Selling a business is not easy. You need to make thorough preparations, think through all the steps, and choose the best offer.
Reliable brokers, including Websiteclosers , can help you sell your business quickly and profitably.
However, sellers do not need to rely only on their help. Also much will depend on the business owner himself and the current state of the company. Therefore, before seller find the right business buyer, it is necessary to compile your checklist with actions that will help the best deal.
The most popular checklist for selling a business
To quickly organize a deal, you need to follow the following steps to selling a business:
- defining the objectives;
- business valuation
- preparing documentation
- creating a confidentiality agreement;
- promoting the business to buyers;
- gathering inquiries;
- negotiating an offer;
- conducting due diligence;
- finalizing the sale.
Most brokers believe that this is the most appropriate way to proceed. Let’s break down in more detail each step that is spelled out for the sell my business checklist.
Determine goals
The main goal is to sell the business. But it is also important to understand what price the seller is willing to close the deal for, the reason for organizing the sale, etc. With the correct objectives, it is possible to ensure that the sale proceeds are maximized and a smooth transition of the business from the seller to the buyer can be arranged.
Business valuation
The client should work out with the broker all aspects of the business sale checklist for owners. After defining the goals, it is necessary to understand the real value of the company. For this purpose, financial statements, assets, and other indicators are analyzed. Thanks to this action, the real price for the sale of the business is set and the client reasonably understands why his company is worth that kind of money.
Financial documents
To analyze the real value of the company you need to prepare documentation. Buyers will want to see the financial documents as well. Therefore, you need to spend a lot of time on such preparation.
Draw up a confidentiality agreement
This document is extremely important, because before providing all the data about the company to the buyer you need to make sure that information about your business will not fall into the wrong hands through its disclosure. Only after signing such a document can you move forward.
Market Analysis
The broker should analyze the market and strategize before negotiate favorable terms for business sale. There should be data about the company, that your business is profitable and not just words, but certain general indicators should be shown. They will help to attract good offers to buy the business.
Analyzing the offers
Next, the broker should analyze the incoming offers and help the client choose the most favorable one. At certain points, it is possible to cut off unfavorable offers or, on the contrary, to negotiate more acceptable terms. It will take months for the seller to study all the offers on his own. A broker knows the principles of finding the best offers in a few hours.
Negotiating
During the negotiations, you can achieve better offers. And it will not always be about the selling price. It is also possible to obtain other important advantages in the form of quick payment, increased obligations on the part of the buyer, and minimization of unforeseen costs.
Due diligence
Once all points have been agreed upon, legal due diligence on the part of the buyer takes place. If the broker provides legal services, this process will be quicker, and in a few days, documents and data will be exchanged between the parties to the transaction.
Finalization of the sale
The last stage will lead directly to the transition of your business to new ownership. At this point, the contract is signed and the bank transfer or other form of payment is initiated. As you can see, the transaction procedure is quite lengthy. There may be several complicated issues, hiccups, and delays on both sides. Therefore, working on such a transaction on your own is not recommended.
Who to turn to for help
To expedite the transaction process, it is best to contact a trusted broker. Website Closers representatives are ready to help their clients at all stages of the transaction. They already have a certain base of buyers with whom they are ready to cooperate and can recommend them as reliable partners.
Also, the specialists of this company provide accounting and legal services, which will help to reduce the seller’s costs when organizing the transaction. For consultation, you should contact the company’s managers in any convenient way.