Call us before the it’s too late!

One of the really significant problems with our business is that sellers wait too long to call us.

Small business owners are mostly people like us who work long hours and have a lot of pending things to do on their wish lists. Long range planning and exit strategy planning usually gets put down the list a ways.

BUT - The appropriate time to start planning for the sale of a business is when you buy or start it! And if you didn’t start planning then, any time now is not too late to start.

Particularly if your books are not in order, start keeping good records three years before you want to sell, if you want to be able to get out with bank financing for a buyer so you don’t have to finance the sale.

There are a lot of other things to check on that can really hurt you if you wait too long to deal with them. Little things like making sure your Trade name is properly registered, or that your LLC or Corporate annual reports have been properly filed with the Secretary of State.

We recently had a meeting with a good business lawyer who is offering a pre-sale audit to make sure that the things buyers lawyers will be looking for are in order before you get into the due diligence phase with a buyer and turn up something for them to use as a negotiating point to cost you money or time. We would be happy to give you a reference to him.

We like to talk with potential sellers well before they run into any one of the many things that cause a need to sell. We like to have the time to do a thorough review of the situation and come up with recommendations that would make a business sell for a higher price, and on better terms. We normally don’t charge you anything to do that but ask that you take the time to talk with us and show us your records.

As an additional benefit sometimes we are dealing with customers having a hard time to find something to buy, and may be able to bring you a buyer without your having to be put on the market for sale. That doesn’t happen often, but when it does, the deal usually involves a higher value for the sale.

If we can establish a relationship of mutual trust with a Seller well in advance of the need to sell, we are more confident of our ability to make a sale. Many businesses are not salable, or cannot bring the value they should, because of things that don’t seem important to sellers, but are very important to buyers and their accountants and lawyers. Often in a rush to bring a new listing to market, we will not find out about such problems until we, and the would-be seller, have put a lot of effort into marketing the business. Such things can easily kill a deal.

Call us for a visit, well in advance of your need to sell. And remember, the need to sell is often caused by unplanned events, like a death, divorce, or illness; all events that can significantly change a long range plan, and preclude adequate time to “get things in order”.