It’s rarely an easy decision to sell, and it’s often not a straightforward one either. You may want to sell all of your practice or you may want to just sell part of it. But whatever your requirements and however you want it to happen, we are here to help.
Confidentiality
You can be assured that confidentiality is a priority for us. We make sure that everyone in the process signs a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Throughout all of our years in business we have never known an NDA to get broken.
Understanding the Process
We understand that this is a difficult process, and we want to work closely with you to help you make sense of the grey areas and get the results you want. We do this all the time, but we know this is probably a first for you. There really is no stupid question, and we have the knowledge and experience to help you find the right buyer for your individual circumstances. We see ourselves working together with you as part of your team, focused together on getting the results you want.
Buyers Database
Alongside working closely with our sellers, we also work closely with buyers and we have a large database of buyers that are actively looking to purchase fees. Through this two-way relationship, we can help to match you with the right person and give you confidence in the decisions you make. Many of the buyers in our database have already worked with us to buy fees before, and if this is the case we may be able to provide references to help further put your mind at ease.
Urgent Requirement to Sell
In the rare and unfortunate case that you may need to sell your practice very quickly for personal reasons, we can assist with this. If circumstances require it, there are ways in which we can speed up the process. Should this be something you’d like to discuss, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Our fastest turnaround has been less than a week, but that was in exceptional circumstances.
See below for an overview of the process that we go through. We will work by your side from the very start right through to a successfully completed sale. We will act as the conduit between you and the buyer, giving you the space you need to get on with your job while still ensuring that the progression of your sale is given the attention it needs, avoiding any unnecessary delays.
The Process
Pre-sale valuation of your practice
The first step is always to talk things through with you. You will be given an idea of what you could expect from the sale of your practice and we will go over the potential timescale. This will ensure you can start to make plans for what to do after you have sold your fees.
Different ways you can be paid
There is a range of ways that you could be paid for your fees and we will discuss this with you. We can also help to advise on suitable payment terms. This will aid you with your planning e.g. synchronising with the end of a lease, a significant birthday, the draw down of your pensions etc. It puts you in a position of control for your financial future.
When to go to market
There are good and not so good times in the year to put your practice on the market. We will share with you our guidance and advice as to the consequences of putting your practice on the market at different times of the year, and we will help you pick the right time for you. If we feel it is right for you to delay the sale of your practice by a few months, we will let you know the reasons why.
Where to look for buyers
Advice will be given as to who may be interested in buying your fees, giving you a clear understanding of the chance of a buyer being found. This can be invaluable if you are coming to the end of a tenancy agreement and you need to give notice to the landlord.
Meeting your criteria for selling
We will ensure that all criteria set by you are met by the buyer. For example, a buyer has to be audit registered, the buyer has to take on the office and/or your staff, the buyer has to be qualified etc. This will eliminate time wasters.
Arranging a day for you to meet interested buyers
We ask you to set aside a day in your diary to meet all potential buyers on a one to one basis and in complete confidence. A meeting day is especially useful because it speeds up the process of selling, allows you to compare buyers instantly, and you can decide very early on if you would not like to take things further with any party. Then leave it with us and we will deal with the buyer on your behalf.
Coaching Call
As this process is most likely to be new to you, before you meet with any potential buyers we will discuss with you in detail how to run these meetings. We will let you know what questions to ask and what the buyer will expect from you. We will explain how to structure the deal, multiple to ask for and time scale for completion. This call normally lasts for about an hour. Many of our vendors have said that this is the most important and helpful part of the whole process.
Vetting all offers
All offers are sent to us before being forwarded to you. This is to make sure that everything which needs to be covered in the offer is covered. It frees up your time by making sure you are only dealing with serious buyers. We will clarify with the buyer any contradictions, ambiguities or omissions in the offer.
Negotiating offers
We can be your sounding board. You have access to all of our experience and can ask if the offer is reasonable. If you have never sold before, we are a valuable resource. We can be the liaison between buyer and seller to help you get the best offer possible. If you are unhappy with an item in the offer, we can go back to the buyer and negotiate a better deal for you.
Acceptance of the offer
When you’re ready, we will let the buyer know that you have accepted their offer. If there are other offers on the table, we will let those other buyers know that they have not been successful. But we do ask for their permission to go back to them should the deal not complete. This frees up your time and means you are not faced with a potentially difficult situation.
Completion
We keep an eye on proceedings from offer through to completion. We can help with what to cover in due diligence and can recommend a very good solicitor who is a specialist in the field of buying and selling accountancy practices.
Communication
All communication between seller and buyer is through us up to the point of acceptance of the offer. This means that you will not get buyers contacting you when you have a business to run. Most vendors are very concerned about confidentiality and do not want, under any circumstances, to be contacted by buyers directly. We are the conduit and will make sure no buyer contacts you without your express permission. After the due diligence meeting, contact is directly between you and the buyer, but we ask that you copy us in on emails so that we may track progress up to the point of completion.
Whether you are definitely ready to start this journey or you have further questions to ask, the first step is to always get in touch with us. Contact us via email or phone and we can take it from there. We look forward to hearing from you.
Selling your practice?
If you are seriously considering selling some, or all, of your fees, then take advice from the experts.
Draper Hinks
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Click HereYour very pleasant, excellent service and support has enabled us to progress very satisfactorily in the transfer of our clients. We appreciate all the personal time that you put into finding the right person for us, for which we are truly grateful.Maureen and David Wheeler, Milton Keynes - Seller