An overview of due diligence
Due diligence involves conducting thorough research or audit of an investment, firm or product. It basically involves the various steps involved in analyzing the details before entering into an agreement or before a financial transaction with other parties. Due diligence also comprises of the investigation that a seller conducts about a buyer focusing on parameters like- resources present with the buyer or factors affecting the seller or sold entity after the transaction.
In order to maintain transparency and trust between businesses, due diligence is called for. The absence of instant trust among promoters, investors, and businesses leads to major disputes, failure in business and loss of reputation. Before making an investment or transaction, businesses are required to analyze the pros and cons of the investment, conduct due diligence and only then allocate resources and capital.
Some of the various aspects of due diligence process are-
- Analyzing the total value of the company
- Looking at net revenues, profits and margins
- Knowing about the competitors in the industry
- Investigating the management and ownership of the company
- Checking stocks and dilution
- Investigating the working processes to ensure compliance with standards
- Analyzing short term and long term goals · Risk analysis and checking balance sheet
Why should you verify agents before onboarding?
Start-ups are heavily dependent on investors as a source of funds and resources. Whenever a particular investor decides to invest in a start-up, they conduct due diligence around the start-up to make sure that they are investing in the right option. This goes both ways. For start-ups, it is extremely important to carry out due diligence on investors, partners and vendors to make sure that they are credible sources with sufficient competencies. Exhaustive due diligence in critical for ensuring debt and equity financing for young organizations. Some of the major reasons for start-ups to conduct due diligence are mentioned below.
· To identify potential faults and risks that are to be addressed before settling on an agreement.
- To identify possible deal breakers
- Optimizing their resource and investments
- To establish alliance with respected partners in the industry
- Ensuring that the various competencies and capabilities of 3rd party partners like vendors and service providers are in sync with the organisation.
Also read:Vendor Due Diligence- Your Aid to Organisational Safety & Compliance
Vendor due diligence and its advantages
Outsourcing of tasks to third party vendors and service providers is a common practice across various industries. This not only allows companies to optimize their processes, but also saves time and capital. However, there are some inherent risks involved while partnering with any third party vendor. Companies need to ensure that their information/data is safe with the vendors along with verifying whether vendors have the necessary capabilities to deliver results ethically.
Conducting vendor due diligence helps in saving cost by ensuring that businesses partner with the right vendors. It involves investigating the vendor, its image in the industry and its working processes to ensure confidentiality and compliance with standards and ethics. It also ensures organizational safety by making sure that the vendor is authentic and has the required license for operation in the region. Added to this, it checks if the vendors are in compliance with anti-corruption standards and protect the data-integrity of the company
Conclusion
In today’s industrial climate, the focus is on forming profitable and meaningful partnerships among businesses. Due diligence helps companies better understand their partners, vendors and investors. Eliminating factors that can negatively affect such partnerships/deals or reasons for trust deficit are to be eliminated before confirming on the partnership or deal. This is critical in maintaining organizational health and efficacy of working processes.
