Charleston, South Carolina, Business Brokers and M&A Advisors

Business Broker and M&A Services in Charleston, South Carolina

At the Charleston, South Carolina, office of Morgan & Westfield, we make business sales easier for business owners. We do this by providing services that are designed to simplify the process of selling a business. Our business brokers guide you through every step in the process and answer all of your questions that may come up along the way. We provide advice and support to aide you in overcoming any challenges that may arise, and we use our local connections to ensure that you will always get the help that you need. Our business brokers even provide services to complete many aspects of the business sale for you, further simplifying the process. From the moment that you first meet with our business brokers to the moment that your business is sold, we do everything that we can to make selling your business as stress-free as possible. 

Simplifying Business Sales

For someone who has never gone through the process of selling a business, it can be overwhelming and stressful. You might not know what to expect or what the process entails, and you probably have many questions. At Morgan & Westfield, we will do everything that we can to eliminate any confusion, and we will always be available to answer your questions from our initial consultation forward. 

All of our business brokers at the Charleston, South Carolina, office of Morgan & Westfield have extensive experience in facilitating business sales and are qualified to answer any questions that you may have. Our business brokers also provide advice about some of the challenges that you might face and address these questions before they even arise. Some common questions that our business brokers answer include:

• How long will the sale take? Business sales usually take six months to a year. But this time frame will vary based on the current market and your specific business.
• Why do I need a business broker? Business brokers will simplify the process for you, prevent mistakes, save you time and money, and help you to negotiate a better price.
• What offers can I expect? Initial offers are almost always very low. You should be prepared for this and be ready to negotiate, and never take these low initial offers personally. You should also expect that offers will have contingencies; this is a standard part of negotiating a business sale.
•  Do I need to train the buyer? In most situations you will be required to train the new owner; specifics about the length of the training period will be outlined in the sales contract.
• What is a non-compete? Your buyer will want to make sure that you cannot use your connections and industry knowledge to compete with them. So as part of the sale, most buyers will require you to sign a non-compete agreement. This contract prohibits you from operating a competing business. The terms of this agreement will outline when, where and if you can open any other businesses. These are standard agreements for any business sale, and you will most likely be asked to sign one. 
• How do I determine a price? An asking price will be determined based on your market and the results of your business appraisal. It is important that you consider the market and not just what you feel is the value of your business, otherwise you may price yourself out of the market. At Morgan & Westfield, our business brokers will help you determine a reasonable asking price.
• Should I use confidentiality agreements? Yes! Protecting your personal privacy and the privacy of your company is crucial. Failure to do so could cause information leaks that may damage your reputation and be detrimental to your company’s value. Our business brokers require all potential buyers to sign a non-disclosure agreement before we release any information, and we recommend that you use these agreements wherever they are necessary. 
• What should I do while my business is being sold? Our business brokers will handle many aspects of the sale for you, although there will be some areas in which we can only assist you. When activities are being completed that you are not directly involved in, we recommend that you focus on running your business as usual. It is extremely important that your business continues to operate normally until the sale is finalized. 

By answering your questions and providing advice in this way, we are able to remove any ambiguity from the process of selling your business. This ensures that you will always know and understand what is happening, what the next steps are, and how each of these activities impacts the overall process. This simplifies the process for you and eliminates stress. 

Facilitating the Sale of Your Business

In addition to answering your questions and removing any ambiguity from the process, our business brokers also do most of the hard work of selling your business for you. By relieving you of these responsibilities, we further simplify the process. The tasks that our business brokers can complete for you include:

• The business appraisal (and recommendation of an asking price)
• The design and implementation of a marketing campaign
• Finding a buyer
• Buyer screening

Other than these tasks, our business brokers will also assist you with: 

• Structuring of potential deals
• Negotiations with buyers
• Closing the sale
• Completing paperwork associated with the sale

Through completing or helping you to complete these tasks, we ensure that all activities related to the sale of your business will go smoothly. 

Serving Charleston County, South Carolina

At the Charleston, South Carolina, office of Morgan & Westfield, we provide these business brokerage services to business owners throughout the Charleston County region of South Carolina’s beautiful coastline. Specific communities in and around the Charleston County area that we serve include Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, James Island, Johns Island, Folly Island, Morris Island, Rockville, Edisto Island, Meggett, Hollywood, Ravenel, Osborn, Jericho, Hanahan, Ladson, Lincolnville, Summerville, Dewees Island, Isle of Palms, Wando, Awendaw, Sullivan’s Island, Seabrook Island and Jacksonboro. Each year our business brokers facilitate hundreds of local business sales within these communities. At our Charleston, South Carolina, office, our business brokers have more than 100 years of combined experience in selling businesses in this region. To learn more about how we can put our expertise to work for you and make it easier for you to sell your business, contact the Charleston, South Carolina, office of Morgan & Westfield in 4000 South Faber Place Drive, Suite 203, Charleston, South Carolina 29405 today.