Cost of Searching

Cost of Searching

One of the key decisions in buying a business is how to pay your bills while you are searching for it. You will have search expenses, living expenses and perhaps some substantial personal debt to take care of. Having investors pay your salary and expenses for two years while you search is a solution if you follow the “traditional funding” route, but may not be feasible if you have geographic restrictions or cannot relocate. If you decide to self-fund your search expenses, it is even more critical to understand the potential costs you will be facing as you move through the process and get to a final closing. Being “thrifty” and “frugal” are important skills for an EtA Searcher/CEO!

16 searcher/CEO’s, funded and self-funded, shared data on their search process costs. Each search was different and there was a huge range from $49K to $897K for all in-costs by the time closing arrived. The average cost for a funded-searcher, excluding salary and the back-end deal expenses for legal costs, was $98K while self-funded searchers were $47K, who are more geographically constrained with lower travel costs.

Costs in the search process

Most searchers reported minor startup costs that included business cards, domain name registration, incorporation papers to be an average $2,800 and a low of $250. A few reported higher costs because they held foreign passports, with the highest cost reported at $15,000 to kick off their search.

For office space, a some worked out of a home office (3), or utilized free common work space (2) at a University in a start-up incubator or working out of open space in a library with enough space for a half dozen interns. On the high end, monthly rent was $862/month while the average was $592/month and the lowest $379. Locating within easy access of a college area and having enough space to accommodate 5-15 interns is an important planning consideration.

Office supplies and internet/utility services typically came in at $293/month on average and included both variable costs such as envelopes, snacks/beverages for interns and also some fixed costs for a printer, desks, chairs and tables. Postage and mailing costs varied widely depending on the use of snail-mail vs. email for outbound prospecting. One searcher spent $8,625 and the average was $4,025 for an entire search. Length of search has an impact on these variable costs, and the sample ranged from 10 to 30 months with an average of 18 months spent searching.

Software CRM and Bulk-email systems, were reported to be as low as $200 and a high of $4,300 with the median at $1,220. Costs for databases and broker aggregators were carefully assessed for their value and many reported dropping these services after a year. After all, between you and your intern team, you can gather information on brokers and sellers on your own. One searcher found that “Axial allowed me to build my broker database further and to get a deal flow, but the deals are competitive and not of the highest quality. I don’t think it is worth the $7,500 annual cost. Deal Nexus costs between $2,000 and $2,500 per year with smaller deal flow and was less competitive – I thought it was worth it”. One searcher spent a high of $13,800 for these services with the average being at $2,590. Annual costs for tax preparation cost searchers $550 to $3,450 per year.

The largest variable cost during searching is related to travel, motels and meals (T&E). Most searchers reported that early in their search they traveled too much and found that travel costs rose as they approached closing if the seller was not located in their search geography. They learned to group their travel and fly at off-peak times, avoid hotels in favor of couch surfing, and book rental cars/air travel far in advance to avoid the steep short-notice costs. As would be expected, funded searchers with a nationwide focus averaged travel costs at $43K, with a high of $77K and low of $13K, while the self-funded searchers, some of whom did search broadly, spent an average of $8K with one as high as $11K and, amazingly, a dual team recording only $380 for gas during their entire 11 months searching before taking over ownership of their business!

75% of searchers offered to pay “finders fees” for introductions using variations on the Lehman Formula. However, none ended up paying any fees during their process. One searcher said, “in retrospect, while seductive, it was just not worth dealing with it, since our own net was wide enough to capture enough potential sellers”.

For the most part, searchers, all of whom prepared a 2-year budget, were not surprised at where their spending levels came out. A few reported that they had spent less than they expected on travel costs.

Unpredictable costs raise risk factor

The most significant swing in search costs were legal fees at the back end of the process. Adam Barker at New Forest claimed that “legal and busted deal costs were the most difficult to manage because they require tough risk/reward trade-offs.” Generally, searchers can work with attorneys who understand the search model and are willing to defer their fees until a transaction closes. Paul Thomson at Scottish American declares that “you should be able to get the lawyers to agree to a ‘no deal, no cash’ but 150% of hourly rate for taking risk.”

This helps cash flow before closing, but don’t forget that these are real cash costs that will impact cash-on-cash returns in future years. Altogether, including ‘busted deals’, legal and other professional services represented about 40% of the all-in search costs, and ranged from 24% to as high as 75%. These costs get “rolled” into the the final transaction and are funded as “closing costs” with capital raised for the transaction. Consequently, funded searchers don’t have to “budget” for these costs during their raise but may have to pay if they close down their search after failing to find a business to acquire.

The least expensive attorney legal fee at closing was $9K and the highest $750K, with an average for funded searchers at $340K, and $65K for self-funded searchers; a remarkable difference. The size and complexity of the funded search deals coupled with “name brand” law firms contributed to the higher fees. Self-funded searchers kept costs low by utilizing smaller, regional legal advice. Some clever searchers reduced legal costs by asking the lawyers to start from templates provided by other searchers or by negotiating a fixed fee for the transaction rather than billing hours.

There is significant risk in predicting ‘busted deal’ expenses, especially for self-funded searchers. Some of these are very real costs generally can’t be deferred, and are specific to the transaction. Examples include a bank charging $10K an up-front commitment fee for getting through their credit committee, a $10K QofE (Quality of Earnings) for as much as $25K review by an accounting firm payable on completion, and a targeted IT forensic review for $15K. Ben Murray of New Forest observed that they “learned the hard way never to send in financial auditors in without having them first review the numbers from their home offices- after spending three billing days going to visit, and discovering something in the first 15 minutes.”

Busted deal costs ranged from $17K to $98K and in 70% of the cases, searchers managed to roll these costs into their final closing. However, only 30% of searchers reported any costs for broken deals, being very cautious about spending money until a sure closing. Of course, the 33% of Funded searchers who fail to close on a business per the latest Stanford study, have to find a way to negotiate these deal costs downward or face some large invoices when they wind down their search.

Living Expenses are unique to every searcher

Each searcher comes to their search with their personal cash requirements to support their lifestyle. Some have significant-others to support and perhaps additional commitments to family or community to consider. 38% reported that a spouse’s salary and health plan were major contributors to their living expenses during search, the balance pulled from their savings.

75% of self-funded searchers did not inject additional personal equity into their transaction. Their ‘sweat equity’ from paying their search costs was enough for the banks, seller and outside investors – allowing them to keep 51-100%, averaging 78% of the equity for themselves. For these self-funded searchers, living lean also allowed them an extended search time. One searcher on a team of two observed, “I think it would have been easy to spend more if we had a “fund.” We would have just flown to visit companies because it was an option for us. Not having a fund forces us to be conservative and operate on a tight budget, and it pays frugal when you ultimately get much more ownership of the business that you acquire.”

Many searchers are very uncomfortable living too ‘close to the line’ and with financial discomfort and risk. One searcher abandoned the self-funded plan when the family dogs needed an expensive set of treatments that tapped their cash reserves, causing a reconsideration of the need for financial stability. These decisions become very personal.

One of the benefits of a funded search is salary and benefits for up-to-two-years. A review of 31 identified 60% solo searchers raising an average fund size of $488K with a high of $552K and a low of $415K, seeking salary ranges from 100K/yr to $155K/yr. Dual searchers averaged $713K in fund size with a high of $950K and a low of $552K seeking salary ranges from $74K/yr to $184K/yr. All had an additional 10-20% additional cost to cover employment taxes and health benefits. This funded support comes at a price to the searcher, who may achieve a maximum equity share of 25% for solo and 30% for dual searchers, considered a fair trade-off for being able to start a search so early in their career with significant financial support and unable to support themselves from their own savings.

No matter the funding source for search, there is a lost ‘opportunity cost’ as the funded salaries may be below market rate. Some searchers project out the costs and benefits over future decades, while others are driven less by the monetary trade-off than the appeal of being a “CEO” very early in their career. Mid-career searchers weigh the risk of re-entering the job market in the event of a failed search. (See Blog post: Mid-Career searching).

Summary

How much cash you able and willing to commit to funding the search process may depend on where you are in your career or perhaps just many years as a “penny pincher”. In any case, managing the expenditures during your search is the first step toward being a CEO, where the magnitude of the numbers will be a lot higher, but the priorities, tactics for reducing costs and accountability are all the same and your “thrifty” skills will come in handy.

Developing an understanding of a realistic range of costs will help you assess some of the critical choices in your search about timing, geography, control, financial support and autonomy. Best to understand what they are, populate them into a spreadsheet and get comfortable with the variables and ranges before you march down this path.

Search on!

Feel free to share some of your own best practices or experiences in dealing with these issues in the written blog comments below. I encourage this dialogue, allowing all to learn from both my own views and the views of others in a virtual learning cycle—so jump right in! In addition, I frequently update individual blog posts, so visit the www.jimsteinsharpe.com website regularly.

3 Comments

  1. David Kiefner on August 1, 2017 at 1:50 pm

    Jim, thank you for the clarification. That makes sense, and is a significant reduction in the search phase budget variability!

  2. Kennedy on August 31, 2018 at 9:18 pm

    Great blog…super helpful! Do you have a sense for how most self-funded searchers deal with healthcare? While considering a self-funded search I see that as being the biggest cash risk that I need to cover (want to ensure my family is protected and that my search is protected from unexpected medical costs).

    • Jim Sharpe on September 2, 2018 at 7:48 pm

      Kennedy, thanks for the kind words on the blog. 72% of self funded searchers report that their spouses employment provides health care coverage for them. A few were able to continue their insurance coverage from their prior employer for 18 months under a USA COBRA plan. Some states provide very low cost coverage if you can demonstrate zero income during your search. Funded searchers, who pay for family coverage with the funds they raise for search report paying between $12,000 and $20,000/year for family coverage.

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Posts – Contemplating a Search

Posts – Launching a Search

Posts – Conducting your Search

Posts – Being CEO/Owner

Random Quote

45-“Strategic partners” are very important to the business searchers.You want to rely on some trusted providers to support your business, you can’t do everything yourself!(See Blog Post-Strategic Partnerships)

42-Start early on legal documents, they often delay closings while under LOIBoth the searcher and the seller are plowing new ground and it takes a while to comprehend the meaning of all of the legal details .(See Blog Post-Getting to closing)

63 Searchers make promises they can meet to build trust with sellers. It is important to provide incremental opportunities to show that you can be counted on to deliver.(See Blog Post-Building Trust with Sellers)

34 Searchers who get access to employees before closing are more likely to close. Once the seller begins to confide in their employees about the sale of the business and introducing you as the “new owner”, they are more likely to proceed to finalize the transaction than to change their mind at the last minute.(See Blog Post-Getting to Close)

07-You are not a PE firm, don’t act like one!
Potential sellers resonate with your taking over their legacy, a PE firm is simply adding to their portfolio. Make sure your website looks personal and non-intimidating.

04-Fight Seller Fatigue in Due Diligence!
Sellers get worn out in this process. It is highly emotional for them, probably their first time at relinquishing their “baby” to someone else. During LOI stage, make it a practice to communicate with them, in person or by phone, every 2 days.

53-Holding monthly “all-hands” meetings indicates your transparency. Trust employees with what is going on with the business and they will trust you more .(See Blog Post-Communicating with Employees)

06-Use metrics to drive decisions
Track what is most important for your search – getting in front of prospective sellers to make offers to buy their business. Track the number prospects, IOI’s, LOI’s and set goals for yourself! If you measure it, you can improve it.

22-When in conflicts arise, remind professional advisors they work for you.
Inevitably, you will disagree with some advice you are getting. After checking multiple sources, do what feels right to you and move forward. You will have to “live” with your own choices, not the professionals!(See Blog Post-Professional Support)

18-Every day that goes by during Due Diligence raises the chance that you won’t close!
Time is of the essence when it comes to moving from a signed LOI to closing on your business. Seller fatigue sets in as the closing date gets extended and the seller constantly re-evaluates their motivation to sell. Only you can push the process along.(See Blog Post-Due Diligence)

44-Plan ahead, give thought to the small details of how you present yourself as the new owner. The first introduction to the employees of the business has a huge impact so you want every word to be rehearsed!(See Blog Post-Taking over the business)

50-Don’t expect immediate “loyalty”, the previous owner earned it, it takes time. You will need to earn the trust of your employees by your actions, not your words. (See Blog Post-Seller Tranisition)

35-Searcher CEO’s need to be prepared to walk away from volume orders if margins will decline. It takes a forward thinking CEO to seek out higher margin, value added opportunities to grow profits, not revenue.(See Blog Post-Wearing the sales hat)

09-Learn from others – read case histories
Over 40 case histories have been written about funded and self funded searchers in a variety of industries and historical settings. Each have great “lessons learned” and are worth the $10 cost to read them. Searchers are learners!

39-The business seller is “hiring” you to run their business. The owner trusts you enough to turnover the “legacy” of their business to you. (See Blog Post-Searcher Profile)

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