Best Tips for Selling Your Business in the New Year

A new year brings the possibility of new beginnings. Some people use the start of a new year as the impetus to begin making healthier decisions or being more intentional with their time. Maybe you are thinking about making a significant life change by selling your business.

Whether you are selling your business to move on to other opportunities or retire off the proceeds, there are several important steps that you need to follow in order to maximize your success on the sale.

Start planning and researching as early as possible.

There are a lot of factors involved with selling a business. It can be an emotional process to part with something that you have dedicated so much of your time, money, and effort on.  However, to maximize the value of your transaction, it is never too early to begin exit planning. There are a lot of details that you will need to get in order such as quality financials, tax considerations, personnel decisions, and many others. It also takes time to put together a deal team, which may include an attorney, CPA, financial planner and others.

Determine the value of your business.

Having an accurate business valuation completed and understanding net proceeds from the transaction are extremely important to know prior to taking your business to market. You should be educated on the market value your business should bring based on what different types of buyers are likely to pay for your company. It will also be one of several inputs to consider in determining what you can expect at the closing table before you are ready to retire or move on to other business ventures.