Sell Your Business
First off, congratulations for a successful entrepreneurial career. Small business owners are what drive our economy. You should never sell yourself short based on the impact you have on your community, your customers, your suppliers and your employees. You are key in all of those relationships and many people depend on, and benefit from, your business. But how do you transition from owning a business so you can retire or focus on other priorities?
In many cases, the majority of a business owner's retirement savings may be tied up in the equity of their business. The selling process cannot be taken lightly then as getting the most for the business is critical. At the same time, certain missteps may cost you your current business or even prevent you from selling it at all.
In many cases, the majority of a business owner's retirement savings may be tied up in the equity of their business. The selling process cannot be taken lightly then as getting the most for the business is critical. At the same time, certain missteps may cost you your current business or even prevent you from selling it at all.
What questions do you have?
- What is your business worth?
- What can I do to make it worth more?
- What type of paper work is needed up front?
- How do you find potential buyers?
- How do you qualify those prospective buyers?
- What type of person is most likely to buy your business? least likely?
- What things does a buyer look for before buying your business?
- How can you prevent your employees or customers from finding out about the sale?
- How long does it normally take to sell a business?
- What are the fees associated to sell a business?
- What roles do your attorney or accountant play in the selling process?
- What kind of documents do you need to create to actually execute the sale?
- Who prepares those documents and what will that cost?
- Will you need to provide any sort of seller financing to sell your business?
- Will you have any liabilities after the sale?
- Will you have to sign a non-compete agreement?
- What can I do to make it worth more?
- What type of paper work is needed up front?
- How do you find potential buyers?
- How do you qualify those prospective buyers?
- What type of person is most likely to buy your business? least likely?
- What things does a buyer look for before buying your business?
- How can you prevent your employees or customers from finding out about the sale?
- How long does it normally take to sell a business?
- What are the fees associated to sell a business?
- What roles do your attorney or accountant play in the selling process?
- What kind of documents do you need to create to actually execute the sale?
- Who prepares those documents and what will that cost?
- Will you need to provide any sort of seller financing to sell your business?
- Will you have any liabilities after the sale?
- Will you have to sign a non-compete agreement?
We address these questions and more in our Free Consultation Meeting.
External Factors Affecting Business Sales
The overall economy will affect the value of your business. The presidential election cycle may have an impact. The prime interest rate definitely will affect the price you can sell your business. All of these things are outside your business's control, yet they will have an impact. Just look at the stock market. The Dow Jones drops 3% and a lot of company stock value will go with it, regardless if anything changed at that company itself. You may want to consider this when timing the sale of your business. Again, we encourage you to schedule a consultation and we'll help you determine when the best time to market your business may be.
Steps to Sell a Business
The first step to sell your business a phone consultation so we can learn a little about your business. We'll go through the process and tell you what we need to do the free business valuation. We'll try to understand your business to determine the strategic value of the business, the location, the customer base, etc, in addition to evaluating your revenue and net owner income. It may be you are the sole provider of a service or product in the area or you have a patent on a product that no one else has. We need to know that. When we're done, we'll follow up with an email as well.
That next step is to decide what it is worth by doing the business valuation. You might find out that the business is worth less than you want, or need, to sell it and retire. Hopefully, it's worth more. Once we interview you and get your financial information, we'll schedule a free, no obligation, consultation.
After we have the consultation, answering your questions about about the process, learning even more about your company, and developing a marketing strategy, we'll execute the listing agreement and get started. We develop a factual, detailed confidential business information package. We've had many people tell us that our packages are very effective based on their content and presentation. We could add a lot of fluff on one extreme or lack detail on the other extreme. We try to answer all of the prospect's questions with our package. This helps to screen people and helps them make decisions.
That next step is to decide what it is worth by doing the business valuation. You might find out that the business is worth less than you want, or need, to sell it and retire. Hopefully, it's worth more. Once we interview you and get your financial information, we'll schedule a free, no obligation, consultation.
After we have the consultation, answering your questions about about the process, learning even more about your company, and developing a marketing strategy, we'll execute the listing agreement and get started. We develop a factual, detailed confidential business information package. We've had many people tell us that our packages are very effective based on their content and presentation. We could add a lot of fluff on one extreme or lack detail on the other extreme. We try to answer all of the prospect's questions with our package. This helps to screen people and helps them make decisions.
We advertise the business confidentially and require inquirers to fill out a non-disclosure agreement prior to getting our information package. We also take a pro-active out-bound marketing strategy with our database of buyers and other contacts we have in the market. We do not post a "for sale" sign in front of your business like a commercial real estate might. Confidentially is crucial for you to maintain operating your business as usual.
We screen prospects and then set up buyer-seller meetings only with those that meet all the criteria so we're not wasting your time. We'll negotiate the offers, draft the documents, advise you to review with your professional advisors, and see you through to closing. We are engaged throughout the process. You'll have our cell phone numbers and will be available more than any other broker. Our communication is given the highest priority.
We screen prospects and then set up buyer-seller meetings only with those that meet all the criteria so we're not wasting your time. We'll negotiate the offers, draft the documents, advise you to review with your professional advisors, and see you through to closing. We are engaged throughout the process. You'll have our cell phone numbers and will be available more than any other broker. Our communication is given the highest priority.
Cost to Sell a Business
We are performanced-based and only get paid when we successfully sell your business. There are no up-front fees -- the business valuation, the business consultation, the development of the marketing package, the advertising, the meetings, the negotiations, and more, are all done without specific costs to you as a business owner. We absorb all of those risks. We get paid an industry-standard fee at closing, based solely on successfully selling your business. If we don't sell it, you owe us nothing. You should also expect to have a few thousand dollars in legal fees should you have your attorney review the closing documents, which we recommend. Your accounting requirements can hopefully all be handled in-house, but if you outsource all of your accounting or bookkeeping, you may have some expenses there. If you have real estate as part of the transaction, you may experience typical fees associated with that, including title, closing, survey and environmental expenses. We will cover all these questions and issues in the consultation meeting.
Contact Us Now to Get Started!
Our goal is to make this process the easiest possible on you, so you can focus operating your business throughout. We'll handle all of the advertising, promotion, screening, negotiating, document prep and in some case, the closing. We'll talk with you how to get the most for your business. If you want, we can engage in a consulting agreement to even work on your business over a period of a few months to prepare it for sale in the future. But, if you're ready to go now, we'll get started right away. We'll have a sense of urgency that most other brokers will not. Our goal is to be successful.
