Selling a business that you’ve put your blood, sweat, and tears into for many years can be a difficult decision.
Selling a business that you’ve put your blood, sweat, and tears into for many years can be a difficult decision. If you’re approaching or considering the decision, now is the time to really understand everything that goes into it. Selling a business is not something that you can do on a whim; it requires homework, it requires due diligence, and it requires time. Read on for some tips and strategies to help you, if you’re thinking about selling your small business or franchise.
Prepare For Leaving
Eventually you are no longer going to run your business. If you’re thinking about selling, that day is sooner rather than later. You need to have a plan in place before this happens. Planning early for the future of your business is the best way to prevent it from failing once you leave. If your business has some much needed improvements coming, plan to complete them before trying to sell. Most people don’t want a fixer-upper business.
The Background Work
One of the first things that you have to do before you sell a business is to determine the worth of the business. When you’ve spent years pouring sweat and love into something, objectivity can be hard. Without objectivity, however, you can’t properly evaluate your business. This is where a third party is helpful. There are firms that will, for a fee, analyze your business and industry and provide an estimate of value (a business brokerage like us can provide this service as well). In preparation for this process and for selling, you need to also clean up your books. Prospective buyers want transparency, so if your books are confusing, now is the time to tidy them up. This includes listing our the assets of your business that a prospective buyer might also want to buy. Now is also a good time to implement some marketing strategies to boost sales. Prospective buyers prefer a business that has increasing sales, not declining ones.
Choose The Right Buyer
Finding the right buyer is the name of the game. Consider getting outside help to find the right person, namely a business broker. Business brokers can often do the business valuation, can prepare the prospectus, can help pre-qualify buyers, and can make sure all due diligence is completed. Finally, don’t forget that your perfect buyer might already be there – a longtime, devoted employee may be the perfect person to take over the business.
Buy With Atlantic Business Brokerage, Inc.
At Atlantic Business Brokerage, our mission is quite simple; we help sellers sell businesses, and buyers buy businesses! Over the past 30 years, ABBI has facilitated the sale of countless commercial properties, businesses, and franchised locations. With our unparalleled knowledge of the business purchase and sale industry and our network of contacts, we offer services to both buyers and sellers that no other brokerage firm can match. Contact us to discuss your business buying and selling goals today at 410-561-9800 or Toll-Free at 800-279-7569. Email us at [email protected], and follow us online on Facebook and LinkedIn.