How much do most brokers and M&A advisors charge? What is the ideal fee structure so that the broker’s interests are aligned with yours? Can a broker’s or M&A advisor’s fee arrangement cause bias or misaligned interests with you, the business owner?

You don’t have to search too long to find opinions alleging that M&A destroys value. NYU Professor Aswath Damodaran goes as far as to say that asking an investment bank to fairly value an acquisition target is akin to “asking a plastic surgeon to tell you your face is perfect.”

Does a broker need to know the local market to sell your business? Does being local speed up the sale process? Is a local network required to sell a business?

The first step after deciding to sell your business is to hire a business broker or M&A advisor. Brokers and M&A intermediaries offer various types of engagement agreements; how do you know which type is right for your business sale?

How were we supposed to count this? Successful or unsuccessful? Or do we ignore it? We placed this one on the sideline so we could decide later and attempted to continue counting. We ran into more and more problems and eventually stopped counting. Why?

Don’t overlook the lease — it’s one of the most instrumental elements of the sale process. The assignment or transfer of your lease should be handled with care because having issues with leases or landlords is a common deal-killer.

If you own a franchise, your franchisor will play a vital role in the process. In such cases, we recommend that you contact your franchisor as early as possible in the process to gain their cooperation.

When it comes to buying or selling a business, however, an escrow is more than simply an account where money is held until the details of the sale are complete. Escrow serves several essential functions in the sale of a business. The decision on whether or not to work with an escrow agent is an important consideration in a business sale.

The purpose of external advisors is to make you — the owner — and your entire management team look as credible as possible by anticipating issues and preparing disclosure in a professional manner. And who doesn’t want that?

For middle-market transactions, the buyer often brings a team of dozens of staff and advisors to conduct due diligence. As a result of the imbalance, you should aim to at least achieve negotiating parity by hiring the best advisors you can afford.