The One Thing That Prevents Good Deals From Getting Done

I want to share a lesson in paranoia. It’s one of the easiest ways to kill a deal. Why? Because it often removes reason and logic from the buying or selling equation.

Now I’m not saying there aren’t going to be anxious and nervous moments when buying or selling a business. In fact, I’d be more surprised if a buyer or seller weren’t nervous.

But instead of letting those emotions negatively control the process, you should instead use them as a driving force to get answers, solve problems, and get a quality deal done.

Anxiety doesn’t mean you’re doing the wrong thing or that someone is bound to take advantage of you. It’s a normal part of the buying and selling process. Letting your anxiety turn into paranoia is where things can go south quickly. 

Sometimes advisors will read your anxiety as a sign that they need to protect/overprotect you at all costs because you might not be cut out for business dealings. But make no mistake about it…your advisor needs your direction to figure out how to get the right deal done.

I’ve had a few cases over the years where I was blaming the attorney for trying to kill a deal. More than likely they were feeding off of their clients paranoia, so the advisor continued to put up roadblocks to the transaction.

Here’s the deal: If you want to buy a particular business or sell a business to a particular buyer, then tell your advisor you want to figure out how to make it happen with as little pain (and cost) as possible for everyone involved. They will work according to your direction.

If the advisor is trying to drive the deal and make decisions for you, it’s time to find a different advisor.

So put the paranoia aside. All it does is get in the way of getting a good deal done for everyone involved. Trust your advisor to help you through the process. And, again, if you don’t trust your advisor, then you should work with someone else.

Part of their job is to help you get out of your own head so you can ultimately get what you’re after.

Post written by Doug Hubler, President, Apex Business Advisors