How To Sell Your Small Business To An Employee

There are seven easy-to-follow steps to help you get organized and ready to sell your small business.

Determine the value of your company
Clean up your financials
Prepare an exit strategy
Boost sales
Hire a business broker
Pre-qualify potential buyers
Prepare a sales contract

The first step is determining the value of your business to find a competitive but accurate listing price. To do this, you will need to “clean up” your financials. In other words, balancing your balance sheets, calculating your profits versus cash flow, and the depreciation of any relevant equipment. There will come a time (after an NDA is signed) that a potential buyer will request to see your financials. You will not only want to be prepared, but also have the correct financials. A business broker and financial advisor can help you during this process.

Before you list your business for sale, you should prepare an exit strategy and boost your sales. The value comes from today and tomorrow’s sales, not yesterdays. An exit strategy means you will be prepared, regardless of whether the sale is inspired by retirement or sudden illness. If it is intentional, then you need to increase your sales in a way that makes the most sense for your business. This can be done through a new marketing strategy, like holiday discounts or social media contests, etc. Showing strong profit growth in the last two or more years of the business will make it that much more profitable and attractive to potential buyers.

Finally, a business broker will assist you in not only finding great potential buyers but also in pre-qualifying them. It is unfortunate to get excited about a buyer and then find out they cannot afford to meet the offer or secure financing. When a buyer is pre-qualified, your advisor will get contracts in order and secure a neutral meeting location to sign the paperwork and finalize the deal.

No matter what kind of small business you own, these seven steps are relevant across the board. From organizing your financials to hiring professionals who can guide you, you are one step closer to your next business venture once you have followed these steps and prepared your small business for sale!

After careful consideration, you may decide to sell your business. Sound planning can help ensure you cover all your bases. Use business valuation to set a monetary value before marketing to prospective buyers. You can do a self-evaluation and also seek out a qualified business appraiser.

If you've spent years — maybe even a lifetime — building a small business and are starting to think about retiring or cashing out, now may be a good time to sell.
4 Principles to Sell Your Business From Steve Little, the Mergers and Acquisitions Master Who Always Gets More Selling a Business This Is the Most Important Thing to Consider When Selling Your.
If selling your small business is your succession plan, you will need to determine the best sales option for this important transaction.Whether you plan to sell your business to a partner, an internal management group, or an outside third party, there are two types of business sales from which to choose: asset sales and share sales.
The best place to list a small business for sale is BizBuySell. It is used by brokers, private sellers and anyone looking to get in front of business buyers. Unfortunately, if you only have one business to sell, you have to stand out against everyone else on there. Sure, you can buy all of the listing upgrades, but how many enquiries will you get?

Do you have more questions?

There are seven easy-to-follow steps to help you get organized and ready to sell your small business.

Determine the value of your company
Clean up your financials
Prepare an exit strategy
Boost sales
Hire a business broker
Pre-qualify potential buyers
Prepare a sales contract

Do you have more questions?

How To Sell Your Small Business To An Employee

Do you have more questions?