22 Steps to Owning a Successful Business

"Establish your 'buying' team"
1 - Establish criteria
2 - Establish your "buying" team
3 - Revise your resume into the content and presentation favored by sellers

"Devise search system"
4 - Adapt your financial statements for sellers
5 - Understand all elements of negotiations
6 - Devise search system
7 - Role play your interviewing technique

"Start your analysis"
8 - Give seller a non-binding letter of intent
9 - Analyze documents
10 - Start your financial analysis

"Always have several businesses in analysis"
11 - Obtain a solvency opinion
12 - Preliminarily appraise value
13 - Continue data gathering
14 - Always have several businesses in analysis

"Update the valuation and financing alternatives"
15 - Identify alternate deal structures and financing scenarios
16 - Analyze five sets of non- financial factors which influence value
17 - Update the valuation and financing alternatives
18 - "Hand-Shake" agreement on significant terms of purchase

"Finish negotiations"
19 - Complete due diligence
20 - Finalize valuation and deal structuring
21 - Finish negotiations
22 - Prepare first draft of purchase document