HOME       ABOUT US      SERVICES
PROCESS       BLOG       CONTACT
CUSTOM JAVASCRIPT / HTML
How Can I Sell My Business to Say Yes! Enterprises?
Written by Marissa B. on November 3rd, 2020

An Interview With Christopher Wick, Investor & Chairman of Say Yes! Enterprises

Want to sell your business? Say Yes! Enterprises (SYE) exists to answer the primary question: “What does the seller want?”

Which means, you, our sellers, are our priority.

Sellers grow the businesses that SYE invests in, and sellers allow us to buy into their dreams. SYE’s founder, Christopher Wick, understands sellers because he has bought and sold businesses of his own before. Being on both sides of the closing table has given Wick great insight as to their needs and desires, and why sellers choose the buyers they work with.

Sellers need assurance that a potential buyer is credible and has the resources to deliver a fair offer. Many sellers also want to find a buyer who will listen to them, respect their journey as an entrepreneur, and carry on their vision for their business. Rather than someone who is going to “take over”, the seller is often looking for continuity of their brand and their hard work.

Many sellers are still concerned with the welfare of the company. They have formed relationships with employees and customers, and they want to see their vision for the company fulfilled. SYE strives to meet these needs during and after the acquisition process.

What does the process of selling a business to SYE look like?

Here’s what the process of selling a business to Say Yes! Enterprises looks like:

An Overview

Every SYE acquisition follows the same three-phase process.

The first phase is the discovery phase, which focuses on learning about the business and determining if it meets SYE’s criteria. In the second phase, facts are analyzed for a business valuation.

After discovery and valuation, it is time to make an offer. This is the step you (the seller) has been waiting for! The acquisition process always follows these simple 3 phases, learn more about each phase by reading on: 

Phase 1: The Discovery Phase

Before the discovery call, a seller will have already submitted three years of profit and loss, balance, and cash flow statements. Having a call is a clear signal that the company matches SYE criteria. Out of every business reviewed by SYE, only 6.8% make it to the discovery phase. Congratulations on making it to this step!

During this fun and easy call, expect to meet with one or more members of the SYE team. This call has two major purposes. First, we want to get a clear understanding of you as a seller. We also want to determine whether moving forward serves our interests and yours. At this phase, SYE has the goal of answering two key questions: What does the seller want, and can SYE deliver on those wants?

Multiple people can join the call, but SYE strives to make this stage of the process very simple. Even if there are several partners who must agree on a sale, select one direct contact to speak on behalf of the company for this call. For the direct contact, choose someone with a combination of day-to-day knowledge and ownership rights. Additionally, other stakeholders can take part in the acquisition process later.

For SYE, the most important part of the discovery call is determining what the seller wants. SYE uses this understanding of the seller’s wants and needs to decide whether to move forward to the second stage.

During this call, a seller will expect questions like:

What financial milestones has your company reached?

What are some of the KPIs you monitor to make sure operations are running smoothly?

What kind of marketing has worked best for your business?

Why did you start your business?

What do you envision the next chapter of your life looking like?

Sellers should have access to accounting software, like QuickBooks, during the call. It is also useful to have the company’s social media profiles, email marketing platforms and ecommerce software also pulled up. These bits of data are great ways to get quick snapshots about the health and trajectory of the company.

If SYE cannot move forward with a business, the seller will receive a prompt notification. Respect is one of the core values of SYE, so sellers can expect clear communication at every step of the process. At SYE, a “no” is not a “never.” Sellers are always educated about the specific reasons a sale cannot happen. Oftentimes an acquisition can proceed after those issues receive attention.  

Phase 2: Valuation Determination

To understand this process, it is important to understand what valuation is. "Valuation is not what you think or feel it is. Something is only worth what someone will pay for it,” Christopher Wick explains. (For a deeper dive into valuation, see our blog post Understanding Valuation.)

SYE determines the valuation of a business by multiplying EBIDTA or SDE by their industry multiple. After understanding the industry standard for multiples, other factors that could increase or decrease the value of the company are also analyzed, such as, market data, competitors, assets and intangible value.

At this stage, SYE finds and verifies data to support the company's valuation. Sellers can and should state their proposed valuation for the company. Often, the seller will explain additional assets that support that valuation. About half of the businesses that start the discovery phase continue on to the valuation process.

When considering industry standards, SYE starts with finding the tax code for the business. The selling prices of other businesses in the tax code help to create a range of what their business is likely to be worth to buyers.

There are a variety of assets that can increase and decrease the value of a business.

For example, one of the largest factors that increase the valuation of a business are their financial metrics. If they are strongly profitable and showing upward trends of their financial performance, this will increase their valuation.

Another example, the most common issue that decreases the value of a business is a lack of employees. If SYE has to hire employees to keep your business running in your absence, that cost detracts from the value of your business.

At this stage, SYE does the majority of the legwork, and the seller answers any questions that come up. Seller’s control the momentum of the process with their prompt responses. SYE will only ask questions that are relevant to a sale, so prompt answers move the process even closer towards a sale.

Some buyers do not start due diligence until acceptance of an offer, but the process works in reverse at SYE. Due diligence happens during the valuation process. After acceptance of an offer, there is a smaller amount of little due diligence left to do.

Acceptance of an offer means that the seller can expect a closing within weeks, sometimes even days.

Phase 3: Making an Offer

Of all the businesses that SYE considers, 1.1% make it to the offer phase. When SYE is ready to make an offer, the seller receives a letter of intent. Also known as an “LOI.” Once the seller signs this letter, SYE is legally under the due diligence process (although some of it has been completed already.)

Now, the seller stops any negotiations with other parties. In the absence of extreme changes, the seller should be ready to sell upon signing the letter. Signing a letter of intent does not obligate either party to close on the deal but does limit promotional rights and exclusivity to a deal. In simple terms, if buying or selling a business is “getting married” a letter of intent is becoming “engaged.”

At this stage, a seller presents documentation to verify data about the business. For example, credit card statements and merchant accounts help to validate a profit and loss statement.

Whether a deal happens or not, the offer phase is always a win-win situation. Either, the seller gets the business sold, or the seller gets valuable insight on what their business is truly worth. If there is a difference in the valuation the seller presented and SYE’s offer the seller will receive a detailed explanation.

Deal financing is as unique as each business and the seller behind it. Although some deals end in cash upfront offers, there are other creative options such as down payments, seller financing, earn-ins, earn-outs, revenue sharing, and equity agreements. Sellers have the opportunity to benefit from the sale of their business one time or on an ongoing basis.

After acceptance of an offer, the seller has a lot of work to do as they prepare for one of the most exciting things in their career! There is a very detailed checklist of final documents to submit. We make the process easy on sellers by having a virtual checklist. After all items have been received and verified, it’s now time to schedule the closing date.

From discovery to the closing date, the entire process can take anywhere from three days to thirty days. SYE knows how valuable time is, so we seek to save sellers time every step of the way. 

A Final Note on The Business Seller’s Success

Say Yes! Enterprises has an in-depth understanding of all the hurdles that come up when trying to sell a business and has years of experience creating solutions for those hurdles. Sellers who are considering selling to Say Yes! Enterprises can expect a concise process with plenty of mutual respect every step of the way.

Say Yes! Enterprises has the resources to give sellers fair offers, a proven process to successful acquisitions and respect throughout the acquisition process. If you would like to learn more about selling your business to Say Yes! Enterprises, visit https://sayyesenterprises.com/ or email inbox@sayyesenterprises.com.

About Say Yes! Enterprises

Say Yes! Enterprises is an investment management company that acquires, builds, and sells companies that benefit shareholders, customers, team members and communities at large.
About Christopher Wick
Investor, 9X Award-Winning Entrepreneur, and 5X Best-Selling Author & Speaker

*Founder/Principal of businesses that have been featured by Huffington Post, ABC, NBC and Wall Street Select*

Christopher Wick is an award-winning entrepreneur who has built, bought and sold various companies relating to social media marketing, e-commerce, real estate, retail and investing.

Other Articles:

Work With Us Today!
Work With Us Today!
ABOUT 
Say Yes! Enterprises is an investment management company that acquires, builds, and sells companies that benefit shareholders, customers, team members and communities at large.
Say Yes! Enterprises is an investment management company that acquires, builds, and sells companies that benefit shareholders, customers, team members and communities at large.
CONTACT 
Say Yes! Enterprises
5900 Balcones Drive
STE 100 
Austin, TX 78731
Copyright © 2024 Say Yes! Enterprises | All Rights Reserved. 
Copyright © 2020 Say Yes! Enterprises | All Rights Reserved. 
ABOUT 
ABOUT 
Say Yes! Enterprises is an investment management company that acquires, builds, and sells companies that benefit shareholders, customers, team members and communities at large.
Say Yes! Enterprises is an investment management company that acquires, builds, and sells companies that benefit shareholders, customers, team members and communities at large.
CONTACT 
CONTACT 
Say Yes! Enterprises
5900 Balcones Drive, STE 100, Austin, TX 78731
Say Yes! Enterprises
5900 Balcones Drive, STE 100, Austin, TX 78731
   Email Us
   Email Us