Thinking about selling your company? That’s great but do you know how much is it really worth? Get your business exit plan sorted properly if you wish to make a fair deal.
Nowadays, many of my clients join business education courses that promise to turn them into successful entrepreneurs in a blink of an eye. But it’s really not as simple as you may think.
There are many businesses up for sale at the present date and the situation probably won’t change in the next few years.
The baby boomers are finally facing the end days of their working career. They had a bit of a hiccup in 2008 with the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) and now they are considering to sell their businesses.
However, selling a business requires strategy, timing and most importantly, it requires a consistent business exit plan.
If you are thinking about selling your business, you need to consider three crucial aspects.
1. The attractiveness of your business
Before you put your business to sell, you should check what’s your attractiveness level. It will not only help you with the pricing, as it will also allow you to understand how easily can you sell your business asset.
To help you determine how attractive is your business for potential buyers, you should consider the following questions:
- Is your workplace health and safety regularised?
- Have you adopted automated policies and procedures?
- Do you have legal contracts with your clients and staff?
If you were going to buy a business and you had multiple choices. However, one had it all – policies, procedures, systems, and contracts, whereas the other business had none of that.
Which one would you end up buying? The answer is obvious, isn’t it?
2. The readiness of your business
Another important aspect to consider is the readiness of your business. You might be willing to sell it but are buyers willing to pay for it? You have to think about that.
There are a few things you can analyse to get this point checked for your business exit plan:
- Are you ready to sell your business?
- Do you know everything that happens everyday in your business?
- Have you got your systems automated and working effectively?
Furthermore, you need to set a price for which you’re prepared to sell your business. You need to know how much is it really worth.
3. Your own personal readiness
Do you know how does the seller’s remorse work? Sometimes people sell their assets and then regret sets in. It’s not a great experience.
As such, make sure you are personally ready to sell your business. Ask yourself:
- Am I really ready to sell my business?
- Am I able to change my work routine and habits?
- Am I capable of moving on?
In case you’re not ready yet, then you shouldn’t sell your business right away. In the meanwhile, you can improve your business exit plan and prepare yourself for a change of career.
The basics of your business exit plan…
To summarize, there are three key aspects to create a business exit plan:
- Business attractiveness: How does your business look like right now?
- Business readiness: Is your business ready to be sold for the price you want?
- Personal readiness: Are you ready to go on without your business?
If you’ve got these aspects covered, then you should end up with a solid business exit plan. After all, it’s important to plan and strategize your next step, even if it’s the very last one.
If you’re ready to go out of business, then do it properly. Don’t blindly come up with a price and expect good results. Contact us for profesional advice.
Get working on your business exit plan and good luck with your next endeavour.