? Of course not. In order to get the best offer, you’re going to need to engage an investment banker who specializes in the sale of businesses like yours.

Chances are you’ve never engaged an investment banker before now. Most people haven’t. Here’s what you need to know.

Who Investment Bankers Are

Investment bankers are both very intelligent and very transaction-oriented. They have resumes, went to top universities, and are high achievers. They exist to do a job: get your company sold. Investment bankers earn their compensation via a contingent success fee payable at the closing of a successful transaction.

Their ideal client is someone who has made a decision to sell and can clearly articulate their expectations of an acceptable deal. This ideal client will have the company books and records in order, and a strong story for why the company is a great investment.

In essence, they are looking for an exit-ready business. This will empower them to efficiently run their process for selling a company.

Who Investment Bankers Are Not

Investment bankers do not run businesses and they are not psychologists. Once you hire an investment bank, things move fast. If you’re not ready, multiple potentially injurious outcomes are possible.

For example, if you do not have documentation in place to support your business outlook, expect your investment banker to point this out, but not to fix it. Being unprepared can delay a deal and increase expenses incurred with other advisers. Additionally, if you lack clarity about your seller expectations, this can create confusion with regard to the story they will tell the market about your company.

Investment bankers do not come cheap and the best way to make them successful is to provide them with a business that is both attractive and ready to sell. If you do the work to polish your diamond in the rough, they will be able to get you a much better outcome.

At Doescher Group, not only do we assist owners with preparation for sale, but when applicable, we also assist owners with finding the right investment banker to sell their company. If you’re thinking about selling, consider our Exit Audit in order to get a baseline assessment of how ready your business is to exit.