Our Process: How We Sell Your Business

Selling a business feels overwhelming. Dozens of moving pieces. Buyers, lawyers, accountants, lenders - all needing coordination. Meanwhile, you’re still running the company.

Most owners either burn out managing it themselves or give up and accept a lowball offer just to make it stop.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Here’s what working with Arx looks like: You keep running your business. We handle everything else - finding buyers, negotiating offers, coordinating every detail to closing. When it’s done, the wire hits, and you walk away knowing you got the best deal the market could offer.

Your Job, Our Job

You: Keep running an excellent business. Be available. Be transparent.

Us: Everything else - evaluation, strategy, outreach, negotiation, due diligence, coordination, closing.

Typical timeline: 6-9 months | Our fastest sale: 15 days (all cash, exceptional)

How We’re Different

Step 1: Find Out If It Makes Sense

Goal: Determine if selling makes sense for you - and if we’re the right team to do it.

We start with a conversation - no cost, no obligation.

We talk about your business, your goals, and whether we’re the right fit for each other. We assess marketability, likely buyer universe, and realistic outcomes.

We’re selective. We turn down about 85% of inquiries - not because they’re bad businesses, but because we only take projects where:

• The business is truly marketable (strong financials, clean operations)
• We can deliver results worth more than our fee
• The owner’s goals and timeline align with market realities

If that’s not your situation, we’ll tell you and suggest the best path forward - which might be “not yet” or “different advisor.”

Schedule your free consultation

Step 2: Know Exactly What You’re Worth

Goal: Know exactly what your business is worth - and why.

This isn’t a back-of-napkin estimate. Our evaluations are led by a Certified M&A Professional (CM&AP) and backed by a CPA and Certified Financial Valuation Analyst.

We analyze your financials, interview you about operations, assess your market position, and determine what buyers will actually pay - financial value AND strategic value.

Timeline: About 10 business days once we have documents.

What you get: A complete evaluation report with realistic value range, lender pre-qualification, and identification of hidden value drivers.

See what makes our evaluation different.

Step 3: Choose the Strategy That Maximizes Value

Goal: Choose the approach that maximizes your outcome - not the only one we know.

Most brokers in the lower middle market only know one approach: slap a price on it and list it. We’re different.

We determine the right strategy for YOUR business:

• Priced listing - when the market has clear comps and buyers expect a set price
• Competitive bid / auction - when strategic value, high growth, or sophisticated buyers warrant creating competition

This is a capability gap. Legacy brokers can’t run auctions - they don’t have the experience or the process. We do.

Proof: On a recent biotech transaction, our competitive bid process achieved 50% higher than all other offers and double the original financial valuation.

Learn more about how we choose your go-to-market strategy.

Step 4: Position Your Business for Premium Buyers

Goal: Position your business to attract premium buyers and justify your asking price.

We create professional marketing materials - a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM), teaser documents, and targeted outreach campaigns.

Everything uses code names and oblique references until buyers are vetted. You approve everything before it goes out.

Timeline: About 1 week.

Step 5: Bring Every Qualified Buyer to the Table

Goal: Bring every qualified buyer to the table - not just whoever stumbles across a listing.

This is where we’re fundamentally different from post-and-pray brokers who list your business and wait.

We actively reach out to 250+ targeted buyers per deal - competitors, strategic acquirers, private equity, and our internal database of active buyers. Email and phone outreach directly to decision-makers.

How We Protect Confidentiality at Each Stage

Stage 1: Initial Outreach (Code Name Only) Your business has a code name. We share general industry and geography, high-level financials, and key selling points. No company name. No address. No identifying details.

Stage 2: NDA and Teaser (Still Anonymous) Interested buyers sign an NDA. They receive a teaser document with more details - business model, customer mix in general terms, growth trajectory. Still no company name.

Stage 3: Financial Vetting and CIM Buyer provides financial proof - we verify they can actually close. Only then do they receive the Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) with full financials and operations. Company name is STILL withheld.

Stage 4: Buyer-Seller Meeting (Full Disclosure) Only after full vetting - NDA signed, financials verified, serious interest confirmed - do we reveal the company name and arrange a meeting.

Key principle: We never share YOUR financials until the buyer has shared THEIRS. We’re the single point of contact controlling all information flow. You approve everything before it goes out.

Timeline: 4-8 weeks for initial outreach and buyer screening phase.

Deep dive: How we find buyers.

Step 6: Get the Best Deal, Not Just the First Offer

Goal: Get you the best deal - price, terms, and fit - not just the first offer.

We represent you exclusively. No dual representation, no divided loyalty.

Creating Competition Among Buyers

One buyer makes one offer. Five buyers make five offers - and compete against each other. More demand equals higher price.

A real example: For a recent biotech client, we reached out to approximately 350 strategic buyers. The result: 6 formal offers. Competitive bidding drove the winning offer 50% HIGHER than all other bids - and achieved double the initial financial valuation.

How We Vet Every Buyer

By the time you sit down with a buyer, they’ve been thoroughly vetted:

• Pre-qualified by phone or email
• Signed NDA
• Provided their own financials first
• Demonstrated capability to close
• Understood expectations on price and terms

Your role in buyer meetings: Answer their questions and assess fit. No convincing, no selling - just determining if they’re the right acquirer for your business.

Negotiating Your Deal

When offers come in, we advise on the full picture - not just price, but terms, structure, risk, and fit. We negotiate on your behalf and position you for the best outcome.

Sometimes a slightly lower all-cash offer beats a higher offer with risky earnouts. We help you see what matters.

You’re in control: You can pause or stop the process at any time before closing. If a deal doesn’t meet your goals, we walk away together. Our success fee model means we’re only paid when you’re happy with the outcome.

Timeline: 2-4 weeks from first offers to signed LOI.

Understand our transparent fee structure.

Step 7: Get to Closing Without Surprises

Goal: Get to closing without surprises, retrades, or deal collapse.

This is where most deals die. Buyers dig in, find things they don’t like, and try to renegotiate.

Our experience makes the difference. We:

• Spot potential trouble spots before they become deal-killers
• Help both parties find common ground - unemotionally
• Set realistic expectations on both sides
• Propose creative solutions when issues arise
• Prevent retrades before they start
• Protect your interests at every turn

We’ve already built a data room during evaluation. We’re the single point of contact - you don’t deal with multiple buyer advisors directly. We keep things moving.

Timeline: 30-60 days.

Step 8: Remove Financing Risk Before You Commit

Goal: Remove financing risk before you commit to a deal.

If the buyer needs financing, we work directly with lenders to ensure they get what they need. If a buyer doesn’t have financing lined up, we can connect them with appropriate lenders.

We pre-qualify buyers financially before you ever meet them - no wasted time on buyers who can’t close.

This runs concurrent with due diligence.

Step 9: Close Clean and Move On

Goal: Clean exit with no surprises, smooth handoff, and peace of mind.

We coordinate closing logistics - escrow, final approvals, paperwork, wire transfers.

Then we help structure and advise on the transition. How long will you stay? What’s your role? How do you hand off relationships, knowledge, and operations without chaos?

Timeline: 2-4 weeks for closing coordination; transition period varies by deal terms.

Closing day: The wire hits. The anxiety lifts. The business you built is in good hands.

You Don’t Manage This Alone

Throughout the process, we connect you with and coordinate between all the professionals you need:

• M&A attorneys who understand these deals
• CPAs and tax advisors for tax mitigation strategies
• Wealth advisors for post-exit financial planning
• Lenders when buyer financing is needed

You don’t need to manage all these relationships. That’s our job.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I consider an auction process for my business?

It depends on your business. Auctions work best when there’s strategic value beyond financial value - proprietary technology, market position, or high growth that different buyers might value differently. We’ll recommend the right approach during our go-to-market strategy discussion (Step 3). Most brokers in this market can’t run auctions - we can.

How long will this take?

Typical timeline is 6-9 months from engagement to closing. Our fastest sale was 15 days (all cash, exceptional circumstances). Timeline depends on business complexity, buyer financing, and due diligence requirements.

How much of my time will this take?

We minimize your time commitment so you can keep running your business. The heaviest involvement is during due diligence when buyers have questions. Otherwise, you’re running your business while we run the sale.

What if I change my mind mid-process?

You can pause or stop at any time before closing. No penalty. Our success-fee model means we only get paid when you close a deal you’re happy with.

Will my employees, customers, or competitors find out?

Not unless you want them to. We use code names and staged disclosure throughout. Nothing identifiable is shared until buyers are vetted, have signed NDAs, and are financially qualified. See Step 5 for our confidentiality protocol.

Ready to Start?

The hardest part is the first conversation. After that, everything changes.

You’ll have clarity about what your business is worth. You’ll have a team running the process while you run your business. You’ll have a proven system that’s worked hundreds of times.

The anxiety lifts. The path is clear. And when closing day comes, you’ll know you got the best deal the market could offer.

Continue exploring: Why choose Arx · How we find buyers · Our fees · Success stories