The Structured Sale™
Selling a business is the biggest financial event of an owner's life. It deserves a real process, not a hustle.
The Structured Sale™ is what we call the methodology we run on every sell-side engagement. Three steps, each with a clear purpose, a deliverable, and a checkpoint. We run it this way because unstructured sales lose money: on price, on deal terms, on buyer fit, and on the time it costs the owner. The point of running it the same way every time is not bureaucracy. It is so that when the bigger decisions show up, price, fit, terms, timing, we have the room to give them our full attention.
You will know exactly what the market thinks in under 30 days.
Once we get past the pre-market diagnostics, the first 30 days of confidential market activity tell us which buyer profiles engage, what their indicative offers look like, and where the real fit lives. You learn what your business is worth to the actual market, not what a single broker thinks you will take, in under a month.
How the Structured Sale™ compares to your alternatives
All four paths can get a business sold. The differences show up in pricing rigor, deal documentation, buyer reach, team depth, and how the process is run day to day.
Competition is the only ethical way to get paid what your business is actually worth, to the particular buyer making the offer.
Before they have competition, buyers are only trying to pay you the minimum that they can to get you to do the deal. When they have competition, they will pay you what the business is actually worth to them, for fear of losing the deal to another buyer who would pay more, because the business really is worth more.
How the Structured Sale™ runs
Research & Prepare
We start with a sit-down, face to face, at the business. Often after hours, because confidentiality is the highest priority. We walk the premises, talk through your objectives, and make recommendations based on what we see.
Most engagements start with a valuation and assessment. Our senior analyst pulls industry comps, sales data, and market intelligence. We then perform a valuation under NACVA Professional Standards, a defensible written report, the kind a bank can underwrite against, and walk you through what it shows.
That valuation establishes fair market value, the agreed baseline before we go to market. It is not a ceiling. Our goal is investment value (also called deal value): what a synergistic buyer will pay, which is meaningfully above fair market value. The Structured Sale™ is built to surface and capture that gap.
Documents needed for evaluation
- 3 years of profit and loss statements + year-to-date P&L
- 3 years of tax returns
- 3 years of balance sheets + current balance sheet
- Itemized list of all furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E)
- Value of inventory
- For real estate: legal description, plats, recent appraisals, or copy of the lease if leasing
Go To Market
Once we agree the business is ready, we sign a sell-side engagement letter and build the Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM), blind teaser, financial package, and data room while we define the ideal-buyer profile. For businesses with a physical location, we scan the premises with a 3D camera and produce a Matterport Virtual Reality model so qualified buyers can walk through the business without interfering with daily operations.
Then we run the full marketing program. Traditional channels (telephone, websites, direct mail, email, industry relationships) plus modern ones (direct keyword campaigns, social, video, paid ads, and several proprietary techniques we have built over the years). As buyers respond, we pre-screen each one for financial capability with a confidentiality form and a financial statement. Qualified buyers get the blind teaser first, then the full package and the 3D scan. When a buyer is serious, we schedule a Buyer/Seller meeting, the seller's first direct involvement in the process.
Close
Once an offer is accepted, due diligence begins. Our process is built to give the seller high credibility with the buyer and make due diligence as clean as possible. We coach the seller through their responses and handle the buyer's requests. When closing is in sight, we work with the agreed-upon closing attorney to draft the definitive agreement. A walk-through of the business happens right before closing. Buyer and seller meet at the closing attorney's office, documents get signed, the seller is issued their check, and the buyer and seller typically go straight to the business to start the transition.
Principles that run through every stage
- Confidentiality first. NDA before name. Your team and your competitors do not find out until you decide they do.
- Defensible numbers. Every price, multiple, or projection ties back to a documentable methodology.
- Buyer fit over headline price. The best deal is rarely the highest offer.
- You stay informed and in control. Weekly updates. No closed-door negotiations.
- Your engagement lead is in every room. Duran Advisors' SOP requires a senior advisor in every call, every buyer meeting, and every closing, not a junior associate.
- Fully transparent pipeline. You and your team see every lead come in, every status change as it happens, in real time. No "I'll let you know when I hear something." The buyer process is visible end to end.
What would the Structured Sale™ look like for your business?
Start with a confidential conversation. We will talk about your business, your goals, and what the pre-market diagnostics would tell you.
Start the conversation