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Category: Sell your business

How to sell a business: Lesson #6
24 January 2023 . Michael McGrath . , , , , ,

How to Sell a Business Lesson #6: How to sell a business when you’re not making a profit?

Businesses in Australia make an average profit of just under 10% of turnover. However, 20% of businesses in Australia don’t make any profit, that’s about 200,000 companies! In Lesson #6 we address the very real question facing those owners who are not making any profit, is my business worth anything?
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Does Size Matter?
22 November 2022 . Michael McGrath . , , , , ,

How to Sell a Business Lesson #5: Does the Size of my Business Matter to Buyers?

Following on from “How to go about Finding the Right Buyer for my Business” we turn to the subject of size! Does it matter? Size is one part of a buyer’s criteria; the short answer is that it depends on what they are looking for.
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How to Sell a Business: Lesson #4
12 October 2022 . Michael McGrath . , , , , ,

How to Sell a Business Lesson #4: How to find a needle in a haystack?

Having established that the odds are not great; that the potential buyer that knocks on a seller’s door is the most strategic acquirer for the business (Lesson #1). And that in any event, getting in the ring with a large corporate, without a clear strategy and some input is not optimal (Lesson #2). The question then becomes, if there are many more sellers than buyers in the Australian market in the next decade (Lesson #3), how do you find genuine strategic interest?
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Current M&A Market Insights in Australia
5 October 2022 . Michael McGrath . , , , ,

Current M&A Market Insights in Australia

The market is fluid and is moving constantly, never more so than now. The big end of town appears busy with deals galore, to quote James Thomson in the AFR on August 26th “M&A is back in a big way.”
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How to Sell a Business: Lesson #3
21 September 2022 . Michael McGrath . , , , ,

How to Sell a Business Lesson #3: How big is the market for my business?

We established in lesson #2 that if a business is approached by a potential buyer (Gorilla) that the interest must be qualified and handled efficiently leading to an early indicative offer in writing, based upon the provision of adequate but limited information. We also determined that such a buyer, having knocked on your door is likely to have knocked on quite a few other doors, and is probably running a broader process.
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How to Sell a Business: Lesson #2
14 September 2022 . Michael McGrath . , , , ,

How to Sell a Business Lesson #2: What to do when a 500-pound gorilla knocks on your door?

We established in my last blog that selling your business is likely to involve a major mismatch in terms of the scale and size of the likely buyer and that getting in the ring with them by yourself and without a clear strategy might not work out so well.
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How to Sell a Business: Lesson #1
8 September 2022 . Michael McGrath . , , , ,

How to Sell a Business Lesson #1: Don’t get in the ring with a 500-pound gorilla!

The shareholders of established private companies in Australia, many of whom will be seeking an exit in the next ten years, ought to be aware of certain realities around deal doing and the market, I am going to unpack some of these over the next series of posts, which I hope people might find helpful.
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Transaction activity softens but outlook remains strong
1 September 2022 . Michael McGrath . , , , ,

Transaction activity softens but outlook remains strong

According to the recent Dealmakers report the global trend in M&A is down, by number of deals -15% and by value -18%. This is driven by the “fears of recession, rising interest rates and geopolitical uncertainties.” There’s always something!
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M&A Forecast: Some Light Cloud, Sunny Tomorrow
29 June 2022 . Michael McGrath . , , , ,

M&A Forecast: Some Light Cloud, Sunny Tomorrow

I’m sure everyone has felt it – that gentle squeeze on our purses and wallets. Whether it is at the supermarket or the petrol pump, the café or the corner store, inflation seems to be hitting our hip-pocket nerve once more.
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Valuations for tech start-ups fallen
27 May 2022 . Michael McGrath . , , , , , , ,

Valuations for tech start-ups have fallen. Why? and What does it mean?

Valuations for tech start-ups have fallen. Why? What does it mean? Five months ago, the market sell-off smashed valuations in the tech. sector. Angel funds felt the brunt of the lower valuations and lower multiples. Many start-ups have lost out.
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2021 More Challenging than 2020!
9 May 2022 . Michael McGrath . , , , ,

Is the unstable geopolitical environment effecting valuations and deal-doing in Australia?

I have been asked this question by owners quite a lot recently. The short answer is not yet, or at least not directly.
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7 May 2021 . Michael McGrath . , , ,

When to sell? This year, next year, sometime… never?

This question was recently addressed by our European colleague John Willcox-Jones. We’ve shared his insights here because they’re very relevant to Australian businesses.
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8 April 2021 . Michael McGrath . ,

Sellers beware – the unsolicited approach!

Unsolicited approaches are all-too-common in Australia too, so we thought we’d share our European colleague John Willcox-Jones’ advice on how to evaluate and handle unsolicited offers.
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18 March 2021 . Michael McGrath . ,

Grow or go?

Many entrepreneurs that were contemplating a sale or retirement in the next few years have had their plans thrown to the wind by the experiences of the last twelve months.
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12 March 2021 . Michael McGrath . , , ,

Every deal is a triumph over adversity

I was recently interviewed by the Talking Law podcast. In our discussion Joanna Oakey and I talk about lessons learnt from doing deals in this time of COVID-19 pandemic, and what the future looks like for the mid-market in M&A.
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Recent posts

28 April 2026 . Michael McGrath

When the Numbers Don’t Tell the Whole Story: The Case for Intuition in Business Leadership

Over nearly four decades advising business owners, one pattern stands out more than any other. The best decisions — the ones that genuinely changed the trajectory of a business — were rarely made by spreadsheet alone.
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21 April 2026 . Michael McGrath

Clean Sweep: CIA Property and Event Services Acquires Cleaning Institute of Australia

Australia's commercial cleaning sector is a significant and growing part of the economy. According to IBISWorld, the sector generates over $20 billion in annual revenue, is supported by more than 44,000 businesses, and employs over 209,000 people nationwide.
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16 April 2026 . Content

How to Build a Business Buyers Actually Want

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: your business might be profitable, growing steadily, and generating solid cash flow—but still be nearly impossible
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9 April 2026 . Content

Critical Questions Business Owners Must Answer Five Years Before Their Exit

Most business exits disappoint. Not because the business failed, but because the owner started planning too late. By the time
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7 April 2026 . Michael McGrath

Steel, Structures and Solar: What the IUP–Ambor Deal Tells Us About the Mid-Market Right Now

We recently facilitated the acquisition of IUP by Ambor Structures — and we think this deal says something important, not just about two companies finding a good fit, but about the broader conditions shaping mid-market M&A activity right now.
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20 March 2026 . Content

Should You Buy, Sell, or Partner? A Strategic Framework for Growth-Stage Businesses

ou’ve built your business past £500,000 in revenue. The early survival phase is behind you. Now you’re facing a different
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24 March 2026 . Michael McGrath

M&A Outlook 2026

The deal market remains in good shape as we move further into 2026, despite what most people are predicting as the short-term disruption resulting from the recent geopolitical event in the Middle East.
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17 March 2026 . Michael McGrath

Clean Beauty, Big Ambitions: True2You Skin Acquires Bohemian Skin

The Australian skincare sector is booming. Estimated at between $1.65 billion and $3.6 billion depending on the measure, the market is being driven by growing consumer demand for natural and organic ingredients, with Gen Z leading the charge on transparency and sustainability
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5 March 2026 . Content

Why Most Business Succession Plans Fail Within the First Three Years

A manufacturing business owner spent 18 months working with advisors, documenting processes, and grooming his operations manager to take over.
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2 December 2025 . Michael McGrath

Mining Services Sector: Consolidation Ahead and Rise of Structured Deals

The Mining Support Services sector is a major part of Australia’s business landscape - worth $14.4 billion in 2025 and employing 38,000 people. The sector as a whole is flat with IBIS predicting modest growth of 1.5% over the next five years, following a recent decline. Volatility remains high, driven by commodity price fluctuations.
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