Get the Best Value: Smart Strategies to Sell Your Business
Selling your business is the culmination of years of hard work, but if you go in unprepared, you risk leaving a lot of money on the table.
Maybe you’re looking to retire, pivot to a new venture, or you’re simply looking to cash in on your hard work. Whatever the case, you need careful planning, the right insight, and good timing to make the process seamless.
In this guide, we’ll provide you with some proven strategies to position your business for a premium sale.
Optimizing Financials: How to Make Your Business More Profitable Before the Sale
When you’re preparing to sell your house, you’ll give it a fresh coat of paint and work on some minor repairs to boost its appeal and its price tag. The same applies to your company.
Before you sell your business, you’ll need to prove to the potential buyer that it can thrive long after you’ve stepped away.
A key step you need to take at this stage is to audit your expenses. Maybe you have redundant roles, huge vendor contracts, and subscriptions you never use. You can trim them up to free cash flow and show potential buyers that you’re running a tight ship.
You can then turn your attention to revenue streams. Potential buyers often need assurance of predictability. You need to stabilize your earnings to make your business less vulnerable to market swings.
Before you start to overhaul anything, you need to have a baseline, and a tool like Sunbelt’s free business valuation calculator can provide that. You can use the tool as a starting point. All you need to do is plug in your financial details, and you’ll get a snapshot of how much your business is worth based on real-time industry benchmarks.
Timing the Market: When Is the Best Time to Sell?
Timing matters more than most owners think when it comes to selling businesses. While a booming market or hot industry might signal the obvious moment to get a deal off, the “right” time often relies on some less obvious factors.
For instance, if you’ve seen some steady revenue growth over the last year, you can negotiate from a position of strength, and it may be a great opportunity to sell your business.
Also, if you’ve recently launched a successful product or entered an untapped market, you can time your sale just as these initiatives are gaining traction to get a higher valuation.
At the end of the day, though, the decision comes down to you. Letting go of something you’ve nurtured for years — especially a successful business — can feel like parting with a piece of your identity. If the timing isn’t ideal, then consider waiting until the factors line up in your favor.
Leveraging Professional Help: Why Experts Can Help You Earn More
Many business owners find it tempting to cut costs and manage the entire process themselves. While it can sometimes be a good idea, especially if you’re selling to trusted individuals like a family member or friend, you may gain even more by entrusting this process to professionals like business brokers, accountants, or attorneys.
Take business brokers, for instance. They can help:
- Position your business to the right buyers
- Find undervalued assets within your company
- Shield you from unqualified buyers and save you from months of negotiations that aren’t leading anywhere
You should view hiring experts as an investment. For instance, if you pay a skilled broker a commission, you can often offset that cost with a higher sale price.
Sunbelt Provides the Professional Help You Need
At Sunbelt, we’ve spent decades guiding small and medium-sized businesses through the entire sale process, from initial valuations to final negotiations. We advocate for your interests and make sure you’re never pressured into a deal that undervalues your life’s work. If you’re looking to explore your options, get in touch today.
