A Prepared Business Owner’s 9 Step Strategy to Sell a Business
As every entrepreneur knows, selling a business is a big event, a milestone toward the next phase of life.The majority of business sales are triggered by unexpected events in the owner’s lives. If you don’t prepare to sell a business, it is more likely that your transaction will be at a greater disadvantage, potentially reducing your overall valuation or causing a more problematic sale.
How to Prepare to Sell a Business
It is very easy to get caught up in the daily business operations, leaving you more vulnerable should an unexpected event occur. Plan ahead with an exit strategy.
Financial Statements
Make certain your financial statements (for at least 3 years) are accurate, accounting practices are consistently applied year-to-year and all of the assets and liabilities on the balance sheet are accurate. Here’s a good guide to what’s important in your business accounting.
Get Rid of Useless Equipment
Dispose of no longer used equipment. Scrap it, auction it but get rid of it. You’re selling a business, no need to have useless equipment lying around.
Clean out dead or slow moving inventory.
Business owners often think that obsolete inventory doesn’t cost anything to keep on hand and maybe one day, in the next 5 – 10 years, you’ll get a call from a customer needing that exact item. Get an accurate count of all your inventory, then get rid of the slow-moving or not moving items.
Double Check Business Documentation
Make sure your employment practices are documented and applied properly. Is overtime being paid properly? Are your 1099 independent contractors classified properly? Have your employees been screened appropriately for their jobs?
Clean Up Your Books
Make sure your expenses booked on your financials are all legitimate business expenses. The cleaner the books the higher the price.
Business Taxes
Make sure your tax payments are all up-to-date. Sales tax, FICA, etc.
Business Appraisal
Have a business valuation or business appraisal done on the business so you can determine if the value of the business is adequate to provide the cash needed to secure your future.
Business Structure
Look at your corporate structure and determine what tax issues will need to be resolved to maximize the after-tax proceeds in a sale. Are you still a C Corp? If so, talk to your accountant to see if changing to an S Corp would benefit you in a sale. Clean up any old partnership or ownership issues
Why do these things INCREASE THE VALUE of the business?
Because they reduce the risk to a buyer of a business….lower risk for the buyer equals a higher price for seller. Contact us to learn more about how to best prepare to sell a business in Texas.
“In my 20 years managing business sales, I have found that the most successful business sales are completed because a business owner was PREPARED to sell when the opportunity arose. Business owners buy insurance in hopes that they don’t need it…but when they do need it, they are very happy they have it.
Often the insurance is for events that might cost them as little as $1,000. Being prepared to sell your business when you’re not planning to sell is like having a “Business Value” insurance policy. Without preparation (your insurance) you are “uninsured” for the loss of business value, which can cost hundreds of thousands of $$ or more.”
Dan Elliott