Navigating Due Diligence: Essential Steps for Successful Business Transactions

Camille Terk, MBA, has advised more than 700 businesses in securing startup and growth capital, helping raise over $350 million collectively. For 20+ years, Camille has worked side by side with entrepreneurs and business owners to grow, scale, and prepare for a lucrative exit. She has established rapport with investors and lenders and understands the intricate steps necessary to ensure a smooth closing. She is deeply passionate about supporting entrepreneurs and has worked across a broad range of industries, from bakeries to biotech and nearly everything in between.

Brandi Stage brings 27 years of entrepreneurial experience into the role of Associate Business Broker, with a career built on trust, reputation, and long-standing relationships. Influenced by entrepreneurship on both her maternal and paternal family sides, she has consistently led with integrity, accountability, and respect—principles that have earned her a stellar reputation across business and community circles.

Before joining Coastal Consultants as a Business Broker, she built successful businesses and understands the multiple stages of growth. Her firsthand knowledge and understanding of the challenges business owners face allow her to connect authentically with clients, anticipate their needs, and approach every transaction with clarity and care. In her role at Coastal Consultants, Brandi is focused on supporting business owners and buyers through confidential, well-structured transactions. She collaborates closely with experienced brokerage professionals to ensure each client receives thoughtful guidance, tailored strategy, and diligent support from start to finish.

Known for her ethical conduct, sound judgment, and calm professionalism, Brandi is committed to protecting value, honoring legacy, and facilitating smooth transitions. Whether working with seasoned owners or first-time buyers, she brings a relationship-driven approach that reflects the highest standards of the profession.

Growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, Nathan Drummond gained hands-on experience in the ups and downs of small business ownership. Working in those businesses as a young teenager, and now in his own business operations, has given him a strong understanding of the rewards, challenges, and hard work required of business owners. A college education and a short career in construction ultimately guided him toward business ownership. He was fortunate to be mentored within his family’s business, Coastal Consultants LLC, where he developed a deep appreciation for the value of a positive attitude when working with people and organizations across a wide range of industries. His experience spans from small, single-owner businesses to large multinational companies with diverse cultures and expectations.

After receiving additional training from the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) and gaining over six years of industry experience, Nathan is well-positioned to relate to business owners—as well as members of his generation—who are seeking to build generational wealth through business ownership.

Bill is known as “a consummate developer of strategic relationships“. He is an Accredited Business Intermediary, veteran broadcast executive, public relations consultant and historian.

Having served as a director of numerous successful businesses, he has represented owners and investors for many years. In turn, he brings a broad and unique skill set to our firm.

Bill Bridges also serves as Chair of the fundraising arm of the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina.

Lauren Drummond Dale, MCBI, is a trusted advisor to business owners across the MidSouth navigating ownership transitions. With offices in Louisiana and Mississippi, she serves clients throughout Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas.

With more than 20+ years of experience as both a business owner and intermediary, Lauren specializes in valuation, exit readiness, and transaction execution. She works primarily with lower middle market companies, the firm’s dedicated advisory practice for businesses typically ranging from $2 million to $40 million in revenue.
Lauren’s experience spans a wide range of industries, with direct involvement in transactions and advisory engagements from smaller privately held businesses through companies approaching $30 million in revenue. In addition, she brings firsthand perspective from owning and operating six- to eight-figure businesses—allowing her to approach each engagement with both strategic and practical insight.

As a Master Certified Business Intermediary (MCBI)—a distinction held by a limited number of professionals nationwide—Lauren applies a disciplined, process-driven methodology to every engagement. Her work is guided by her Trusted Transition Path™, a structured framework that aligns valuation, preparation, market positioning, and transaction execution.

A defining element of her approach is a valuation-first philosophy, grounded in her Preparation to Payday™ mindset. Engagements begin with establishing a clear, supportable understanding of value and identifying the steps required to strengthen positioning before entering the market.
We don’t start with a listing—we start with valuation and preparation.

Through this approach, Lauren helps business owners make informed decisions, protect what they’ve built, and move forward with confidence.