By Richard Parker, President of The Business For Sale Buyer Resource Center™ and author of the most widely used reference resource and strategy guide for buying a business for sale - How To Buy A Good Business At A Great Price©

Due Diligence ñ How To Uncover any Problems BEFORE You Buy

Due diligence is probably the most critical stage in the buying process. Many prospective buyers incorrectly identify this period as strictly a financial review, but it goes far beyond that. Due diligence encompasses a far-greater project and that being the complete investigation and review of the business.

One of the keys to buying a good business, comes from your ability to learn the intimate details of the business. To identify the strengths, weaknesses, pluses, minuses, growth opportunities and areas of concerns. If you do not do a flawless job of gathering information, you will not be able to pull the trigger and complete the transaction since you'll be uncertain about too many components of the business.

When To Start The Due Diligence?

The investigation process begins the moment a business becomes of interest. Naturally, your goal is to make certain that you uncover everything about any business BEFORE you buy it. You don't have to meet the seller or even visit the business for your research to begin. The Internet is an incredible tool that will allow you to investigate the business, the industry, the competition, the marketing, the suppliers, and on and on.

The importance of beginning your investigation early on cannot be emphasized strongly enough. This way, you'll position yourself to ask the proper questions to the seller. Once you progress to the stage of an accepted offer, you will commence the inspection or financial due diligence. This period usually lasts 10-30 days. This is the time when you'll have access to all of the company's books and records.

Once you begin looking at a particular business, you'll find a thousand things crossing your mind regarding the acquisition. Keep a notepad handy at all times and log your thoughts. You'll have many thoughts about things "I need to check out." Write these all in one place. Don't trust your memory; these little things are the ones that can come back to haunt you down the road. Begin to put together your checklist of what you need to investigate and how you're going to do it, along with the materials you may need from the seller to accomplish it.

A couple of things to keep in mind

Allow yourself enough time:

Many sellers and some brokers will press for a very short inspection period; sometimes just days. Don't get bullied into this - give yourself ample time to complete this part of the process. You should allow for, negotiate and not settle for less time than you comfortably need to complete a thorough inspection/due-diligence period. The financial review can usuallyu be done in days but there is more to investigate and that is why a 20 business day period is not unreasonable for larger businesses, while a 15 day period is needed for smaller ones in order to complete the review and move the deal forward to closing.

Prepare properly

Since you'll have some time restrictions (you'll only have x number of days per the contract), provide the seller with a listing of all of the materials required for you and/or your CPA to complete this exercise. No matter what you're told, do not begin the process until they have what you/your CPA need to properly complete the review.

Dealing With Surprises

You'll probably find some surprises; don't panic, it's normal. Work through them. Get clarification. Build your case. Don't run to the seller or broker every time you find an inconsistency between what you've seen versus what you were told. No business is perfect. The rule to follow is do not treat any incidents as catastrophes or any catastrophes as incidents. If you find a major problem, get your facts in order and you can then decide the appropriate action to be taken with the seller (i.e. renegotiation, walking from the deal, etc.)

According to industry statistics, nine out of ten people who begin the search to buy a business never complete a transaction. While there are many reasons for this dismal figure, a lot has to do with the inability of people to "pull the trigger." This gun-shy reaction is related specifically to uncertainty: if you have not gathered the right information or failed to investigate the business thoroughly, you will not be 100% certain of what to do. And so, you'll drop the project. Conversely, if you do a flawless job of investigating the business, and everything else adds up right, then making the final decision is simply one more step in the process!

Download a 200-Point Due Diligence Checklist & Strategy Guide and learn everything about any business before you buy. Click here.

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About the Author
Richard Parker is President of Diomo Corporation - The Business Buyer Resource Center ™ (www.diomo.com ) and Diomo Solutions, LLC (www.diomosolutions.com) He is the author of How To Buy A Good Business At A Great Price© a 600 plus page how to strategy guide geared for anyone thinking about buying a business. His materials are used by prospective business buyers in over 50 countries. Mr. Parker's articles, syndicated columns and other "how to" guides have been published extensively online and in various print media He is also one of the most successful business brokers in The United States, assisting both buyers and sellers. Mr. Parker has personally purchased ten small businesses since 1990. Email your comments to Richard or visit his website

This article is © Copyright 2005-2006 by Richard Parker and may not be reproduced in any format whatsoever without prior written consent of the author.

The recommendations of reading, reference materials or links mentioned, are for general informational purposes only. The materials are intended as a public service and are not a substitute for obtaining professional advice from a qualified firm, person or corporation. Consult the appropriate professional advisor for complete and up-to-the-minute information. These materials do not constitute the rendering of any legal or professional services.