SHOULD YOU SELL YOUR BUSINESS OR HOLD OFF ANOTHER YEAR?

Business owners repeatedly ask us whether they should sell their businesses now or hold off another year? Our advice....no one can accurately predict with any degree of certainty what the market will look like in the future for selling your company.

Presently it is a seller’s market (despite the current economic environment). Some say it is the best market for mergers and acquisitions they have ever seen, certainly in recent years. Even business owners who are not yet ready to retire are looking to take advantage of these robust mergers and acquisitions environment.

Understand the Time it may Take

If your plans are an exit over the next 5 years you should start the process today as it can take from 7 to 24 months to prepare, position, and sell your business (at its highest valuation) and with many strategic and financial buyers offering earn-outs and other incentives as part of the overall transaction (which add an additional 36 - 60 months) to realize the full premium valuation for you from your business.

Understand the Buyer’s Due Diligence

Buyers have become much more experienced and sophisticated in their due diligence processes over the past decade. Buyers look closely when examining a company to purchase at your company’s:

1. Historical financial statements and related financial metrics, as well as the reasonableness of your financial projections and future performance.
2. Technology and or intellectual property.
3. Customer base concentration and current sales pipeline.
4. Strategic fit with the buyer’s organization.
5. Contracts and commitments to suppliers, employees, contractors, lenders, and senior management.
6. Past, present, and potential future litigation.
7. Tax matters and understanding of any tax-loss carry forwards.
8. Governance documents and general corporate matters.
9. Overall operational processes and its cybersecurity protocols.
10. Related party transactions.
11. Regulatory and compliance issues.
12. Production, sourcing, suppliers and related matters for products and services offered by your business
13. Marketing and sales strategies and all agreements related to the sales of the company’s products and services.
14. Competitive landscape and market analysis of the industry sector the target company serves.

Be Prepared

Business owners should never be in a position where they are in rush to sell their businesses because of external, internal, or personal issues. To maximize your exit value, business owners should have prepared their business for sale. 

Sellers should proactively prepare their companies by putting themselves through the same due diligence process named above to find any internal weaknesses and external threats to their business before putting the business up for sale.

Know Your Worth

We recommend to clients that they have professionals assess (1) the financial valuation of their business and (2) other comparable sale transactions analysis focusing on what price other sellers sold for.

Creating a Premium Valuation for your Business.

Finally, keep in mind that the value for your business can be substantial increased through a professional auction process. For example, a single buyer you directly engage with (often under their terms and timing) versus competing buyers brought into a professional sale process led by your professional advisors will cause higher valuations on more than financial formulas due to a competitive auction process.

Next steps?

REQUEST OUR BUSINESS VALUATION GUIDE.

This free e-book we will explore:

• Preparing for a valuation.
• Valuation methodologies.
• Valuing intangible assets.
• Valuation mistakes to avoid.
• Price and or value.

An exclusive offer to receive your confidential custom business valuation at our expense.

Seeking the Latest Insights? 

Subscribe to our newsletters, register for upcoming events, download free content from our library of resources below.