We use the information gleaned from the company and the market study to prepare marketing materials to position the company, tell its story, and address issues up front where appropriate.

These materials include a one-page summary masking your business’s identity (a “no-name teaser” or “teaser”), as well as a detailed confidential information memorandum (a “CIM”) that, when appropriate, is accompanied by a financial supplement with pro forma and historical financials and pre-arranged (“stapled”) financing.

The CIM typically includes:

An executive summary

A business overview and history

The organizational structure within a corporate family, if applicable

Summary of product and service offerings

Summary of current sales and marketing efforts

Growth opportunities

Competition

Risks

Summary and recast of financials

Where appropriate for interested parties, the financial supplement will include more in-depth historical financials, projections, and other information, such as revenue mix and other items.

The marketing materials need to address common buyer questions, such as:

Why the seller is considering a transaction

What the desired transaction is

Profitability

What makes the business different

Growth opportunities

Competitive advantages

Brand

Marketing strategy

People

In addition, getting out ahead of negatives like lack of growth, sales limitations, customer concentration issues, and management limitations is also often helpful. These issues will come up in diligence, and getting in front of them allows the seller to be viewed as forthright and transparent, which is particularly important in a process that depends heavily on trust.