Selling or buying a business is one of the most important financial decisions you will make.

A CII Professional Business Advisor has the training and expertise to guide you through the process in a comfortable and efficient manner. He is a team player who will coordinate the efforts of your professional advisors, such as attorneys and accountants. He has handled a multitude of transactions and understands the complexities of selling and buying a business. CII Business Advisors have the expertise, tools, and contacts to evaluate, market, and sell your business successfully.

Consider the following:

1. Confidentiality

CII Business Advisors specialize in the confidential representation of their clients. A CII Business Advisor acts on your behalf while allowing your business to remain anonymous until the proper time. This is particularly important if you do not wish your employees, banks, suppliers, competitors or customers to find out prematurely that you are planning to sell your business.

2. Over 200 Years of Combined Experience

CII’s Professional Business Advisors share over 200 years of broker and commercial business experience, often working in teams to create greater value for their clients. They have the experience to handle the sale of your business in an efficient and professional manner. They know the procedures, the forms required and the proper methodology to protect you during the sale process. They have spent a number of years developing an understanding of the current market and the acquisition process and are an invaluable resource in the business sales process.

3. Your CII Business Advisor knows how to Market your Business

A Blind Business Profile and/or a Confidential Business Review are tools that your CII Advisor uses when promoting the sale of your business. A Blind Business Profile is a brief marketing piece which does not include the name or location of your business in order to maintain confidentiality. Its purpose is to present all the important details about your business including basic financials, your facilities, your employees and an upbeat description without specifically identifying your business. It is easy to read and is intended to provide sufficient information in order to gage the interest level of the reader. The elements of a Confidential Business Review are much more detailed and similar to what you might expect to find in a business plan that is prepared for a financial institution. This is given to serious buyers only after they have signed a Confidentiality Agreement.

4. CII Maintains a Database of Potential Buyers

CII maintains a database of over a thousand ready, willing, and able buyers who are financially and operationally capable of buying a business. It is very important that those who are going to be looking over proprietary information about your business are seriously interested in completing a transaction.

5. “Business as Usual” Mindset

Nationwide it typically takes 9 to 11 months to sell a business, but it can take a year or more. Wanting to get the best price possible for your company means your business has to continue to function as usual. Maintaining the status quo insures that employees feel secure and don’t contemplate leaving, and your clients know that service and quality will be maintained. If a business is for sale, it is especially important to continue in the same efficient manner.
During the sales process, a Seller’s job is to do what he does best, which is to run the business as if he were going to keep it. Your CII Business Advisor’s job is to confidentially market the business, find and screen the Buyers, educate them, negotiate the terms of the sale and provide a buffer for the emotional highs and lows that you will most likely experience.

A CII Professional Business Advisor is vital in the sale of a business. He acts on your behalf, guiding you successfully through the process.
If you decide to proceed with the sale of your business, CII then prepares custom-tailored presentation documents, develops buyer prospect lists from its contact files and other resources, screens the buyer prospects, and introduces only serious, qualified buyers to you.

CII will handle the entire transaction from the initial introduction of the buyer through closing, including coordination with attorneys, accountants, landlords, leasing and utility companies, and title companies.

You may ask: “Why can’t I sell my business by myself?” There are several reasons why you should choose not to:

• You may find it nearly impossible to maintain anonymity and confidentiality.
• You may not be knowledgeable in current areas of law, accounting and taxes.
• You may not be experienced in preparing effective marketing materials.
• You may not have access to databases and software that will provide valuable information to determine the appropriate selling price in the current market.
• You may not have the ability or time to contact, screen and qualify a large group of prospects to find a qualified buyer.
• You may come to realize that your time and talent is much more effectively utilized by managing your business.
• You may not have the experience, knowledge, and negotiating skills necessary to sell your company efficiently.
• Your emotions might get the best of you during the sales process and cloud your judgment. CII Advisors act as a buffer between you and the buyer in order to retain the relationship.

CII has a trained professional staff, knowledgeable and skilled in business transfers, who will make the sale of your business a pleasant experience.

Contact us to find out how CII can help you and experience “The CII Advantage” today.

Why Choose CII?

All of our previous clients and customers selected CII to assist them in the sale or purchase of their business for the same reasons:

• The needs of our clients and customers always come first.
• Successfully completed over 1,000 business transactions.
• One of the highest success ratios in the world, greater than three times the national average.
• Professionally trained advisors with over 200 years of combined experience.
• A highly respected company with its combined experience of over 50 years.
• CII adheres to the highest professional standards and a strict code of ethics.
• CII provides all the services required to successfully complete a business transaction from the initial meeting to the final closing.
• A multifaceted firm, specializing in:

• Business Valuations
• Exit Strategies
• Business Sales and Acquisitions
• Buyer Representation and Acquisition Searches