COACH 2 BUY
Want to buy a business, but not sure where to start?
Buying a business can be one of the quickest ways to grow, but finding the right opportunity is only the beginning. Coach 2 Buy gives you Gavin's personal support to define what you're looking for, find and approach suitable businesses, assess opportunities and work through a real acquisition from first conversation towards completion.
Confidential initial conversation. No obligation.
Personally led by Gavin Page, who has completed nine acquisitions himself.
HANDS-ON SUPPORT
This isn't a course about buying businesses
Coach 2 Buy is built around actually helping you buy one.
We'll start by understanding what you want to achieve, what you can realistically afford and what the right acquisition looks like for you.
Then we go looking.
Transition 360 Partners uses its own data, research and direct outreach to identify and approach businesses that fit your agreed criteria, including businesses that may not currently be advertised for sale.
When opportunities emerge, Gavin works through them with you.
The numbers.
The valuation.
The risks.
The deal structure.
The funding.
The negotiations.
And the steps required to move a genuine opportunity towards completion.
You're involved throughout, but you don't have to work everything out on your own.
THE BUY BOX
First, we work out what you should actually be buying
Buying a business simply because it's available is a quick way to make an expensive mistake.
Before we start approaching companies, we'll build a clear acquisition brief around you.
Sector
What industries genuinely fit your experience, knowledge and objectives?
Size
What level of turnover, profit and business value is realistic?
Location
Where are you prepared to buy and operate?
Funding
What capital do you have available and what additional funding may realistically be available?
Business type
What characteristics matter, including management, customers, recurring revenue, assets and owner dependence?
Your objective
Are you buying to create your first business, add to an existing company, enter a new market or accelerate growth?
That becomes your Buy Box.
It gives us something specific to search for rather than simply looking at whatever happens to be on the market.
DEAL ORIGINATION
We don't just wait for businesses to come onto the market
Some of the most interesting acquisition opportunities aren't advertised for sale.
Once we've agreed your Buy Box, Transition 360 Partners can use its data, research and direct outreach capability to identify and approach suitable business owners.
The objective is simple.
Find businesses that fit what you're looking for and start conversations that might otherwise never happen.
Not every owner will want to sell.
Not every opportunity will be right.
And we won't pretend we can guarantee that a particular business will become available.
What we can do is actively look rather than simply wait.
ASSESSMENT
Finding a business doesn't mean you should buy it
When an opportunity appears, the real work starts.
Gavin will help you look beyond the headline turnover and asking price and understand what you're actually considering buying.
- Maintainable profit
- Valuation
- Add backs and adjustments
- Customer concentration
- Recurring revenue
- Owner dependence
- Management strength
- Working capital
- Assets and liabilities
- Potential risks
- Funding
- Deal structure
Sometimes the right advice will be to progress.
Sometimes it will be to renegotiate.
And sometimes it will be to walk away.
Buying the right business matters more than simply completing a deal.
THE PROCESS
We'll help you work through the deal
If you decide an opportunity is worth pursuing, Gavin can support you through the acquisition process.
- 1Initial seller conversations
- 2Information gathering
- 3Valuation and financial modelling
- 4Offer and deal structure
- 5Negotiation
- 6Heads of Terms
- 7Funding support
- 8Due diligence coordination
- 9Working alongside your legal, tax and accounting advisers
- 10Completion
Coach 2 Buy does not replace your solicitor, accountant, tax adviser or lender.
It gives you an experienced acquisition adviser on your side who understands how all the pieces of the transaction fit together.
WHY GAVIN
Learn from someone who's actually bought businesses
Before founding Transition 360 Partners, Gavin built and ran his own group of businesses.
Acquisition formed an important part of that growth.
He completed nine acquisitions himself before moving into advising other business owners and buyers on transactions.
So when Gavin talks to you about valuation, negotiation, funding, seller relationships or what can go wrong during an acquisition, it isn't coming from a textbook.
He's sat on the buyer's side of the table himself.
Buyer. Business owner. Adviser.
RECENT COACH 2 BUY COMPLETION
From first-time acquirer to completed acquisition
A recent Coach 2 Buy client wanted to grow his established surveying and geospatial business through acquisition rather than relying solely on organic growth.
He had never bought a business before.
Through Coach 2 Buy, we identified a suitable target, built the valuation, structured the deal and supported the transaction through to completion.
Along the way, the deal involved transferring staff under TUPE, finance agreement novations, warranty negotiations, disclosures and a demanding completion timetable.
The acquisition brought an experienced field team, established client relationships and a recognised trading name into the buyer's existing operation.
"The cost savings alone were enough to effectively pay for the acquisition within 12 months."
Because the acquired business integrated directly into the buyer's existing operation, significant duplicate overheads could be removed.
Our modelling showed that the resulting cost savings alone were sufficient to effectively cover the acquisition cost within 12 months.
That's the difference between simply buying a business and buying the right business.
Clear fees from the start
You should know what buying a business will cost.
Our fees are explained before you instruct us, including what is payable when we start your acquisition search, when the Transaction Progress Fee becomes due and when your acquisition completes.
Stage 1
When you instruct us
An upfront acquisition retainer is payable when you instruct us.
You can choose either £2,500 + VAT paid in full, or £3,000 + VAT paid over 3 months at £1,000 + VAT per month. This covers the work involved in agreeing your acquisition criteria, developing your search strategy, identifying suitable businesses and beginning direct approaches to potential acquisition targets.
Stage 2
Transaction Progress Fee
When Heads of Terms, a Letter of Intent, Memorandum of Understanding or similar agreement is signed with your chosen seller, a Transaction Progress Fee of 0.5% of the Enterprise Value becomes due.
This is not an additional success fee. It is credited in full against the success fee due when your acquisition completes.
Stage 3
When your acquisition completes
The remaining success fee becomes payable when the transaction completes.
5% of Enterprise Value up to and including £1,000,000. 2.5% of Enterprise Value above £1,000,000. The Transaction Progress Fee already paid is deducted from the success fee due at completion.
Real fee examples
See what you could pay at different Enterprise Values. These examples show the upfront acquisition retainer, the Transaction Progress Fee and the success fee.
Enterprise Value
£250,000
Enterprise Value
£500,000
Enterprise Value
£750,000
Enterprise Value
£1,000,000
Enterprise Value
£2,000,000
Upfront acquisition retainer
Pay in full
£2,500 plus VAT
plus VAT
Pay over 3 months
£3,000 plus VAT
Three monthly payments of £1,000 plus VAT
The Real Fee Examples above assume the £2,500 + VAT upfront retainer is paid in full. Clients can alternatively choose to pay £3,000 + VAT over three months.
The upfront acquisition retainer is separate from the success fee.
All fees shown exclude VAT.
How the credit works
For example, on a £500,000 acquisition, the success fee is £25,000. You pay £2,500 of this as a Transaction Progress Fee when Heads of Terms are signed, leaving £22,500 of the success fee payable when the acquisition completes. Together with the £2,500 upfront acquisition retainer, your total professional fees would be £27,500 excluding VAT.
Common questions about our fees
SUITABILITY
Is Coach 2 Buy right for you?
Coach 2 Buy is designed for people who are serious about acquiring a business and want experienced support alongside them.
It can suit:
- Existing business owners looking to grow through acquisition
- Serial acquirers looking for their next opportunity
- First-time buyers with the financial capacity to make an acquisition
- Buyers who want access to off-market deal origination
- Buyers who want experienced support assessing and progressing opportunities
Coach 2 Buy may not be right for everyone.
Buying a business normally requires access to capital and a credible funding position.
If there is no realistic route to funding an acquisition, the first job isn't finding a business.
It's establishing whether an acquisition is financially achievable.
START HERE
You don't have to figure out your first acquisition on your own
Whether you're looking to buy your first business or add another company to an existing operation, Coach 2 Buy gives you experienced support from defining what you're looking for through to finding and progressing real opportunities.
Your enquiry goes directly to Gavin. No obligation. Completely confidential.