I have been involved in a number of mergers, acquisitions, and sales of companies. The same thing happens almost every time: the seller gets caught up in details and forgets that they are selling their company, not just the product or service they offer.
As a result, they end up missing out on opportunities because they are too focused on minor details like how much money is being offered versus what their company is worth. Here are some tips for avoiding this mistake when Selling a Business.
Determine who is going to handle this transaction
Before you can make any progress on the deal, you need to know who will be responsible for each step of the process. At first glance, this may seem like an obvious consideration; but there are often people involved in a transaction who aren’t directly related to it. When that’s the case, determine their roles and get them up to speed on how best they can support your team.
Take advantage of your strengths when selling your business
Before you start your sales pitch, take a moment to identify your strengths and weaknesses. What are the skills that you have developed over time? How can they help or hinder your ability to sell your business?
For example, if you’re a creative person with great ideas but not many organizational skills, it might be difficult for you to get everything ready in time for a meeting with potential buyers. However, if each week you spent an hour organizing all of the information needed for a presentation or proposal into one document on Google Drive and when someone asks about it say “it’s here in this document” then this will make things easier for both parties involved (and possibly save some time).
Likewise, if there are things that come naturally to us like being outgoing or friendly while others struggle with these traits then we could take advantage of these abilities by speaking up as often as possible during meetings so as not only to get our point across but also build rapport among other people who may want what we do/sell/provide them (i.e., clients).
Step back and get a bird’s eye view of the company
One of the best ways to prepare yourself for selling your company is to take a step back and get a bird’s eye view of the company.
Take some time off, or if you are an owner-operator, allow yourself the opportunity to reflect on what you have accomplished over the years. This can be very helpful when it comes time for buyers to make their offers because they will feel confident that their offer will be accepted if they know how much energy and effort has gone into growing your business.
As part of this process, it is important for you as an owner-operator to understand:
- What are we selling?
- Who are our customers?
- What do our customers value most about us?
- What makes us unique compared with competitors in our market niche?
Prepare yourself for the long sales process
The process of selling a company can be long, stressful, and complicated. However, it is a rewarding and exciting process as well. Once you have found an interested buyer and the deal is agreed upon, you will need to prepare yourself for the final stage of negotiations. This involves preparing documents that are necessary for closing the transaction (such as legal agreements).
Make sure the company is prepared for the sale
It’s important to make sure that your company is prepared for a sale if you can. Not only does this mean taking steps to ensure it has a good reputation and is profitable, but also that it’s stable and has a good team in place. This will make it easier for potential buyers to trust you and that your employees are dedicated to doing their jobs well.
Additionally, there are some legal considerations to keep in mind as well:
- Your company needs legal ownership of all its assets before selling them off individually
- The contracts between yourself and the people who work for you should be clear-cut and straightforward so there aren’t any problems after the sale
Conclusion
If you’re thinking of Selling a Business, you’ve got to be prepared. There are a lot of things that need to be done in order to ensure that your business can sell. The most important thing is to make sure that everyone on your team is ready and willing to sell their services or products at the right price.
If you’re unsure about how much money it will take off your hands, take some time off work and do some research on how much similar companies have been sold for recently in order to get an idea of what price range would make sense for your situation as well as theirs!