An Effective Guide to Speed up the Selling Process
Selling a business is one of the most crucial decisions a business owner has to make, and the time between making this decision and the actual sale can be too overbearing most of the time.
Most businesses take anywhere between six to twelve months to sell, but for quite a few, the time can extend to years. This means you have to keep operating your business for longer than you anticipated. This requires more investment and increasing apprehension to find the right buyer.
To make sure this does not happen for you, we have devised these time-tested, proven steps to make your business sell faster. Imagine anything less than six months.
Accelerate Your Business Selling Process with These Steps
To sell your business faster, you need to move with a smart plan and expert guidance. Without preparation and professional assistance from the right attorney, broker, CPA and financial advisor, the process can linger for years.
1. Keep Your Financial Records on the Go
Anyone interested in buying your business will first assess your financial records. Making sure they are up-to-date, compiled and ready to be presented will prevent unnecessary delay.
Your financial statements, accounting records and business valuation will give the buyer a quick snapshot of your company’s potential value and financial well-being. Care should be taken to ensure that all your documents comply with accounting standards.
You can also increase your chance of selling fast by presenting your annual business plan, budgeting plan, and sales forecast, as well as profit and loss statements and balance sheets to make your business appear more valuable to the prospective buyer and aid his buying decision.
2. Showcase Your Operational Merit
If you can show the interested buyer how well you are managing the operations of your business, your chances of selling it successfully increase tremendously.
Comprehensive and well-prepared documentation of the key operations of your business will deeply impact the buying decision of the prospect as they will able to review that the business has been running on carefully designed operations and will continue to thrive in their hands.
Here’s what you should consider presenting in your business operations:
- An organizational chart
- Procedures Manual
- Current contracts with suppliers and employees
- A record of automated processes
3. Devise a Marketing Plan
One thing is to have a successful marketing plan for your products or services to generate more leads and increase brand awareness. This boosts the confidence of savvy buyers in the purchase, knowing that they can continue the marketing plan to expand their customer base.
The other thing is to make a marketing plan for selling your business. It’s smart to do this regardless of whether you’re selling a YouTube channel, a dentist office, a family business, or any other type of company. Here you have two options; do it yourself or hire a professional broker.
There are many different platforms available today where you can list your business for selling, like magazines, trade publications and online marketing platforms like BizBuySell and WebsiteCloser.
The other safer and quicker option is to use the professional assistance of a broker to get you a lucrative offer more quickly than you could do on your own. Expert brokers already have a huge network of interested buyers looking for exactly what you are trying to sell and can make the whole process not only swift but painless.
4. Don’t Settle for the First Offer
While the aim is to sell quickly, it is not to sell short of your business’s true value. If you are only getting one offer, it might not be offering you the best value since there is no competition.
A business’s value increases considerably with more demand. Having more prospects and facilitating a competitive environment will help you settle for the maximum profit as well as with a party that has a strong footing in the business world.
Leveraging one offer for another and keeping all parties in the loop can also create a sense of urgency in finalizing the deal. A business broker can help you a great deal in pre-screening buyers with secure funding sources in a relatively short time.
5. Get Face to Face with Qualified Buyers
Now is the time to negotiate and hopefully finalize the deal with interested and qualified buyers. This will take a lot of cross-questioning, so instead of doing it over email, plan a dedicated meeting with the buyer.
The negotiating power that you can have with your words can lose its influence over written text that’s why it’s always better and quicker to meet in person or have a video call.
Whatever way you go, ask the prospect to bring all their authentic supporting documents with them and ask follow-up questions about their business experience, funding plans etc.
A one-on-one meeting will also reveal much about the seriousness of a buyer in your business. Any serious and interested buyer will not shy away from giving you their time and presenting their information.
6. Be Prepared for Due Diligence
Due diligence is a necessary part of a buyer’s research before making a final decision about buying.
To make sure the process goes smoothly and swiftly, keep your record-keeping clean, updated and compiled. Do not miss out on any aspect of your business that can later cause delay, and be as honest and transparent as you can to avoid any legal proceedings and dragging the whole affair for days.
7. Ensure a Smooth Transition
Ensuring a smooth and trouble-free transition to the new owner of the business is in your hands. Communicate the decision and keep all stakeholders in the loop to establish an effective transition.
Once this is done, be prepared to address any follow-up questions and concerns that your employees, stakeholders involved, or the press might have.
Selling the business that you have given your considerable time and energy can be emotional and time-consuming. To make sure the process is seamless and you don’t end up dragging it for months, follow the steps above and leverage the professional help from a trusted broker, financial advisor and expert attorney.
Need Help Selling Your Business?
Thinking about selling your business? It’s hard to know where to begin. How do you find qualified buyers? What’s your business worth? How can you vet prospects? If you want to sell your business quickly and discreetly, then contact Cowen Partners
