Welcome to Bendigo Business Sales, where your journey to business ownership begins with confidence and clarity. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or a first-time buyer, the prospect of purchasing a business can be both exciting and daunting. At Bendigo Business Sales, we understand that buying a business is a significant decision with far-reaching implications. Our team is dedicated to helping you navigate the complexities of the market, from evaluating opportunities to finalizing your purchase.
Should you buy a business or start one from scratch?
In an ideal scenario, buying an established business offers the advantages of taking over a loyal customer base, dependable suppliers, experienced staff, well-established processes, and positive cash flow.
However, the flip side is the financial commitment involved. Consider your available capital. You’ll need funds for the purchase price, initial working capital and acquisition expenses which include fees for legal and accounting services and any other expenses directly related to completing the transaction. If you need finance, talk to a finance broker or your bank early on to understand your borrowing capacities.
Determine the lifestyle, income and industry preferences for your desired business operation. Identify potential business that align with your interests, skills and financial capabilities. Connect with us, your local business broker, to assist in finding the ideal business opportunity, we can offer valuable insights, help you choose the right business and guide you through the entire process. Be ready to sign a confidentiality agreement, ensuring that you will only use the provided information to determine your interest in purchasing the business.
We recommend you engage your accountant and/or lawyer to assist you in conducting due diligence, this is to verify the accuracy of the seller’s claims and the information we have provided to you. Our business profile provides the reader with a thorough general understanding of the business and what is included in the sale. Financial data, lease information, plant and equipment list and stock levels are presented on initial enquiry. Further enquiry on licences/permits, agreements between seller and suppliers, liabilities or outstanding debts the business may be relevant. Inspection of the business is advised at this stage, giving you the opportunity to see the business operations, plant and equipment status, and ask any detailed questions directly to the vendor and broker.
Once you have conducted due diligence on the business and have decided you would like to buy it, you will need to complete a written offer. This will detail the price, terms, proposed settlement date and conditions for the purchase of the business. If required your broker will assist in any negotiations of the purchase price and conditions with the vendor to assist both parties reaching an agreement.
When a purchase price and all terms have been agreed upon your business broker will request a holding deposit to confirm your intent in buying the business. They will also engage the seller’s solicitor to begin the drafting of contract of sale of a business. Once the contracts are exchanged and executed a further sales deposit will be request, this is usually 10% of the sale price and is inclusive of the holding deposit already paid.
For a seamless transition, we will recommend you begin working in your new business alongside the current owner before settlement date, the standard training period is 1 week before settlement and 1 week after. This may not be relevant to every business acquisition, and others may need far more training time – all details that will be confirmed during contract stage. During this time engage with employees, customers, and suppliers to ensure readiness to take over operations effectively once the owner departs.
