If you feel the time is coming near when selling your business will work best for you, you’ll need to do some serious preparation. Don’t wait until you’re about to put the business on the market before you start to get everything ready. The key to getting the best price is to make it sale-ready well before it’s time to put it on the market. That way, your books and your sales will reflect the best possible price. Here are some things that you should definitely be doing.
Speak To Your Employees
It’s essential that your employees know what is happening from the start. If not and they find out through someone other than you, they are going to feel worried. They may even begin to look for another job, and if you’re selling the entire company, including the staff, losing key members is not going to help you achieve your target. Call a meeting that includes everyone at every level and explain the situation. Let them know that their jobs are safe (or, if not, give them time to look for something new) and keep them informed of everything that is happening throughout the sale. It will keep everyone much more productive. Hopefully, they will even be able to help you sell to the right person or corporation.
Look At Your Expenses
Take a look at your outgoings. Is there anything that is likely to cause concern to a potential buyer? Are you over-spending on anything? Now’s the time to trim those outgoings down. Not only does it mean that your profits look much better, but it also means that you’re handing over a business that is streamlined and efficient; which makes it easier to sell. Anything that isn’t entirely crucial to running the business needs to go. If the new owner wants to spend money once they have paid for the company that’s their choice, and they can always reinstate contracts that they think they want.
Make Sales
Just before you put your business on the market is not the time for your sales to slump. In fact, it’s exactly the right time to boost those sales as much as possible. Look at your marketing and see if there is a way to increase its effectiveness. There are some useful ideas on salespromotions.org as to how to really make your marketing pull in the sales and the customers. The better your bottom line is, the more money someone will be willing to pay for your business, so increasing it as much as possible is something you should be doing well in advance of going on the market.
Make The Office Tidy
Prospective buyers will be coming by your office for meetings, take a look around, meet the staff, and see how things are run. Make sure that your office space is clean and tidy; it’s surprising what a big difference that can make. A good first impression will make the potential buyers look much more favorably on your business from the outset, and simply tidying up could make the difference between a sale or not.
