How to Sell Your Business: A Helpful Guide

Not all business owners begin an enterprise with the intention of selling it. In some cases, selling a business may be the inevitable route you’ll have to take if it’s just not performing well, and in other cases, you might want to sell in order to enjoy your retirement.

Whatever your reason, selling a business can be almost as difficult as starting one if you don’t do your research on how to sell properly, and who to sell it to. So, if you’re looking for helpful advice on how to sell your business, this is the blog for you.

1. Enlist the Expertise of a Business Broker

Selling a business is no walk in the park, especially if you’re completely new to the task. This where a business broker could be a gamechanger for you. With so much work that goes into preparing a business for sale, a broker can help to refine and streamline it all for you.

Not only this, but they have a good idea of market trends, they have a network of contacts and possible buyers, can assist in the negotiation process, and so much more.

2. Create a Pre-Sale Checklist

As a general rule-of-thumb, most business buyers are looking to purchase smaller businesses because they are low risk, and have the potential to offer a high reward.

So with this in mind, you’ll need to take a long, hard look at your business and create a checklist of the areas you need to improve upon to make your business desirable. And this needs to happen before you put it on the market!

Your checklist should include areas such as your legal and financial standing, your business operations, the quality of your products and services. As well as your customer base, technological capabilities, and a team of staff.

3. Familiarize Yourself With the Paperwork You Need

Selling a business requires plenty of paperwork — it’s best to be aware of this from the start. So before you put it on the market, you’ll need to be aware of the documentation required in order to present your business for sale.

Buyers who are serious about your business will enquire after this paperwork and will examine it closely in order to gauge whether the purchase is worth their while. For this reason, you want to ensure all your paperwork is in order, it’s verified, and 100 percent accurate and up-to-date.

4. Update and Consolidate All Financial Accounts

Whether you have a manufacturing business for sale, a beauty salon, a small corner café, or a larger commercial enterprise, potential buyers are going to want to look at your financials.

This is why it’s so important to ensure all of your financial accounts are up-to-date and accurate. Make sure to eliminate all financial items that do not directly relate to your business, too. This gives serious buyers an insight into what your business can offer in terms of turnover and profit. Some may say that this is a make-or-break factor for business buyers.

5. Draw Up a Plan on How To Sell Your Business

Once you’ve sorted all your paperwork and financials, it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty of how you’re actually going to sell your business. This is where you can work closely with your business broker on a realistic strategy, timeline, and pricing for a good business sale.

A good way to bag the best sale price for your business is to draw up a detailed business plan for your potential business buyer. Basically, this leaves them with the upper hand. Your business plan should include financial, marketing, and operations plans, and outline proposed growth plans for your business too.

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