Selling your business – the emotional roller coaster you didn’t bargain on
Andrea Dean
I help businesses define and implement goals and focus on results. Adept at analysis, reporting and communications.
Fortune favours the prepared
In my article last week on selling your business, I mentioned the importance of planning ahead and working to maximize the value of your business through projects to raise profitability and the potential multiple that you can achieve.
Once you feel you’ve got that in hand, the job isn’t over. Organizing your business records, including your financial records, company books, employee records, any customer and supplier contracts, and of course a listing of all assets and liabilities including any potential intellectual property, can be time consuming and also crucial to achieving fair value. Any potential buyer will want to perform due diligence and the more organized you are, the better.
Be prepared to have everything closely examined and questioned. Be ready to answer, and to keep calm! You’ve spent years building your business and you’ve put your heart and soul into it, so it can be hard to keep calm through the process.
At Shirlaws we talk a lot about the feelings in a business and how they have a direct impact on the bottom line. Bear in mind that there will likely be delays at some point along the way and days when you’ll find the process emotionally charged and possibly frustrating. I’ve seen business sale transactions fail in the eleventh hour simply due to emotional factors that neither party expected at the start of the process. Knowing that right up front can help you to keep a cool head.
The sale of your business is most likely the largest transaction you’ll make other than your principle residence, so of course it’s more complicated and dependent on valuing all of the aspects of your business, including tangible and intangible assets like goodwill and brand; how the deal is structured; potential financing, etc.
Gaining agreement on these factors increases timescales and it’s not uncommon for sellers to feel increased levels of burnout – but stay the course, keep calm and stay focused on your sale vision.