The Art of Buying and Selling Businesses with David Barnett

In this episode, I chat to David Barnett who works with entrepreneurs around the world helping them to buy, sell and organise their small and medium sized businesses.

Whether you’re thinking about selling soon, down the track or just want to make your practice more valuable, this episode is for you.

From 1998 to 2005, Mr. Barnett was a major account representative with the Yellow Pages.  This opportunity gave him an insight into the particular challenges of small & medium businesses as he dealt daily with the owners of these companies.  In 2005, Mr. Barnett left the publishing industry to start a small business with a partner.  Their venture was an immediate success.  After opening, operating and building the business, an opportunity to sell presented itself in late 2006.  

In 2006, Mr. Barnett began building his professional consulting practice by starting Advantage Liquidity Partners Ltd. ALP Ltd. was a broker of commercial debt solutions for small and medium sized enterprises including commercial mortgages, business loans, factoring facilities, and capital leases.  Barnett has arranged such financing for hundreds of small and medium sized companies.  Working with entrepreneurs to build their companies and/or acquire other firms naturally led to the field of business brokerage.  

Barnett is an Amazon best-selling author with Invest Local: A guide to superior investment returns in your own community.  Recent new titles include Credit Card Advantage: Understand the Costs and Benefits to your Business and Franchise Warnings: What you really need to know before you buy.  All titles are available from Amazon or this website.

Barnett's April 2016 book; How To Sell My Own Business, became a best seller under Amazon's Entrepreneurship category in its release month.

In this episode, we discuss:

12:54: Choosing business models and building an asset that will sell

14:18: The importance of documenting systems and procedures to make a saleable business

20:51: Key tips for documenting your procedures and systems

28:07: Common mistakes people make when selling a business

33:33: Why you need to price your business correctly (you can’t just change it later)

34:53: Keeping business sales confidential to ensure the best outcomes for all

36:16: Mitigating cashflow risk in a small business for sale

28:29: What to look for when buying a business

38:59: When seller financing benefits the buyer

41:33: Why you should always seek out professional advice before buying or selling a business

Find out more about David Barnett

On his website http://www.investlocalbook.com