If you’re looking to learn more about Synergy Business Brokers, we have discovered the most important facts you will need to know in this extensive Synergy Business Brokers review.
It’s important that you read this review in its entirety before you make a decision on whether to buy a business or sell a business through this business broker.
Better Alternatives to Synergy Business Brokers
As buyers and sellers of business ourselves, we’ve had the best sale valuation and customer service from the following broker.
Overview Of Synergy Business Brokers
Synergy Business Brokers was started in 2002 and has grown to become a top 10 broker in the United States (according to information provided on their website).
This business brokerage sells businesses that have annual revenue between the range of $700,000 to $40 million and must have an annual net profit of $200,000 to $4 million.
Since their foundation in 2002, this firm has grown their base of buyers to over 30,000.
Synergy Business Brokers is a mergers and acquisitions firm. They not only help people sell businesses they also work to help buyers as well.
They have a team of 17 business brokers on staff at the time we compiled this Synergy Business Brokers review.
The team at Synergy are part of the following organizations:
- (IBBA) International Business Brokers Association
- M&A Source
- Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
- (NYABB) New York Association of Business Brokers
- Stoneham, MA Chamber of Commerce
- (NEBBA) New England Business Brokers Association
- Greater New York Chamber of Commerce
- New Jersey Chamber of Commerce
This firm helps others buy and sell businesses throughout the nation but specifically they have business brokers in:
- New York
- New Jersey
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Maryland
- Louisiana
- South Carolina
- New Mexico
Types Of Businesses Synergy Business Brokers Sells
If you’re considering using this business broker to sell your business, you will need to know what industry they serve to see if your business fits within their portfolio.
Below are the type of businesses that Synergy Business Brokers typically works with:
- Construction
- Manufacturing
- Services
- Engineering
- Transportation
- Healthcare
- Technology
- Distribution
- Education
They have sold businesses from a wide variety of sectors including:
- Tool and die manufacturers
- Manufacturers of fitness equipment
- Manufacturers of cosmetics
- Kitchen and bath construction
- Remediation businesses
- Interior design businesses
- Ecommerce businesses
- SaaS companies
- Software for education companies
- IT service related companies
- Staffing businesses
- B2B distributors
- Import and distribution companies
- Healthcare companies
- Engineering firms
This is a small sampling of the types of businesses sold by Synergy Business Brokers. The one thing we noticed about the types of businesses sold by this business brokerage is the fact that they also sell websites and ecommerce related businesses.
We normally recommend that if you’re looking to sell a website or an online business that you use a website broker for this since they specialize in web based companies.
It’s clear that this mergers and acquisitions firm does sell a lot of businesses. At the time of the writing of this Synergy Business Brokers review they have close to 150 businesses listed for sale on their website. This is a large number for a business brokerage. This is a good indication that this firm does indeed have a large network of sellers and buyers.
Synergy Business Brokers Valuation Process
Like most business brokerage firms, Synergy Business Brokers has a free valuation process that will help you determine if your business is ready to sell and for what price.
The first step is to get a free consultation with one of their business brokers on staff and they will ask you a number of questions about your business to determine if your business is a candidate to sell.
You will sign a confidentiality agreement and then provide your financial information so that their team can evaluate your company. The goal here is to get a clear and accurate financial picture of your business.
From there they will compare your business to others sold which are similar to yours to determine what they feel you should ask for your business.
This information will be given to you to see if it falls inline with what you’re looking to get for your company.
At this point, you will decide if you want to move forward with selling our business or if you wish to stop the process.
Sales Process
Once you make the decision to sell your business with Synergy, you will sign an engagement agreement and the sales process can officially begin.
Create Marketing Documents
It’s at this stage that the team at Synergy will go to work to create what they call “initial marketing documents”. These are documents their team writes.
They create what is called a “teaser” which is a marketing document which gives basic information about your company but does not give out any details that reveal anything about your business. Your information is kept completely private at this point in the process.
Once they have the teaser completed, the staff at Synergy go to work to create detailed marketing documents called a CIM (confidential information memorandum). This CIM contains all the details about your business.
Marketing
This “teaser” is used to market your business on the many marketing channels this broker uses such as:
- The New York Times
- Wall Street Journal
- BusinessForSale.com
- BusinessBroker.net
- BizBuySell
- BizQuest
- DealStream
- YouTube
They also list your business on their own website featuring all the business they have for sale.
Buyers Contacted
Once a buyer shows an interest from the marketing done by Synergy Brokers, they will need to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to access the CIM on your company. Everything remains confidential until the buyer signs the NDA.
Buyers are contacted through marketing and once a buyer moves to see details on the business, an initial buyer question and answer call is done to make sure the buyer is a good fit. Once a buyer is found that seems to be a good fit, Synergy will contact you.
Introductions To The Buyer
At this point, you will be introduced to the buyer so you can learn more about them. You will be able to get their contact information and a call will be set up so you can talk. It’s here you can ask questions to make sure the buyer is a good fit to buy the business. The buyer has a chance to see whether they want to buy the business and you have the chance to see if you want to sell to them.
Offers From Potential Buyers
It’s at this stage where you will see which buyers are serious and which ones are not. Serious buyers will make a written offer. The staff at Synergy will go over each offer with you. These offers will include the terms of the sale and other information pertinent to the sale.
Negotiate Offers
Many times you will receive several different offers from potential buyers. The team at Synergy Business Brokers will help you decide which offers are best and then assist in the negotiation of tha sale.
Letter Of Intent Gets Signed
When all negotiation is done and the best buyer is chosen, you will agree to a letter of intent. This letter will have the terms of the due diligence period which typically gives the buyer 60 to 90 to perform their due diligence. It will also state whether this period is exclusive meaning you cannot pursue other buyers during this time.
Due Diligence Period
The due diligence period will allow the potential buyer to access all the information about your business including financials and any other information you need to disclose to them. This can include any pending litigation or other important facts the buyer should know. The time this takes will depend on the complexity and size of the business.
Purchase Agreement
After the due diligence period, the seller’s attorney will put together the purchase agreement with all of the terms of the sale. This is sent to the buyer’s attorney for review. Once this is all agreed to and accepted, the date for closing can be set. Normally the purchase agreement is signed prior to closing.
Closing And Transition Period
Upon closing, the sale amount will be transferred to the seller’s bank account and the transition period will begin. This period is when the seller will guide the buyer into every aspect of day to day business operations.
Synergy Business Brokers Success Rates
It’s clear that Synergy Business Brokers has sold hundreds of businesses over the years. We are not sure of the exact number since this is not revealed on their company website. They also do not disclose their closure rates.
As mentioned above, they do have over 100 businesses for sale at the time we did our research for this Synergy Business Brokers review, but there is no mention of how many they have actually sold.
Fees Charged By Synergy Business Brokers To Sell A Business
The fees charged by this business broker are not disclosed on their company website. We do know they do not charge any up front fees and only make money once a business is sold. However, we are not sure of their exact commission rates.
We did contact Synergy and ask them their fees, but they did not give us a clear answer.
Pros And Cons Of Using Synergy Business Brokers
In this section of our Synergy Business Brokers review we will look at the pros and cons of using them to sell a business or to buy a business.
Pros
- Long track record
- Sold hundreds of businesses so they have good experience
- Free business valuation
- No upfront fees
- Good response times
Cons
- This is a larger firm selling hundreds of businesses at any given time (may not get the personalized service offered by smaller business brokers)
- Nothing is stated about their commission and fees on their website
Conclusion And Verdict
As we wrap up this review, let’s summarize what we like and dislike about this business brokerage form.
We love the fact that Synergy Business Brokers has a long track record. They have been around since 2002 so they have many years of experience.
It seems from what we can tell they have sold hundreds of businesses over the years. We don’t know the exact number, but it seems they know how to get a business sold.
We contacted Synergy to check their response times and they responded within two hours. We consider this a great sign which means you know they will be there to answer your questions and give you help throughout the process.
This firm is a larger business broker meaning they have a large staff of business brokers. There are several business brokers in the United States that are like this such as Transworld, Sunbelt, Murphy, Link and a few other large firms. While these business brokers are all good, services offered by smaller business brokers can often be better as long as the smaller broker has a large pool of buyers. You get more personalized one on one service with smaller business brokers.
As mentioned above, Synergy Business Brokers does seem to have a large number of businesses for sale at any given moment. While this means they have a good system of finding people who are looking to sell their businesses, it’s not always a good thing for the seller to have a company that works with so many people at one time. We prefer using smaller firms such as Website Properties which give very good personal one on one service.
We also do not like the fact that there are no fees mentioned on their website. This does not mean their fees are any higher than other business brokers, we just wish they were a bit more transparent about these success fees.
All in all, we feel this business broker is very good at what they do and even though we have some things we do not like, we do feel they would be a decent choice to use to sell your business if the fees they charge are within normal rates.
