10 to Watch Winner 2022 – DealBuilder – Douglas Magazine
Sector: Tech, Software
Year Launched: 2021
Founders: (left to right) Keith MacKenzie, Morgan Tate and Mike Lenz
Unique Selling Proposition: Creation of a transparent marketplace that simplifies the buying and selling of small businesses.
Strategy: To assist small business owners to sell their businesses as quickly as possible for maximum value.
website: dealbuilder.co
Mike Lenz has over 16 years of deal-making experience. In that time, he’s seen how business owners haven’t prepared their exit strategies.
“Just a little bit of getting ahead of the preparation will make a monstrous difference,” says Lenz, one of three cofounders of Paratus Business Resources. “They lose sight of the details a buyer needs.”
Lenz, along with Keith MacKenzie and Morgan Tate, have created DealBuilder, a virtual platform that helps business owners value their babies, find buyers and close the deals.
“We’ve developed a software that hits all of the pain points of a typical business transaction,” says MacKenzie. There are three: preparation for sale, pricing and presentation.
DealBuilder works by matching a seller with a deal manager who possesses buyer/seller expertise. Next, two to three years of financial statements are put into DealBuilder’s software system that dispenses a value for the business. Based on that, a presentation for buyers is created. DealBuilder then markets the business to its list of buyers.
The platform helps the seller manage the deal by controlling access to the business’s information. Finally, when a deal is struck, DealBuilder has legal and business professionals on board who help finish the sale.
Often, owners believe it’s very easy to sell their business. Or, on the flip side, completing the purchase presents hard-to-clear hurdles.
DealBuilder has caught the attention of several dozen sellers, including a chocolate shop in Duncan, where a realtor thought there was only a small chance the business would sell for the price that DealBuilder advised.
“Within five days, a deal was accepted, and it sold for the full asking price,” says Tate.
A sweet advantage is that DealBuilder generates realistic pricing.
“Our valuation tool is very good,” says Lenz. “It gives a very accurate idea.”
As for how DealBuilder floats its own business, it charges a flat three per cent fee, based on the asking price, says Tate. There are no upfront costs or engagement fees, and the commission is paid when the business sells.
