The right buyers for your business

Buyer profiles for e-commerce and retail businesses

 

Planning to sell your biz or know someone who is?

If you’re a Direct-to-consumer founder who’s reached strong profitability in your business, you’ve likely been considering what your exit would look like, or have even been actively preparing for one.

We’ve conversed with 100+ founders about their expectations around an exit, and one of the most important questions that comes up in early discussions surrounds buyers and multiples: “What does your role look like as a buyer and what multiple can I expect?”

You Have Choices

Here are the 6 most common buyers in the direct-to-consumer and retail space:

  1. Strategic

    • A buyer in the same or related vertical whose current business will increase in value through the addition or absorption of the seller's brand. Buyers who are seeking a strategic acquisition tend to be publicly traded companies.

  2. Private equity

    • These are financial buyers offering a full or partial cash out. Often the plan is to significantly change company processes and culture, intending to increase value and “flip” or resell the business in 3-5 years.

  3. Holding Company/Aggregator

    • These buyers act as financial and operations partners, providing a liquidity event and earn-out options for the previous owner(s). In this option, founders step down and their responsibilities are taken over by members of the holding company.

  4. Distressed asset buyers

    • These are buyers who are seeking companies that are losing money and unable to raise additional capital so that they can attain its products, assets, or sales channels for a lower than average cost.

Multiples Buyers & Determining Value

These are the standard multiples buyers are paying as of 2022.

  • If your company does ~$10M+ EBITDA*, can expect up to a 2-3X revenue multiples selling to PE or a strategic.

  • If you’re in the lower range, $800k-$7M EBITDA, you can expect a 3-6x EBITDA multiple from a holding company or private investor.

Why Choose Direct.co?

At Direct.co, our focus is on eCommerce growth and profitability. We accomplish that growth through expertly targeted quantitative marketing, operational excellence, and by creating a seamless shopping experience across multiple sales channels.

We know so many business founders who have put enormous effort into building healthy businesses, and many who are now ready to step back from the day-to-day grind and reap the well-deserved benefits of a large liquidity event.

At Direct.co, we strive to be the best option available for selling your businesses, and we want you to feel confident and relaxed, understanding that, as founder, you have the opportunity to grow alongside your brand, while retaining up to 30% to benefit from future upsides.

Let Direct.co, with our proven track record of success, take over your business’s CEO responsibilities and we will drive profitable growth through our unique and proven techniques for quantitative marketing, operational excellence, and omnichannel sales. All while retaining your talented full-time team members.

What We’re Looking For

While the DTC brands owned by our partners are in the keto space, we’re looking at businesses across the following categories:

  • Household products

  • Garden/outdoor

  • Pet care

  • Health/fitness

  • Baby

  • Hobby/interest

  • Personal care

  • Supplements

If you’re a founder that’s considering an exit, or know someone who is, please fill out the form below and a member of our team will get back to you to answer your questions and walk you through the process.

~ David, Siamak, & Mike

 
 

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