Selling Your Business

Are You Thinking Of Selling Your Business?

If you’re thinking of selling your business, there are several reasons that lead you to the stage where you’re at right now.  You might be considering retirement, ill health, financial difficulties, a poor relationship with shareholders, complications with staff, or some other complication that can be resolved more easily if stakeholders part company and split the sale profit.  You might want to sell your business to make a profit whilst it’s at the peak of success.

There are entrepreneurs who buy business for the sole purpose of selling and making a profit.  For instance, philanthropists buy businesses to sell and make a profit in order to donate the money and support a cause or help those with less or no resources.  What is your reason?  Planning on a quick exit before your business runs into serious difficulties?  Selling your business at the peak of its success, in order to make a profit and move on to bigger pastures or help a charity?  Whatever the reason, we’d like to hear from you.  Here’s why:

What To Consider When Selling A Business

There is a lot to consider when selling a business.  It is a complex affair and you will need the expert advice of a business lawyer, who is closely linked with a variety of accountants, brokers and anyone knowledgeable in your industry.  So, whether you’re selling to make a profit or save you from debt, a business lawyer will have a whole team of experts behind the sale of your business.  Selling your business is the job DG Law is fully equipped to do.  We will first establish where your business is at: is it making a profit?  Are financial figure levels steady?  Is the client/customer base solid?  Is the brand strong?

Business Isn’t Doing Well?

A business that’s not doing too well, may well be attractive to a buyer, who has a business succession plan and believes their strategy will work.  So don’t think that you stand no chance of selling your business if it isn’t doing too well, because there are always options available.  If you are able to plan ahead and improve financial records before the sale, even better, but don’t be put off by the idea of selling, regardless of your balance sheets.  Do you know what your business is worth?  A business evaluation is one of the first aspects of selling a business.  A lawyer will consult with an appraiser and evaluate the true worth of your business, so that the asking price is neither too high nor too low.

Selling Your Business Independently?

You can sell the business yourself independently, in other words, without the help of experts.  You might succeed if you’re knowledgeable enough, but that’s always tricky and very risky – not worth what you’ll save from a broker or a lawyer’s fee.  The famous saying goes, “better safe than sorry” and that’s applicable when selling a business, even if the buyer is a friend or family member.  You need to keep things official and professional so that no misunderstandings occur, and of course, you need to comply with legislation.

You need all your paper work in place, possibly 6 years of tax records, financial statements and anything else relating to the company.  If you haven’t got records dating that far back, don’t fret, there’s always a way out of a prickly situation.  You just need to know how to prepare a good sale package for your potential buyers.  Make sure that any potential buyers can actually afford to buy the company and always protect your intellectual property until the transaction has been made.  Please give us a ring if you are planning to sell your business and we’ll give you guidance right from the initial free consultation.  SG

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February 16, 2018 at 9:00 am
Category: Business Sale & Acquisition

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