The average business buyer, whether he/she is a person or a business, can easily get confused and frustrated with the time involved in putting together an LBO. But the time required to complete an LBO is dependent entirely on the motivation of the buyer and seller. Period. the Buyer and Seller drive the deal. Forget about brokers, bankers, accountants and lawyers. The principals of the transaction call the shots. If Seller A wants to give his business away to Buyer B, then the deal can take 1 hour to close. Realistically, if Seller A wants to provide Buyer B with favorable terms enough so that bank financing is not required, then again, the transaction can take an hour.  Finding such a Seller A can be the issue. From then on it is a numbers game, but at least we know what we are lookiing for.

You can plow through the deal markets for a long long time looking for the wrong thing. You may be looking for bank financing prematurely. You may be searching far and wide for professionals to help you along. You may be looking for a broker to send you the right deal. But in the final analysis you, the Buyer, need the right Seller.  The right Seller will make your life 1000% easier. He will like you and want to sell the company to you. He will be easy going and easy to deal with. He will be willing to hang in there for as long as it takes to close the deal. Will you know this person when you meet him? Not necessarily. Great Sellers, like great marriage partners, are never advertised as such, and can rarely be seen by the naked eye.  It will take some time for that seller to emerge. Once you find him hang on for dear life.

Now the same holds true for the Buyer.  If the Buyer can deal effectively with people, can assess the company fast, generates an offer,  negotiates in good faith, can marshall the resources to close the deal, then things will fall into place quickly. It happens all too often. But if the buyer is difficult to deal with, cannot line up financing, has little industry or management skill, puts on a poor show for the seller…. then things will move slowly.  So if you are one or the other of these players then you must put your best foot forward in order to have a smooth and efficient deal experience.  If you are one of these players in the process of assessing the other, then here is a keyword in the vocabulary: “humility”. If both players have a modicum of humility, things have a good chance to succeed.