11 Mar Around the Web: A Week in Summary
A recent article from Talk Business & Politics entitled “What you can expect when selling your business” reviews the importance of taking time to prepare your business for a sale and what you may need going into the process.
Key suggestions include:
- Plan ahead and start early because it can take years to properly prepare your business for sale
- Ready your business so that problems are fixed and a buyer can realistically take over
- Utilize qualified accountants, attorneys and other professionals who have experience with business transactions
- Make sure you have financial statements prepared by an accountant
- Be prepared to accurately show your assets such as real estate, inventory and client list
- Have realistic expectations
Click here to read the full article.
A recent article from The Ledger entitled “Better, not necessarily bigger, when selling a business” looks at the different factors that go into determining a business’s value and how to use these factors to build a more valuable business.
There was a time when you had to grow your business bigger for it to become more valuable. The goal for most business owners now, though, is to build more valuable companies.
The reason one company sells for more than another has to do with a number of factors. In order to grow a more valuable company you have to take look at multiple business value drivers. Some of these drivers include business scalability, happy customers, recurring revenue streams, increasing annual profits, proactive steps to improve cash flow, etc. Most buyers want to buy a profitable business with a history of increasing profits that they can grow, and these value drivers can demonstrate that.
Click here to read the full article.
A recent article from Africa.com entitled “How to Sell a Business on a Budget” provides tips on how to keep the cost of selling your business low if you are low on resources. Some suggestions include:
Be prepared: Start gathering documents and records early to avoid last minute costly surprises. The earlier you start, the more time you have to structure your business in a way that will yield you a higher sales price.
Find the right business broker: You don’t want to simply go with the first broker you meet. Interview multiple brokers and ask about their qualifications, reviews, experience and how long they expect it to take to sell your business.
Market your business online: Online business-for-sale advertisements give you the opportunity to reach lots of buyers with relevant information while keeping the sale confidential.
Envision the business’s future: Buyers are thinking about the future, so be sure you can demonstrate the potential growth opportunities that exist for your business.
