Trusted Guidance When A Small Business Changes Hands
Any attorney can look over your purchase agreement or conduct due diligence. And these tasks are certainly necessary for you to be able to proceed with confidence. But at Slinde Nelson, we do much more.
Call 503-567-1234 to discuss your business-related issues.
How Should Your Deal Be Structured?
We will help you understand how to structure your offer letter and how to get through due diligence. For buyers, we can provide introductions between you and the clients and suppliers that can help your business grow. We can give you advice on marketing and distribution. For sellers, we can help dress your business for maximum returns. How?
It’s because, before and after we became attorneys, we were just like you — and we still are. Our business lawyers have bought, managed, grown and sold successful business of their own. And they know how to help you succeed and grapple with important issues that will affect you every day. They can also answer questions related directly to buying a business, like:
- What’s the difference between a stock sale and an asset sale?
- How do I perform due diligence when buying a business?
- How do I avoid problems in employment law?
Buyers Need Counsel, Too!
Sellers naturally have the upper hand by having the preponderance of negotiating power. They know the company. They’ve been preparing for this moment for perhaps years. They’ve recast their books and they have representation in the person of the broker and probably a lawyer and a CPA and you’re coming in completely from the cold. It’s the buyer’s job to level the field, which isn’t tough to do if you’re willing to take some time to prepare, but it has to be done at the initial meeting.
In our estimation, buyers need to understand that a business transaction such as buying a business will necessarily involve negotiation, and the first negotiating opportunity for both parties is at the moment of their first meeting. Someone is going to come out on top, whether they know it or not. Even if neither party understands this, it’s going to happen. We make sure our clients know the single most important thing they can do to completely turn the tables in their favor. We make sure they know the questions to ask, what to say and what not to say. Everything said and everything left unsaid at the initial meeting will set the tone of the entire transaction.
Get The Assistance You Need
If you’d like to talk with an experienced business purchase lawyer at our firm, you’re certainly more than welcome. From offices in Portland, Oregon, we help clients in both Oregon and Washington.
Call or contact us online for a free, brief consultation to see firsthand that our contacts and experience with the M&A community are invaluable to helping our clients buy and sell businesses.