Thinking About Selling Your Business? From LinkedIn’s Family Business Network - Tom Plotkin • To Jamie – "Richard Feist's advice is spot-on. I'm working with a client who is a model seller who already had the "Feist" formula in place. Unfortunately, I'm working with another client who has a long way to go, but is getting there. When you are able to provide clear, clean and precise information to a prospective buyer, their comfort level is elevated setting a tone for a smoother transaction." First – Let’s avoid a "fire sale". This is going to be the biggest sale of your life in most cases, so things need to be orderly and thoughtful. Leave nothing to chance, and be in control of the process from the beginning to the payoff. Here are 5 things to do to amplify your business’s value. They take time to do, so start early in the game. Make sure you have a manager who is the COO - you are the CEO. This person will be equal to about 25% of the value of your company sale. If you don't have one, get one sooner rather than later. The test - When you can take a vacation without negatively impacting your business or ruining your time away with worry, your business is most likely marketable. Have your financials organized in a "popular" software like Quick Books,Sage Peachtree, AccountEdge or similarly popular. The purpose of this is to have your accounting history understandable for the buyer or the buyer's advisors. Stay up with your technology - nobody is buying dinosaurs for top dollar these days. Customers / Clients - Make absolutely sure that you have collected every available testimonial from your satisfied customers and show them with pride in your "Book". Have your customers listed in an up to date database that is easily searchable by variable metrics. Next to your salable product or service the next largest value is your customer / client data base. Make sure your office, plant and equipment are all clean, operational and up-to-date. This includes efficient lighting, strong signage, fresh paint and uncluttered desks. Five years is a good target, but if you have less, a positive sales chart covers for a lot of the above. |
