What to expect when your listing is live

Once your business is listed, we immediately begin working to find the right buyer. On average, it takes 4-6 months to sell a business. However, this timeline can vary based on market conditions, industry, and business-specific factors.

Historically, only 9% of businesses on the market successfully sell. At Baton, we’ve achieved a much higher success rate, thanks to our targeted buyer outreach, strong marketing strategies, and advisory support.

Certain factors can make it harder to sell a business, including:

• High Multiple: The asking price is significantly higher than similar businesses in your industry.

• High Inventory: Excessive inventory levels can deter buyers who don’t want to take on too much stock.

• High Real Estate Value: If a large portion of your business's value is tied to real estate, it can limit buyer interest.

To help increase buyer interest and make the deal more attractive, we use proven strategies such as seller financing and earn-outs. If the buyer is using a lender to fund the purchase, it is common for the lender to require these terms to be included as well:

1. Seller Financing
   Seller financing means you (the seller) agree to provide part or all of the funds for the buyer to purchase the business. The buyer then repays you over time, usually with interest. Offering this option can make your business more appealing, as it helps buyers access additional capital and lowers their upfront payment.

2. Earn-Outs
   An earn-out involves a portion of the purchase price being paid based on the business’s performance after the sale. For example, you could receive an extra 10% of the purchase price if the business generates $500,000 in revenue within two years. Earn-outs incentivize the new owner to maintain performance while also rewarding you for the business’s future success.

3. Other Approaches
   Your M&A advisor will work with you to explore additional strategies that make the deal smoother while ensuring a fair price. These can include adjusting the asking price or finding creative deal structures to appeal to more buyers.

We leverage a multi-channel approach to attract qualified buyers:

• Our network of over 10,000 buyers can see your listing on our platform.

• We also post your listing on partner listing sites, which links directly to your Baton listing for maximum visibility.

• Our outreach team actively contacts potential buyers through calls, texts, and emails, engaging them until they express serious interest.

Buyers typically learn about your business through these outreach efforts. Once a buyer shows interest, they are required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to access your full listing. This ensures that sensitive business details remain confidential, and only serious buyers proceed. Until the NDA is signed, buyers can only view anonymized listing details such as business size, industry, and general location.

After viewing your listing, buyers will encounter several key action items that help guide them through the evaluation process.

1. View Data Room
   The data room contains essential information about your business, such as financials, key contracts, and operational details. Buyers cannot move forward without first accessing this data. We monitor all buyer access, tracking who has viewed your data and ensuring that your information is secure.

2. Asking Questions
   Buyers can send questions directly to you through the platform regarding financials, operations, or other details about the business. These questions appear on your action items page, where you can respond quickly. Prompt and thorough responses improve buyer trust and engagement, helping to move the deal forward.

3. Buyer Qualification (Not available for Lite users)
   Interested buyers may schedule a call with your advisor to discuss the next steps in the transaction process. Your advisor works to qualify these buyers and guide them toward a buyer-seller meeting.

4. Buyer-Seller Meeting
   Buyers can request a meeting with you and your advisor, where they can introduce themselves and ask more thorough questions about your business. The purpose of this meeting is for the buyer to ask questions after reviewing the data room. Buyers may want to discuss your business's operations, employees, and day-to-day processes. However, this meeting does not focus on negotiating valuation or deal terms.

After the buyer-seller meeting, we follow up with buyers to maintain momentum and ensure progress toward an offer. Buyers may request follow-ups in the form of:

• Additional questions about the business.

• Another Zoom meeting to clarify details.

• An in-person meeting if they wish to see the business site.

Our goal is to limit these follow-ups to 1 to 3 touches to keep the deal moving efficiently. We continue tracking buyer engagement and work to secure an offer within a reasonable timeframe.