Process
From the first call to closing
Selling a Boise business to Swabian Acquisition follows plain steps: a 30-minute first conversation with Jeff Richardson, a confidentiality agreement, basic financials, a written offer letter within a few weeks of receiving them, a confirmatory review scheduled around your business, and a quick, professional closing within 90 days when both sides are ready. You can stop at any step.
What are the steps?
| Step | What happens | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| 1. First conversation | A phone call or coffee. You describe the business, I describe what I am looking for, and we both decide whether to keep talking. Nothing on paper. | 30 minutes |
| 2. Confidentiality agreement | A short, mutual agreement before any numbers change hands. Your attorney is welcome to mark it up. | A few days |
| 3. Basic financials | A few years of tax returns or profit and loss statements, a rough headcount, and a description of your customers. Nothing polished. | Whenever you are ready |
| 4. Written offer letter | Price, structure, your role, and the plan for your people and the name, in writing. You react, we adjust. | Within a few weeks of receiving basic financials |
| 5. Confirmatory review | I verify what you told me and meet key people only when you say it is time. | Weeks, scheduled around your business |
| 6. Closing | Attorneys paper it, we sign, and you are paid according to the structure we agreed. | A quick, professional closing within 90 days when both sides are ready |
| 7. After close | Professional management is in place and your transition role begins as agreed. | As we planned together |
What happens on the first call?
Thirty minutes, by phone or over coffee. You tell me what the business does, roughly how big it is, and what you are hoping for. I tell you plainly whether it fits what I buy. No financials, no forms, no pressure. If it does not fit, I say so and, where I can, suggest someone better suited.
What do I need to send you?
After we sign a confidentiality agreement: a few years of tax returns or profit and loss statements, a current-year profit and loss, a rough headcount and roles (no names required), a rough breakdown of revenue by customer or customer type, and any leases, major contracts, or licenses the business depends on. Whatever your bookkeeper or CPA already has is fine. Perfect books are not required, and I am not asking you to build anything new.
What is in the written offer letter?
Within a few weeks of receiving basic financials, I send a written offer letter. Lawyers call it a letter of intent. It sets out the price, how and when you would be paid, your role after close, and the plan for your key people and the company name. It explains how I got to the number so your CPA can check it. It usually asks for a short exclusive period so I can finish the review, and we set that length together.
What does "within 90 days" mean, honestly?
It means that from the day we both sign the offer letter, I aim to close within 90 days. That is a professional pace, not a rushed one. When it slips, it is usually for good reasons: your CPA wants a year-end close for tax purposes, a landlord is slow on a lease assignment, or a license qualifier needs to be arranged. Those are calendar problems, not deal problems, and we handle them together. Ninety days is a target when both sides are ready, not a deadline I impose.
What is confirmatory review, and how disruptive is it?
This is where I verify what you told me: bank statements against the profit and loss, customer concentration, contracts, leases, equipment, payroll, licenses. It is me checking, not hunting for a way out. I visit the shop quietly. I meet key employees only when you say it is time. Most of the work happens on my side and your CPA's, scheduled around your busy season, not through it. My accountant and attorney join here. Yours should too.
What does closing look like?
Your attorney and mine handle the paperwork. We sign, and you are paid according to the structure we agreed in the offer letter. Whether we tell your team the day before or the day after is your call, and we plan the announcement together.
What happens in the first months after close?
Professional management is in place from day one: your existing team, a manager we hire, or someone you helped choose. Your transition role, whatever we agreed, starts. The name stays unless we decided otherwise. The plan we made for your people is the plan we follow. Customers should notice very little. You and I talk regularly, and you have my number for as long as you want it.
What could slow things down?
Honest list:
- Books on a cash basis with personal expenses mixed in. Not fatal, but it adds time. A CPA-prepared clean-up helps.
- A landlord who has to consent to assigning the lease.
- A trade license held only by you. In Idaho, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical contractor licenses are personal and do not transfer with a sale [Idaho contractor licensing rules], so we plan early for who holds it after close.
- One or two customers making up most of revenue, with no contracts.
- Tax questions that should go to your CPA before we settle structure, not after.
- Family conversations that have not happened yet. Have them first. I will wait.
What do I promise about the process?
- I tell you quickly if it is not a fit.
- Every offer is in writing.
- I do not lower the price after the offer letter unless the review turns up something materially different from what I was told.
- I do not contact your employees, customers, or suppliers without your permission.
- We move at your pace.
Can I stop partway through?
Yes. At any step before signing final documents, you can say no and walk away. What you shared stays confidential either way, and I do not use it to buy something else.
Call (208) 890-4649 or email jeffrey.richardson@swabian.co to start. Or use the contact form.