One of the first steps that you should take after you have decided to sell is to work with your M&A intermediary to ascertain what type of buyer will best suit your company. You have invested countless hours, money, and emotion into growing your business. It could be devastating to sell your business to a buyer who is not the right fit only to watch them slowly run the business into the ground or bleed it dry due to hidden agendas.

When it comes to mergers and acquisitions, one of the key factors that an investor looks for in an M&A opportunity is a business with high levels of predictability in recurring revenues. Oftentimes, these buyers will prefer to invest in businesses possessing exclusive assets. These assets create barriers to entry which aids in long term profitability by helping to prevent competitors from breaking into the market.