Are you interested in buying or selling a business, but want to negotiate your own deal? Acquire (formerly known as MicroAcquire) may be the platform for you.
With its simplified process for buying and selling a wide variety of businesses, it has gained popularity in the startup world. But is it really a good choice for high-stakes acquisitions?
In this article, we will delve into Acquire’s buying and selling process, explore its pros and cons, and take a close look at its track record. Whether you’re a business owner looking to sell or an entrepreneur looking to acquire a business, read on to find out if Microacquire is the right platform for you.
What is Acquire [Formerly known as MicroAcquire]
Acquire (formerly known as MicoAcquire) is an online marketplace for startups and online businesses founded in 2020 by Andrew Gazdecki. Their main goal is to connect qualified buyers to thousands of listings and to get startups sold within 30 days.
Acquire isn’t a typical online business brokerage. They have an open marketplace model that is monetized via a yearly $390 premium membership fee for buyers wanting access to new listings. No listing fees are required and the platform has a low 4% closing cost on deals, making Acquire a growing favorite for online business buyers and sellers.
MicroAquire Track Record & Credibility
Since its inception, Aquire has built an audience of 200,000 founders and buyers. They’ve closed $500M in acquisitions and have raised $6.5M in funding after raising $3.5 million in July 2021. Acquire was also recognized as the #1 Product of the Day on Product Hunt and has been featured in Forbes, Axios, and Entrepreneur.
Their testimonials page features glowing reviews from founders and buyers alike. Reviews point out the ease of the sales process, the low closing fees, hot leads for prospective buyers, and the strength of businesses for sale.
Acquire is a fast-growing platform with savvy entrepreneurs looking to buy or sell businesses. Let’s understand what sets them apart and why using them for an exit or acquisition may be your next best step.
What Types of Businesses Does Acquire [Microacquire] Offer?
Acquire (Microaquire) often uses the word “startup” to describe their listings, but that term also encompasses strong online business monetizations like e-commerce, agencies, and SaaS.
SaaS in particular has been a strength of Microacquire, as they’ve become a leader in buying and selling SaaS assets in the industry.
Acquire [MicroAquire] Commission Fees & Pricing
Fees and Pricing for Buyers
Acquire is unique in the industry because they monetized their startup buyers pool via an annual membership fee.
Acquire does offer a free membership for aspiring acquirers. As a basic user you are able to access the public details of all listed startups and filter listings based on your criteria.
Premium membership is reserved for prospective buyers, as this tier gives access to Acquire’s guided workflow and legal document templates.
Premium buyers can only view listings up to $250K in TTM revenue, so for buyers looking for larger acquisition opportunities the platinum membership of $780 per year would be the ideal annual subscription service.
Fees and Pricing for Sellers
There is no listing fee for sellers wanting to list with Acquire.
Acquire used to have zero commissions from the sale price of businesses listed on their marketplace, which made listing and selling businesses with them essentially free for sellers.
Now that has changed. Acquire charges startup founders selling on their marketplace a closing fee of 4% of the deal’s value once the buying process is complete.
Selling Your Business with Acquire
Acquire aims to sell your business quickly, ideally within 30 days. They have a team of specialists dedicated to helping with maximizing your listing’s performance.
Listing Your Business with Acquire
Microacquire has a streamlined process with plenty of SOPs and support should sellers run into any questions. Here are a few of the defined steps in the selling process:
Set Up Your Account
This is the important information potential buyers will need to know about your business. During this process, you’ll describe your startup, explain why you’re selling, integrate financial and traffic metrics to verify, add a payment gateway, and finally upload your pitch deck.
Setting the Valuation for Your Business
Acquire allows sellers to set their own valuation for their business. Some sellers may love this because it gives them the freedom to ask for the price they really want. Others may find it overwhelming since choosing the right price for the business is important to a fair, profitable deal.
Acquire provides overviews on how to value an online business and assures sellers they will give a review of the asking price to ensure it is reasonable. According to their own marketplace data, here are the multiples they suggest based on monetization:
- SaaS: 2-5x revenue or 4-7x profit
- Ecommerce: 1-2x revenue or 3-5x profit
- Marketplace: 1-3x revenue
- Agency: 1x revenue or 2-3x profit
Seller Support
Acquire has over 100 specialist advisors with expertise in due diligence, legal compliance, and tax information that are on hand to help advise sellers and buyers should they have questions in the deal process.
Connect With Buyers
When Acquire launches your listing on its platform, it becomes visible to its audience of hundreds of thousands of potential buyers.
Interested buyers will contact sellers for further information about the business and the startup owner. They may ask for details about customer data, Google Analytics, team, code, or other sensitive data.
Visibility of URL and Information Security
As the founder you’re able to approve or deny information requests so only you choose who can view your URL and website analytics. Of course, interested buyers will need some deeper information than what’s on the listing page, in which case Acquire suggests having Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) and non-compete contracts signed to ensure the listed business is protected from copycats.
Closing The Deal
If both parties are happy sellers may receive a Letter of Intent (LOI) within just 30 days.
Buying a Business through Acquire [MicroAcquire]
Microacquire claims to be the ‘fastest, easiest way to acquire your new startup’. They have hundreds of startups and online businesses available to buy as well as their own Guided Acquisition Process to help buyers find their perfect acquisition.
When it comes to searching listings for an acquisition, Acquire provides filters so you can narrow in on your search criteria. Filter preferences include:
- Startup category e.g (Saas, E-commerce)
- Startup price
- Startup revenue
- Search by profit
Each listing also includes a few key metrics, so the buyer has a clearer picture of what the business is like. These metrics include :
- Monthly recurring revenue
- Number of customers
- Customer acquisition cost
- 20+ financial metrics
Acquire’s Guided Acquisition Process
Acquire’s Guided Acquisition Process (GAP) simplifies and streamlines the acquisition process for buyers looking to acquire a business. GAP provides buyers with a backend workflow that manages parts of the deal virtually.
Throughout the process, buyers have access to resources and templates within Acquire.com’s GAP platform. The platform includes a multiples report to establish fair asking prices, articles on evaluating startups, and legal documents such as LOI templates and Asset Purchase Agreements (APA). All of these resources are designed to allow the buyer and seller to conduct their deal independently.
Should the buyer want advice on their deal, they can engage with over 50 vetted advisors through the M&A Advisor Directory within GAP.
Here are the steps involved in the GAP for buyers:
1. Evaluating the startup: Buyers reach out to startups and evaluate their potential for acquisition. They perform initial diligence on the listing and communicate with the seller to assess the opportunity.
2. Making an offer: Once the buyer has shortlisted the startups, they draft, send, and negotiate a letter of intent (LOI) using Acquire.com’s LOI Builder. The LOI outlines the offer and terms of the acquisition. The buyer can track the status of each startup on their dashboard.
3. Due diligence: After the founder accepts the LOI, the buyer conducts deeper due diligence. This typically involves sending specific questions to the founder to mitigate any future acquisition risk. Once due diligence is completed, an asset purchase agreement (APA) and other necessary documents are drafted and signed digitally to finalize the deal.
4. Escrow & Closing the Deal: Acquire.com integrates with Escrow.com to ensure a safe closing of the acquisition. The buyer transfers the funds for the acquisition to Escrow.com, and the seller transfers the assets. Once the buyer approves the assets, Escrow.com releases the funds, completing the acquisition.
FAQs About Acquire [MicroAquire]
Is Acquire [Microacquire] Legit?
Microacquire is a completely legit marketplace for buying or selling a digital business. They have been running since 2020 and have already crossed $500 million in total acquisitions.
There are currently 200,000 members strong on their marketplace with a proven system for facilitating deals.
Does Acquire Offer Post-Sale Support?
There is no post-sale support built-in on Acquire’s platform. If a seller or buyer would like support post-sale, they will need to organize those terms within their deal contract.
Who Handles the Migration of the Business?
Acquire connects buyers and sellers to Escrow but it’s on them to handle migration the business between themselves directly. That means the seller should understand how to transfer accounts, links, and important data to the buyer without impacting the functionality of the business.
Pros and Cons of Using Acquire
Pros of Using Acquire [MicroAcquire] to Buy or Sell a Website/Online Business
No Listing Fees and Low Seller Commissions
Acquire takes a flat fee of $390/year from buyers for premium subscription access to new listings and does not charge sellers to list their business on the marketplace. Sellers pay a 4% percentage of their purchase price due at closing, which amongst other marketplaces and brokerages in the industry runs fairly low in terms of seller commissions. Sellers get to keep more of the proceeds from the sale; one of the strong “pros” for Acquire as a marketplace.
Strong Buyer Network
Acquire’s established network of 200k entrepreneurs means there is a large active buyer pool for assets. This community has likely bought into Acquire’s mission to streamline deals and execute them in as little as 30 days, creating an energy of efficiency and desire to close deals as simply and quickly as possible.
Freedom and Control of Deal Process for Buyers and Sellers
Those who want to do deals on their own will love the GAP framework for deals that Acquire provides. Everything is laid out to empower buyers and sellers to do deals independently while still keeping an organized, legal, and fair structure in place.
Cons of Using Acquire [MicroAcquire] to Buy or Sell a Website/Online Business
Not an Ideal Marketplace for Beginners
While the platform may be a great option for experienced entrepreneurs looking to buy and sell businesses, it is not a great choice for beginners.
Since the platform acts as the connector between buyer and seller and leaves them to orchestrate the deal, beginners are likely to struggle up against a more skilled acquirer. Negotiations in particular could be very problematic for new sellers or buyers as this is the most likely stage of the deal process where they could lose cash to a more experienced deal maker.
Lack of Support in Case of Deal Problems
When it comes to using the Acquire (MicroAcquire) platform, users should be aware that they are on their own in case of any issues in the deal process. This means that if something doesn’t go as planned or problem arises during the process, you may not have access to customer service or technical support as you would with other brokerages.
Acquire Does Not Offer Some Popular Online Business Models
There are some popular online business models that Acquire does not offer. These include content-based businesses monetized via affiliate marketing or ads. For would-be acquirers of monetized niche websites, this would not be the platform for you.
The Final Review: Is Acquire [MicroAcquire] a Good Option for You?
The bottom line is that Acquire [MicroAcquire] is an excellent option for entrepreneurs looking to buy or sell a business. It offers an easy-to-use platform and a wide range of features that allow buyers and sellers to stay independent in the deal process (should they so desire to do the deal on their own).
Acquire’s streamlined system comes without large fees or commissions taken out of deals— one of the strongest benefits of working with the platform. The service-to-price ratio that Acquire offers makes it a strong option for founders looking to make the most money possible from the deals.
