Deciding to sell a business can be a fantastic decision! However, the process is complicated, stressful, and relatively unexplored by business owners. These are 4 simply mistakes that people make when attempting to sell their business.
Poor or Non-existent Planning: There’s a saying in business that, if you’re like me, you’ve probably heard a million times “failure to plan is planning to fail.” Although it’s cliché, it is an immensely useful piece of advice especially given the gravity of selling a business. When selling your business it is best to approach situations (within reason) under Murphy’s Law or as the axiom says, “anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” Doing so is sure to help you prepare for at least, some, of the obstacles that will get in your way. Selling a business can be an incredibly stressful or difficult process; proper planning should help to eliminate some of the stress that comes with it.
Handling It By You: Few occupations can match the perseverance and passion of an entrepreneur and one of the hardest things to do, as an entrepreneur, is to relinquish control. This step requires you to put those things aside for your own good. Receiving a fair value for your business takes a high level of knowledge about external factors, patience, and most importantly a large chunk of time. Something most entrepreneurs lack. Bringing in a business broker provides you with an experienced, steady hand as well as someone to handle every detail of selling your business, allowing you the time to focus on running your business. A quality business broker will bring additional skills in negotiating, deal structure, deal financing, access to professionals who will bolster the sales team, to name a few elements.
Timing: Everyone wants to sell at the “high”, however, most owners are not tuned into when the optimal time is to transition their business. When it comes to selling your business, an abundance of external factors can impact the value of your business. Whether it is the state of the economy, a problem within your industry, or a glitch within your own business, a business broker can help identify these problems and take steps to make adjustments to ensure that you receive the maximum value for your business and complete the sale of your business in an efficient and timely manner because, in business, timing is everything.
Overvaluing Your Company: As an entrepreneur, your business is the apple of your eye. You’ve spent countless nights burning the midnight oil, mornings of waking up before dawn, as well as having worked your fingers to the bone to build your business from scratch. You’ve devoted years of your life to the cause. That’s why it can be so easy to see your business as an entity worth more than it is, you’ve seen this on ABC’s Shark Tank countless times and maybe even chuckled at the contestants’ valuation of their business. The number one reason that businesses don’t sell is unreasonable seller’s expectation.
Obtaining an objective valuation from a business broker is so crucial and the advice that goes along with it will help maximize your business’ value and minimize your stress level.