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A Key Element of a Successful Business Sale – The Limited Auction

By Generational Equity

03/20/2023

One of the crucial ideas that we communicate to business owners in our Growth and Exit Strategies Conferences is the limited auction process. Although the concept is relatively straightforward, the practice of creating a limited auction is not.

Intuitively, as with the sale of any asset (a car, a house, etc.) the idea of having as many buyers bidding on your business as possible, makes basic sense. Obviously if buyers are aware that you probably have other very interested parties involved, it will likely sweeten all the offers (and not just the ultimate sales price but also the deal structure, how much cash you get at closing, earnout terms, etc.).

This is perhaps one of the factors in Generational’s success over the years. The buyers we deal with know that one of the primary foundations of our business model is that our deal teams work really hard to create great buyer lists so that when the pool moves through the sales funnel, enough interested parties are left at the end to drive great deals for our clients.

And even if we are unable to actually create a full limited auction, just the idea that we might be doing so, often helps us get better deals for our clients. 

Keep in mind that juggling multiple interested parties is more art than science at times! We are good at it because we successfully close hundreds of businesses every year and our deal teams collectively have dozens and dozens of years of experience/practice in creating a limited auction. As the legendary coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” 

By continually honing our skills and focusing on creating a as many limited auctions as possible, we have seen great success. Don’t just take my word for it, take a look at some of our recent accolades:

But enough about us! We know that not every business owner we meet with is a good match for our services. Because of that, at our educational conferences, we provide tremendously detailed information on all key facets of a successful business sale, including how you can work on creating a limited auction for your business. Over 100K business owners have attended our highly educational Growth and Exit Conferences, taking away with them knowledge that they will use in their exit planning journeys. By attending one, you can too. 

To find one in your area, please use this link. And don’t worry, these are fully complimentary and require no future commitment on your part. We hold them because we are passionate and driven to help business owners create the legacy they deserve and exit on their own terms. To learn even more about us, please use the following links:

Carl Doerksen is the Director of Corporate Development at Generational Equity.

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