Because in many ways, your business instincts will lead you in the wrong direction. Here are a couple of examples.

Instinct #1 - When the right buyer comes to me, I'll talk. I don't want a fishing expedition.

Reality - one buyer is no buyer. It is common sense that one buyer with no competition will not pay a fair price for the business. They will start ridiculously low and squeeze you as time drags on and your vulnerability increases. A good intermediary working between you and potential buyers will know how to handle confidentiality and will pre-qualify, screen, and weed out the non-serious lookers that are not real buyers. He/she will know what information to release, when to release it, and how to ratchet up commitment from buyers as the process unfolds. And he/she will work to find several competitive bidders to achieve the best overall deal for you. Price is not everything - it's what you keep; not what you get.

Instinct #2 - I have an accountant and attorney - why do I need another advisor?

Reality - your accountant and attorney are important players in the process, but they should not manage the process. The Seller and the Buyer have adversarial interests and the intermediary acts as a bridge to build trust on both sides and advance the process to a successful conclusion. Your attorney and accountant are going to be acting in a more protective role and by professional ethics will not communicate directly with the buyer. They will interact with the buyer's attorney and accountant. While they will provide specific expertise on tax and contractual matters, the intermediary will provide the overall mergers and acquisitions process expertise, trust building, and a measure of common sense to all parties involved to get the deal done.

Instinct #3 - Why can't I manage the process myself?

Reality - First, you will start out at a real disadvantage in managing confidentiality. If you prospect for buyers, they immediately know who you are on the initial response. If you limit yourself to a few possibilities from your contacts and those of your attorney and accountant, you will always find local people willing to take a look, but you will not be able to tap into the large national and even international market of motivated buyers who are seriously looking for opportunities and may have synergistic qualities that will justify a much higher price. Second, there is no buffer between you and the buyer to mitigate the emotions that always arise, build trust between you and the buyer to take a risk on each other, and work with both principals and their advisors to solve problems and create a win-win scenario. Third, selling a business is extremely time consuming and nothing kills a deal faster than when current company performance suffers while you spend substantial time and energy trying to self-manage the process. And finally, an experienced and trained (up to date on the latest trends and techniques) intermediary who practices full-time in mergers and acquisitions will know and prepare for the key issues that are going to surface at every phase of the transaction to reduce the possibility of wasting time and money on proposals that have little chance of closing.

Instinct #4 - Your fees are too high?

Reality - As stated above, business transactions can require huge amounts of time. It is not unusual to spend 50 to 100 hours with each of several buyers and then reach a roadblock and start over. A significant portion of most intermediaries compensation is contingent upon successful completion of the transaction and yet fees are much lower then other professionals when they work on a contingent fee basis. A qualified and knowledgeable intermediary can take a transaction further before you need to start paying other advisors who get paid by the hour whether the deal closes or not. Bottomline - a good intermediary will increase your chances of successfully selling your business and put more money in your pocket after considering taxes and transactional costs than you could otherwise attain. He/she will make you money, not cost you money. See our case histories for evidence.