Are you thinking about buying a business to start your journey into small business ownership? Or, do you want to acquire another small business to expand your existing one? Or, do you want to acquire a product to add it to your business? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to know about due diligence and how it can inform your purchasing decision.
What is due diligence?
Due diligence is an investigation into the business or product you are interested in buying. You will conduct your due diligence before the transaction is finalized to verify if the acquisition is worth it.
进行尽职调查时，您将查看业务或产品的关键问题，包括利润，财务风险，法律问题和潜在的交易破坏者。您将检查历史记录和未来的预测。
如何进行尽职调查
小型企业尽职调查可能是一个漫长而复杂的过程。它涉及挖掘业务记录，检查参考文献，确保所有内容都检查，并搜索业务可能已经隐藏的项目。
不要单独进行业务尽职调查。Hire an accountant以及在这一领域有经验的律师。虽然您当然可以参与并查看文档，但最好在您身边有专业人士。他们知道如何寻找您自己可能错过的危险信号。
当你开始业务尽职调查过程中,you will sign a confidentiality agreement with the other business owner. By signing, you agree not to contact people or businesses for additional information about the business or product without the other business owner’s approval. This prevents others from prematurely finding out about the sale before it is finalized.
Next, go through a due diligence checklist with your accountant and lawyer to make sure you hit all parts of the due diligence process. Your lawyer or accountant might have a checklist, but you can create your own.
Due diligence checklist
When you do due diligence, you will look at several aspects of the prospective business or product. Below is a business due diligence checklist to help you work through the process. This checklist is geared more toward acquiring a business, but you can easily adapt this for acquiring a product. Also, make sure you work with your accountant and lawyer to make sure you add or remove any necessary steps.
Financial due diligence
财务尽职调查，也称为会计尽职调查，着眼于业务的经济状况。您将在帐户，资产和负债之间寻找一致性。您还将查看历史趋势，预测和税收风险。
- Look at past annual and quarterly financial information, including:
- Review sales andgross profits通过产品。
- 查找按产品的回报率。
- Look at the应收账款。
- 获取业务库存的细分。
- How much inventory is on hand?
- What is the value of the current inventory?
- 对房地产和设备进行故障。
- 列出所有设备和家具的名称，型号和估值。
- Note the size and current market value of land or buildings.
- 回顾过去的预测和实际结果。
- Take a look at the owner’s future projections, including:
- 季度和年度预测
- 按产品预测
- Inquire about the assumptions the owner used to make projections.
- 获得定价政策和过去的历史。
- 询问所有业务税细节。
- 检索债务及其条款的摘要。
- 获取所有当前投资者的摘要。
- Get a summary of all shareholders.
Legal due diligence
法律尽职调查着眼于法律合同和其他文件，以寻找隐藏的风险和诉讼。
- 查看所有合同的副本，包括：
- 租赁
- Purchase agreements
- 分销协议
- 销售合同
- Employee and contractor agreements
- Trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and patents
- Articles of incorporation
- 业务注册文件
Operational due diligence
Operational due diligence investigates the actual operations of the business, such as the business model, the market, and competition.
- 确定客户模式。
- 比较与回头客的初次购买者的数量。
- Determine peak purchasing times.
- Find out what the popular items or services are.
- Learn what the popular price points are.
- 研究业务的营销。
- 查看过去和当前的营销策略。
- Review the business’s previous sales and discounts, along with how well the promotions did.
- Go over how much the business spends on marketing and calculate theROI。
- 了解过去的营销工作的结果。
- 进行市场分析。
- 研究the demographics of the surrounding area and the business’s target customers.
- 研究地理经济前景。
- Find out who are the business’s competitors.
- 找出人们如何看待业务。
- 了解客户和潜在客户，供应商和贷方对业务的看法。
- 研究行业趋势。
- 找出企业行业的增长还是放缓。
- 研究利润率对于行业。
- 了解有关业务竞争对手的更多信息。
- Look at each competitor’s strengths and weaknesses.
- 将竞争对手的产品，成本和收益与您想要收购的业务进行比较。
- 确定竞争对手对业务构成的任何威胁。
- Find out how much market share each competitor holds.
产品尽职调查
产品尽职调查allows you to learn more about the product the business provides.
- 获取所有提供产品的清单。
- 了解创建每种产品的成本。
- Determine how profitable each product is.
- 看看过去和预计的增长率。
- 调查对产品的增强功能以及未来的增强功能。
Human capital due diligence
人力资本尽职调查着眼于企业的员工和管理。它将研究技能和资格以及任何差距。
- Get an organizational chart.
- Curate a list of current employees, including their positions, earnings, skills, and qualifications.
- Determine how employee wages compare to wages of people in similar positions in the industry and region.
- 了解公司的福利计划。
- 了解业务的时间休息政策。
- Get estimates of the business’s projected staffing needs.
不进行尽职调查的后果
如果您不进行尽职调查，则可能会犯一个购买错误。您正在购买的人可能会尝试遗漏细节或软糖编号来吸引您。如果不验证您收到的详细信息并搜索更多信息，则可能会购买不错的财务投资的企业或产品。
进行不良的投资可能会导致您在业务或产品上亏本。业务或产品可能需要大修。或者，您可能会继承未知的债务或诉讼。
Also, the product or business might not fit your existing business or goals as well as you originally thought.
进行尽职调查，因此您不会被没有未来的企业或产品所困扰。
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