What do potential buyers look for in my business?

The decision to sell your elevator company is just the first step in what can be a lengthy, complicated process. Thankfully, you can lean our years of experience and get the head start on what your potential buyers will look for.

If you are an elevator service company, potential buyers might look for the following:

Monthly Maintenance Revenue (MMR)

Total Units On Maintenance

Distribution of Customers

When a buyer is interested in your elevator service company, they’ll need to understand your customer base. What percentage of them are public vs. private?

Contract Structure

What do your contracts include or exclude?

Ownership and Management

They’ll want to know the strength and capabilities of your management team and the short term and long term aspirations of your ownership.

Project Work & Modernization

Interested buyers will want to know how well your project work and the modernization side of your elevator service business is managed. Do you have a pipeline? If you do, how stable is it? Does it offer opportunity or risk?

Financials

Possibly the most important thing to consider when selling your business: are you profitable? You’ll want to have accurate records of your total revenue so that a potential buyer can quickly assess whether your business is growing or stagnant. How well you present your financials is incredibly important. Do you have a dedicated finance team or person? Are you organized with a good process? Do you use enterprise resource planning (ERP) software?

Disciplined Processes

Does your company understand the real cost of labor, including the burden? Are you using a consistent estimating process? Do you have consistent price adjustments for maintenance pricing and open order billing rates?

Competitiveness

Consider your position in the local market. Are you competitive? Do you have ample prospects for growth?

If you are an elevator supplier, potential buyers might look for the following:

Revenue and Growth History

This includes your prospects for growth in the future, as well.

Unique Selling Proposition

How are your products and services differentiated? Does your company have a unique offering?

Post-Sale Services

After the initial sale of your product to a customer, do you continue to offer services that bring them back? These could be modernization or sales of spare parts.

Supply Chain Solidity and Sustainability

Are there weak links in your supply chain? Does your supply chain create opportunities for your company, or does it represent threats to your bottom line?

Management and Ownership

They’ll need to know how capable your management team is and both the short and long term aspirations of your ownership.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for “Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses, and Threats.” When performing a SWOT analysis, you’ll provide an objective overview of each of these categories for your business. This can be done on your own, but will likely be a more effective exercise when performed by a third party, such as a business consultant.

Distribution of Customer Base

When a buyer is interested in your elevator supply company, they’ll need to understand your customer base. Are they local, regional, or national? The more information you can provide, the better.