Sell My Business - What do I need to do?

What Do I Need to Do to Sell My Business?
This is a question most business owners ask. The truth is, once you ask yourself this question; how do I sell my business, you must be prepared to do a lot. This is because selling a business is not as easy as selling a simple product to a buyer. You must create a business valuation, get your finances in order, hire business brokers and do so much more. In this post, we will focus on the things you will not find in other sale guide.

Build a mini-business plan
When starting a business, you came up with a business plan. This is what helped your investors gain confidence in you. Now that you want to sell business, you must build trust in prospective buyers. The best way to do this is creating a mini-business plan. You should do this as soon as the thought of, ‘I want to sell my business’ crosses your mind. The mini-business plan should have your business story. Include your financials, business plan, sales, industry projections, recent improvements and anything else that may be attractive to prospective buyers. Generally speaking, your mini-business plan should give buyers the reason to buy your company when you tell them, ‘I want to sell my business’.

Stay in business
Most of the business sale guides you will find will not mention anything about keeping your business running until the day you sell it. There is a lot of work that has to be done as you sell business. This may overwhelm you to the extent of forcing you to put your business operations on hold. What this will do is cause its value to go down. It takes 4 to 12 months to sell even the smallest of businesses. If you feel overwhelmed, it is better to outsource the work to business brokers. Do not shut your business down before securing an offer and financing. This is the key reason you should hire a broker as soon as you say this to yourself; ‘I want to sell my business.’

Add value to your business
Before finding the best buyer, months or even years may go by. During this time, you should be working hard to add value to your company. You can start by upgrading fixtures, expanding your market reach and replacing old equipment. It is by adding value to your company that you will be able to make optimal profit.

Hire a business broker
‘I want to sell my business for maximum profit’. If this is you, you should avoid getting into the sale blind. The best way to sell at a profit is to work with someone familiar with the process of selling a business. A business broker San Diego will be of great help.

Know the market
Last but not least, you need to familiarize yourself with the market. Note that your business is only worth what the market is willing to offer. Know your buyers and determine how much they can afford. Your best buyers are your competitors and business that offer similar products and services.

What Client’s Say

We Couldn’t Be Happier

"When we thought about selling we had no idea what our business was worth or how to go about selling. What you were able to do was to cut through the fog so that we understood the valuation issue and had a comfort level with the process. As you know we ended up selling for somewhat more than the original valuation and we got all cash and our CPA loved the way our tax liability was minimized. We couldn’t be happier!"

Over $250,000 More

"Our first contact with you shocked us when you suggested that we wait 18 months before selling because you believed that if we hit our projections that the value would be significantly greater. As it turned out we not only followed your advice but also got slightly over $250,000 more than we originally had hoped for. It is seldom that we have had the opportunity to deal with a firm that doesn’t want both money and a commitment NOW. It was clear and obvious that you had our best interests at heart."

You Got the Valuation We Agreed On

"You did a great job on the sale of our business in really beating the bushes for buyers, including a UK company that was an active suitor. You managed to get the valuation that we had all agreed upon and got it substantially all in cash and got the transaction closed with little to no problems or expensive lawyers involved."

Thank You for Handling Our Business

"Our business was smaller than what your firm normally handles but it was a BIG part of our net worth and savings. Thank you for handling our business and we were very pleased and delighted with the results."

More Than Anticipated

"Our transaction was involved as we had different corporate entities located in different states. Our only regret is that we didn’t retain your services before 2012 when we paid $25,000 to a firm in Texas that did a valuation and market analysis for us before then failing to do anything in the way of trying to sell our business. You got it sold for more than anticipated."

The Sales Process