Benjamin Jarmon, Joorney CEO, often talks about their evolution from business planners to CIM analysts. “The way we deal with clients are different and we customize our process depending on their needs.” Business plans and CIMs are quite similar though the objective is different. Yet, the process to write many of them correctly, and the interactions needed to stay loyal to the professional’s perspective and vision, are really the intangible know-how needed to succeed.

M&A advisors should be mindful of the audience that they are sending the CIM to, and their reasons for doing so. For example, is the advisor looking to solicit interest in selling a business to a strategic buyer?  If so, that audience will probably not require an educational “primer” on the industry because they already function in the industry. However, if the potential buyer is a financial buyer, they (the buyer) may need to have an educational section to bring them up to speed on the industry (size, historical growth, projected growth, demand drivers, industry benchmark cost structures, etc.).  Being well aware of who the audience is and what their expectations of content for the CIM are is critical.

Therefore, the process of creating a CIM should not be taken lightly, and now more than ever, M&A firms and brokers are turning to partners to help with the creation of a CIM, allowing professionals to each focus on their noted areas of expertise. Even if you have an internal writer on staff to develop your CIMs, the large team of experts here at Joorney have the collaborating ability and focus to cover more ideas and think of the important questions and concepts that one or two people just might not think of on their own.

At Joorney Advisory, we take the brunt of the CIM development off your plate, helping you stay away from those tedious tasks which keep you from strategizing and focusing on closing more deals. Our CIMs are delivered as a white label product, so you don’t have to worry about it looking like it came from somewhere else. We take the time to get to know the details and ensure the CIM is complete, with an executive summary, details on the team and advisory board, exit analysis, a sales and marketing strategy, the long-term plan for financing, robust description of services, a detailed outline of the deal structure, the market opportunity, and the operational plan.

This is often a more economical option, and our professionals are well educated in the sales process and relevant industry so that we can create materials that are attractive and high quality, and help you get the deal. While construction of the CIM is a joint process, as no one knows your client’s business better than you, we will take on the heavy lifting so that you can focus on sourcing deals, and bringing in the business.

Benjamin Jarmon, Founder & CEO of Joorney, indicates that within the M&A middle market with transactions ranging from 5M-200M, M&A advisors that work with Joorney have different types of profiles, but most have the same fee structure. They work on retainer + commission, which is how they can invest in creating a superior set of documents for the sale.

We customize our services based on various deal profiles.

• Larger deal profiles – Obviously, the advisors taking care of one to three large transactions a year will want a very thorough and insightful support document which they can write themselves because they have time. But they do want to have a small team, add probability that no mistake will be made, and focus on making it happen.

• Smaller deal profiles – Some M&A firms work on a larger volume of deals and need a constant flow of CIMs written for them. In this case, they’ll need to know they can rely on day in and day out on a partner that can get as many CIMs prepared as they want at the same time, regardless of time or season, while still maintaining a high standard of quality.

Matt Wolf, Head of Advisory at Joorney recommends that all M&A firms try Joorney’s services at least once, to really compare the entire experience from collection of information up until the final deliverable.

Our clients trust us, and that’s important. The M&A advisor is trusted by the client selling their business – and it’s tough for them to reach out to external providers when they haven’t yet established trust. So, we believe in respect for privacy, loyalty to the M&A firm’s vision, and the security of our process. Once we have passed the testing phase, it’s really about our customers appreciating the exceptional quality and focusing on getting more deals and better close rates.

When you take the time to invest in a high-quality CIM from a reputable partner, it allows you to engage in hearty conversations and negotiations to help articulate what is outlined within the CIM.