Your Next Business Might Already Be Listed!
See what Chuma currently has listed for sale through Transworld Business Advisors.
Chuma’s Transworld ListingsSelling your business is a managed transaction, not a listing
Selling your business isn’t simply a matter of putting it on the market and waiting for someone to make an offer. My role is to professionally manage the transaction from the initial valuation all the way through closing while protecting the confidentiality of your business.
We begin by sitting down and understanding your business: its financial performance, its assets, how involved you are in the day-to-day operation, why you’re considering selling, and what you would ultimately like to accomplish.
From there, we analyze the financials and determine a realistic market position for the business. I will need documentation such as your tax returns, profit-and-loss statements, and other financial and operational information so that we can properly represent the company’s earnings and value.
Once we agree that the business is ready to go to market, we prepare it for a confidential sale. Unlike selling a house, we generally don’t want employees, customers, vendors, or competitors unnecessarily learning that the business is for sale, so it’s marketed without initially revealing its identity.
When prospective buyers inquire, my job is to screen them. We want to know that they are serious, financially capable, and appropriately qualified before we begin providing sensitive information — confidentiality agreements are signed before that information is released.
From there, I coordinate qualified buyers, questions, meetings, and ultimately offers. Once we have an acceptable offer, the buyer enters the due-diligence stage and verifies the financial, operational, and legal information concerning the business. I then help manage the transaction between the buyer, seller, attorneys, accountants, lender, landlord, and any other parties necessary to get us to the closing table.
So my job isn’t simply to find someone who says they want to buy your business. My job is to help determine what you are selling, position it properly, protect its confidentiality, locate and qualify potential buyers, facilitate the negotiations, and keep all the moving pieces coordinated through closing and transition.
Your job during this process is equally important: continue running the business successfully. The stronger the company performs while we’re marketing it, the stronger the opportunity remains for prospective buyers.
“You run the business. I manage the sale.”
— Chuma Hicks-Reese, Associate Vice President, Business Broker
More than someone who lists businesses
Valuation Guidance
Analyzing your financials to establish a market position the business can actually support — not just the highest number I can write down.
Confidential Marketing
Presenting the opportunity to the market without exposing the identity of your business to employees, customers, or competitors.
Buyer Screening
Qualifying every inquiry financially before sensitive information is released, and requiring a signed confidentiality agreement first.
Negotiation Support
Working through price, terms, financing, and contingencies so the offer you accept is one you can actually close on.
Transaction Coordination
Acting as the quarterback between you, the buyer, attorneys, accountants, lenders, and landlords through closing.
Exit Management
Carrying the process through transition — not disappearing the moment funds change hands.
My job is not merely to advertise your business. My job is to create a market for it while protecting the business you have built.
Joe’s Auto Repair — Business For Sale
Profitable Metro Atlanta Automotive Repair Business — Established 18 Years
The 7-stage business sale
Discovery
Understand the business and what you’re ultimately trying to accomplish by selling it.
Valuation
Analyze financial performance and establish a defensible market position.
Preparation
Organize the financials and build the confidential marketing materials.
Confidential Marketing
Expose the opportunity to the marketplace without unnecessarily exposing the identity of the business.
Buyer Qualification
Screen prospects financially and require a signed confidentiality agreement before sensitive information is released.
Offer & Due Diligence
Negotiate terms and coordinate the buyer’s investigation, financing, attorneys, accountants, and landlord.
Closing & Transition
Move the transaction through closing and help facilitate a successful handoff to the new owner.
What to bring to our first conversation
You don’t need a complete file to start the conversation — we’ll build the full financial picture together. Having these on hand simply gets us moving faster.
- Three years of business tax returns
- Profit-and-loss statements, plus current year-to-date
- A recent balance sheet
- Your debt schedule
- Lease or franchise agreement, if applicable
- A general sense of your equipment, inventory, and assets
Everything shared stays confidential from the first conversation forward.