Hiring a business broker Orange County is the first thing you need to do when getting ready to sell your business. An experienced broker will help get the business ready, market it extensively to the right buyers and guide you through the sale. Even so, when you want to sell a business there are a couple of things you will have to do on your part.
Determine reason for selling
Now is the time to define your reason for selling. Remember that some business brokers Orange County will not work for you if they feel your reason for selling is not good enough. The reason for this is because most buyers with bad reasons for selling end up pulling out of the deal. Needless to say, a broker is paid once the business is sold.
The main reasons why small business owners sell include the following:
- Partnership disputes
- Retirement
- Boredom
- Death or illness
- Becoming overworked
There are other business owners whose goal was to eventually sell their business for profit. The decision to sell in this case is arrived at when the profits of the business increase, the business achieves a consistent income figure, there is a strong customer base or the business gets a contract that spans several years.
Time the sale
Timing is everything when it comes to the sale of a business. You should start preparing for the sale at least two years in advance. That will give you ample time to improve your financial records, customer base and business structure. These improvements will eventually make your business more attractive to buyers and smooth the transition.
Get a valuation
Your business broker Orange County will help with the business valuation. The purpose of this is to help you know exactly how much your business is worth. The appraisal will also help set the best asking price. A business appraisal gives more credibility to the asking price that you set.
Get documents ready
The due diligence stage is unavoidable during the sale of a business. This is the stage in which the buyer tries to validate all the information you provided and also to gauge if yours is a worthy investment. In preparation for this stage, you need to gather all your financial records, clean them and make them more presentable. Now is also the best time to fix the fixable flaws in your business.
Find a buyer
It takes between 6 months and 2 years to sell a business. Considering how involving the process is, you should always leave the marketing part to experienced business brokers Orange County. Your broker will market the business extensively, prescreen buyers, help with negotiations and let you know when the best deal is on the table.