somewhere between property agents and M&A Advisors. Property agents are not trained to deal with an asset that is producing cash flow and all the ramifications that go with that so a business broker is required. However, business brokers are generally not trained or experienced in all the anomalies with funding, tax planning, complex equity structures, etc. that go with the larger transactions. M&A Advisors can work on transactions up into the billions and with public companies so this is, on the face of it, a broad category. Generally, the M&A Advisors that work with smaller businesses are in a segment called Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SME). Generally, the more experienced, better trained and certified the advisor is, the more effective they will be as with most other things in the world of business. M&A Advisors tend to have more training and should have engaged in significant education as well as gained certifications as a demonstration. Many of them started off as brokers early in their careers, so also have more experience. This is just a general guideline, who the Seller works with largely comes down to an individual preference for a specific firm or person.
Can a Buyer Buy a Business Without Help?
The answer to this question is yes, of course. As with all things in life, you could also service your own car, do your own plumbing, and file your own taxes. But does it really save any money? When you have a very complex transaction with many moving parts over four to six months, what are the chances the average person is going to engineer the best, multi-dimensional deal structure on the first go? Also, the general statistic that is discussed is that 75% of transactions fall through before they even make the closing table. A further 50% don't deliver the value that was expected. Much of this is due to poor
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