Selling Your Business: How to Sell a Business in Good and Bad Times

But, making the sale is not as easy as it may appear. As an entrepreneur, I have built and sold six businesses including a car rental company, two detailed business history and sales portfolio on hand at all times, it will make your planning pay off. . Retail Kiosks as Storefront Alternatives - Good or Bad?.
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Despite the allure of minimising taxes by running private expenses through the company books, it poses significant risk when preparing clean financials. Prepare a due diligence pack. This can be provided by your auditor or financier and will include a list of your current contracts, VAT and SARS clearance certificates and defendable cashflow projections. Business owners opt to sell their business, or part of their business, for any number of reasons. This could be in order to retire and live off the proceeds, or because they want to raise money for another business opportunity.

Before any negotiation begins, a business owner will need to find the right buyer. There are a number of brokers and financial service companies who can help source qualified potential buyers and, unless you have an offer on the table, it is a good idea to work with a third party to get line up a few credible potential buyers.

Once the deal has been negotiated and you have settled on the price, you must factor in Capital Gains tax. It is sensible to have a good idea of this before negotiations begin and to work out your asking price accordingly. Other expenses may also impact what you walk away with, including professional fees for your lawyer, auditor and other consultants with whom you have worked during the sale. You should also plan for delays due to valuation debates and requests for supporting documentation which may take time. Finally, it is always a good idea to consider whether you want to walk away immediately after the sale.

Many business owners choose to stay on in operations, and by doing so can negotiate a more favourable price with earn-outs attached to the sale price. After all, you are the person who knows the business best and has a relationship with your clients — and this insight comes with a value attached.

With the Olympic Games just having taken place last month, it is interesting to reflect back on some of the big events of the Olympic Games in Rio. The time among medalists was one of the closest in Olympic history, and while Johan Blake of Jamaica posted a respectable time of 9. In the m dash, vital milliseconds can be lost in the tiniest of miscalculations. And when it comes to selling your business, markets can be equally cruel. Get everything right, and you can successfully sell your business for a premium.

Misjudge a couple of minor details and a buyer can walk, leaving you with nothing. If you rent space, you may be required to notify your landlord if you intend to sell your company. Consider having audited financial statements prepared to give a buyer confidence in your bookkeeping. Oftentimes, when leading up to being listed for sale, companies grow by chasing low-margin business.

When Is The Right Time To Sell Your Business?

You tell yourself you need top-line growth, but when an acquirer sees your growth has come at the expense of your gross margin, she will question your pricing authority and assume your journey to the bottom of the commoditisation heap has begun. It will take 13 minutes to answer the Value Builder questionnaire. Like competing in the Olympics, selling a business can be an all-or-nothing affair.

Get it right and you will walk away a winner.

When Is The Right Time To Sell Your Business? | Entrepreneur

Fumble your preparation, and you could end up out of the medals. Are you a first time investor? You may want to get some guidance before you know your way around the These female entrepreneurs are breaking barriers, transforming industries and inspiring change on the continent. Your personal context How old are you? How much energy do you have left in your tank? Have you extracted value out of the business already? Have you managed to de-risk yourself by investing in equivalent assets outside of your business? Is your business ready to sell?

Your personal context

You say you are just 12 months away…. You will reach the 12 month point anyway… With the time that it takes to complete a successful transaction there is a good chance that you will cross that threshold of that big contract that you were hoping to land, putting that succession plan in or whatever the reason was that you wanted to delay the process for. Up Next Selling Your Business? How To Exit In Style. You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel reply You must be logged in to post a comment. Published 2 months ago on Jul 16, These problems may seem large, but they are more fun for most entrepreneurs.

For many entrepreneurs, this requires a serious attitude and disposition adjustment. Your therapist or pharmacologist will notice the difference immediately. The company has outgrown your skill set.

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This point is closely related to the first. Often times, as a founder or principal, you'll find that as your business begins to grow, you become less of an asset to the company.

How To Sell Your Business at the Highest Value

This is a very hard truth to accept, but the best entrepreneurs are able to be honest with themselves about it. For example, many great entrepreneurs are fantastic salespeople. Hopefully you'll have the field vision to recognize this point in the company's lifecycle, and the humility to do something about it. It should be noted, however, that some entrepreneurs are able to learn and grow with their companies. The market might be moving against you. If you recognize that there's a megatrend on the horizon that threatens to make your business irrelevant or marginal, it's time to think about an exit plan.

The constant daily grind can wear you down rather quickly. Is your business and industry on the way in or out? The same goes for many other industries. If you recognize the industry or technology shifting signals, now may be time to act.


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I was quite overwhelmed by the line list of items of information that were required, so you should start doing some housekeeping now. Does that sound like you? Download my book and Amazon bestseller number 1 in business, number 2 in non-fiction. You can get your FREE copy here.