Hiring a business broker San Diego is not the only thing you need to sell a business. This is just the first step. The role of a business broker is simply to guide you through the process. He will help navigate the challenges and help achieve maximum profit. You can also ask the broker to take over the sale so that you can concentrate on the core operations of your business. Once you have hired a business broker, the next most important thing you have to do is to get your business ready for sale. But how do you do that?
Assess your business
Getting your business ready for sale is something you need to do months or even years before listing your business. It is how well prepared you are that will determines the success of the transaction. You need to start by assessing your business. Business brokers San Diego will look closely at your business to analyze how it works. When doing this, you have to look at the business from a buyer’s perspective.
- What do you do well?
- What can be improved?
- Who are your main suppliers?
- How many products or services do you sell in a year?
- Which specific products/services sell better?
The aim here is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Doing so will help confront the business’ weaknesses and vulnerabilities. It also helps identify your true strengths and potential.
Share operations
Can your business flourish in your absence? If the answer is no, then you need to restructure it. If you are the only person that knows how things work, you will be at a disadvantage when you try to sell it. An experienced business broker San Diego will help train a team to run the business in your absence. In some cases, a manager may need to be hired. The idea here is to take yourself out of operations. Buyers want to invest in a business that can run smoothly in the absence of the owner. You also need to come up with an operations manual and succession plan at this point.
Consolidate the paperwork
All the business paperwork needs to be organized and easy to access. There is a lot of paperwork involved right from meeting minutes and financial records to legal documents and general filing. Everything has to be kept in order. Your financial statements and accounting records for the last three years should be organized. Having organized paperwork proves that yours is a lucrative business that is worth buying. Organized paperwork also helps smooth the process.
Tend to business appearance
Last but not least, you need to give your business a facelift. Pay attention to the peeling paint. Squeaky doors, broken taps and everything that is not in perfect order. First impressions matter a lot.
The above points will help get your business ready for sale. The list is, however, not conclusive. Your business brokers San Diego will make more recommendations.