How to Prepare Your Business for Sale – 5 Key Steps

Selling a business involves a lot of careful planning and research to ensure that you get the best value out of it. It is important to remember these 5 key steps of how to prepare your business for sale in order to get your business in the best possible shape so you can get the best possible asking price. If you have decided to sell your business, then this guide will outline some of the vital issues, which should be considered to help your business achieve the maximum potential out of it.

If you are planning on selling your business, the following steps will help you get the best value out of your business.

1. Plan well in advance– With different aspects of business life, it is advisable to plan well in advance, before you decide to sell your business to the buyer.
2. Sell your business carefully– It is very important to keep your business up-to-date which will help in its selling process. Further, you should keep all the paperwork up-to-date and document everything. Each responsibility should be clearly outlined and it also includes key performance indicators which clearly describe what is expected out of each player and group.
3. Find a professional business broker – Finding a trusted, professional business broker is probably the most important step in your venture, as majority of good business deals come from them. By discussing your business selling needs with them, you will get a better idea of who your potential buyers could be and how you can best represent your company/business to get the best value out of it.
4. Business valuation– The most important benefit of approaching a professional broker is getting detailed information pertaining to different valuation models. You’ve built your business to what it is today, and a professional at Truforte Business Group can help you get the most from the sale of the business.
5. Your exit strategy– When you decide to sell your business, then you should create an ideal exit strategy with your professional team regarding what you wish to achieve from your business sale. For example, you may want to reach to fixed financial figures from selling your business to achieve your specific retirement goals.

How to Prepare Your Business for Sale – Important Information Required by Business Brokers

1. Financial statement – Even though a buyer is paying for what the business is set to accomplish going forward, they will take a look at your financial statement and the business tax returns that have been filed with the IRS in order to assess the risk of anticipating your earnings stream. In some cases a buyer or lender will request the IRS 4506t to be signed by a seller.
2. List of assets –It is important to prepare a list of assets which includes both tangible/intangible assets which are included as well as excluded from the main transaction.
3. Business plans/projections – Even though a buyer will take a glance at the historical financial statements for understanding of risk, the price would be simply determined depending on what your business is set up to achieve. The best way to demonstrate future expectations of your company is to prepare a business plan which includes its financial projections in the best way. To learn more about how to prepare your business for sale contact the Business Brokers at Truforte Business Group.

Be sure and also check out these 3 selling a business tips to increase your price.