So, you are contemplating the sale of your tax and accounting practice and are not sure how to proceed. You likely have a lot of uncertainty about the value of the business and the likelihood of finding a suitable buyer… and mixed emotions about exiting the business and transferring the clients to a new practitioner.
What is your first step? Or your next step? How should you proceed to determine whether a sale is the right step for you at this time?
We are here to discuss these topics and many more with you as you begin to chart out your exit strategy. Your tax and accouting practice does have value and you should reap the financial reward tied to all the time, effort and sacrifice you have given to your business and your clients over the years.
One question you may have is whether a broker fee is worth it. Does a broker really earn their fee?
We believe that is an important question every seller needs to contemplate and can only share what differentiates us in the market and is at the core of how we earn our fees:
First, let’s be clear that there is a lot of work that goes into selling a practice: from packaging the sales presentation…finding and evaluating all the potential buyers, getting them under non-disclosure agreements and into process as we discover their needs and interest…to setting up meetings, managing the meeting agenda and determining next steps after meetings… following up with all the interesting buyers…through fielding, evaluating, negotiating and accepting offers…organizing and managing due diligence…coordinating and staying on top off bank financing…all the way to the final sales contact, transition planning, and closing. With so many issues and potential mis-steps along the way.
We are a full-service broker. A high level of service is at the heart of our approach with our clients (usually sellers) and customers (usually buyers). Like your business, ours is a constant conflict between time, number of clients, and the level of service provided. The reality is the more clients we have, the less time we can spend on each client and the result is a lower level of service. So, we limit the number of practices we represent to anywhere between 5-10 for a new broker to 15-20 for our most experienced. This ensures we can be as responsive as needed and provide the highest level of service the client, customer, and transaction require.
Most of our competitors are volume brokers, getting as many listings as they can, providing limited service and letting the cards fall where they may. A single broker or salesperson will manage 30-50 listings. This seems to work for them, but we are not sure how well it works for their clients.
The result of these different approaches is that we have historically sold a significantly higher percentage of practices we represent compared to our competitors. More importantly perhaps, is that we have addressed our clients and customers needs in a timely manner and, hopefully, found an ideal fit between the parties because of the extra time we have provided to the process.
One of our past clients, in her own words, made this point in a Google review of ProHorizons she posted a few years back. She ended it with this observation:
“… I have to confess that I worked with a different brokerage company prior to ProHorizons and, in that experience, I had to do just about everything ProHorizons did (screen buyers, negotiate directly with buyers, etc.) with very little support from or access to the broker. What a waste of my time and energy! ProHorizons was definitely a breath of fresh air and I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone looking to sell or buy a practice.”
-Trish Carroll
We can share more about what differentiates ProHorizons in the marketplace, but would rather let two more our clients share their thoughts through the Google reviews they posted in the past few months:
“ProHorizons sold my practice for me and I was very happy with the process and the results. My practice was previously listed with another brokerage firm for about a year, there was no personal attention or communication; I felt like they posted it on their website and just waited for someone to call. ProHorizons was much more proactive and communicated with me regularly from the time the practice was listed all of the way through the closing of the sale. Within about 10 months, we had a full price, all cash offer with no contingencies. ProHorizons was very professional and provided great advice all the way through the sale process. My only wish is that I had used ProHorizons from the beginning instead of wasting a year with the other broker.”
-Michael Anderson
“I previously listed my practice with another broker, who did virtually nothing to market my practice. After talking with ProHorizons, I listed with them. ProHorizons provided excellent communication, and brought me two offers within a reasonable time frame. I sold to one of them. In all, I had a great experience working with ProHorizons and would highly recommend them.”
-Scott M.
So, if you are juggling the concerns and uncertainties of selling your practice, contact us. We are here to have a conversation and assist you in charting your exit plans. Call us or send us an email and we can get an exploratory conversation on the schedule.
