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Selling Your Business?
Selling your business?
It’s a major life decision.
You have devoted years if not decades to your business. You’ve poured immense time, energy, and money into running, and growing your business. You’ve been through good times and bad, upswings and downturns and are still pressing ahead, day after day. Your business may even be a lifetime’s work.
And right now, you may be burnt out, stressed out, and you may want out.
But is it time to sell?
Timing is a funny thing. As owners, we are used to being in control, calling the shots, and often getting what we want when we want it. It is exactly this mindset that is the cause of a common misconception of business owners; namely that they can sell their business when they want for the price they want.
Is their game in your best interest?
Sadly, many business brokers don’t help this situation either. Why? Because the name of their game is “List, List, List”. You see, they want your business represented on their website to make them look good, not necessarily because they think they can sell your business. This strategy is a pure numbers game – list enough, and they will sell enough. And that works great for them. And to be fair, it also works fine for those businesses that are “polished gems”, but what if your business is the “diamond in the rough”? (And here’s some inside information; most businesses are!)
The result of this strategy is a huge amount of your time and energy wasted with false hopes, unrealistic expectations, causing you a lot of needless pain. We’ve seen far too many businesses listed, only to languish.
Are you listing to languish?
Here’s how that story plays out:
You’re extremely excited to list your business and rush it to market under the guidance of a suitable business broker. Everyone is optimistic that it will be a quick sale. In the beginning, a few buyers are interested, and your hopes rise that soon you will be flush with cash sipping that umbrella cocktail on a white sand beach. And you know what? You likely WILL get an offer that is within your acceptable range. But then due diligence starts!
Here, the lack of business preparation becomes apparent. When that deal falls apart, the next buyer is courted, likely with similar results. Now, 8 or 10 months have gone by. There’s no deal on the table, and quite frankly you’re tired of the process. This horrible emotional roller coaster.
Tired, Deflated, and Devalued
By this time, buyers in the market know your business listing and are flying past it with a quick “click to view next” – the neglected toy on the shelf.
Buyers that were previously interested have seen it and dismissed it, or already lowballed you with an offensive offer. Finally, having spent most of the past year in various stages of negotiation, with your attention diverted from your core aim of serving your customers, your business has suffered and has been seriously devalued. At your wit’s end, you pull the listing, and go back to work, deflated, and. tired of the charade. Maybe next year, you’ll say, which the broker will happily agree to, marking his calendar for the start of season two of his most popular program, “List to Languish”.
An all too common story.
And you think we’re making this up? It is really too bad that these types of stories are all too common, and are the statistical norm. Did you know that 8 out of 10 businesses won’t sell! Yikes!
The bottom line is this: Taking your business to market when neither you nor your business is prepared is very risky, and very expensive.
So what do you do?
Change Your Fate
Call us crazy, but we believe that you probably actually want to sell your business, not just list it.
Selling a business is hard work! It is a major project in and of itself, and the key is starting right; with thorough preparation. Anyone who tells you different is …..well, they are playing a different game.
That’s why our process is based in the reality of selling a business: preparation.
When starting the process of selling your business, nothing is more important than adequate preparation. Done right, it will make all other steps easy. In fact, thorough business preparation produces a highly defensible market value, it drastically increases the odds of a successful sale and increases the likelihood of a smooth transition.
Omitted, it can lead to disaster.
Your fate doesn’t have to be in the 8 out of 10 that don’t sell! Choose the selling game, and change your fate!
Which program is right for you?
So we agree, no business should be listed without proper business preparation.
In fact, our process is structured so that we spend the most time in the preparation phase because it is the foundation for everything that comes after.
If you fail to prepare, then you are preparing to fail.
Essentials
We won’t even consider listing a business without the basic preparation steps being completed. This basic level of preparation is not only essential, its mandatory.
All of our sellers must complete the Transition Essentials Program prior to having their business listed for sale.
At just 4 weeks, it is easy to complete, but as its name implies, it is only the beginning. Answering only the two of the 10 key questions an owner must answer to be fully prepared, the aim of this program is to complete only the absolute basics prior to going to market.
In fact, after completing the Essentials program, many owners opt to upgrade to the Success program, to ensure they are fully prepared
Success
Our most popular program is our Transition Success Program.
This program builds on the Essentials program and it balances thorough preparation, with time to market and cost. It is designed for owners who want to build a defensible market value, gain full preparation, and bring their company to market quickly AND WITH CONFIDENCE.
Designed as an intense 18 week program, it demands an owner’s immediate attention to the most important project you can complete right now: Getting Prepared! Rest assured, in this program we answer all 10 of the key questions that an owner needs to answer to be fully prepared. Unfortunately, the timeline is too short to fully capitalize on Value Enhancement Opportunities.
Elite
Our most comprehensive package is our Elite Transition Program.
For owners who are serious about growing the value of their firm, selling at maximum value, and who have the patience to obtain the payoff of a Value Enhancement strategy, this is the program for you. It includes all of the Transition Success Program and combines it with our Strategic Value Enhancement Program.
Mapped out over 12 months, we proceed at a more measured pace than the Success program. This extra time allows us to dive deeper into each of the preparation steps, and most importantly, strategically execute on longer term opportunities to grow your company’s value.
So which program is right for you?
Complete the form below for a free consultation, and get the straight facts.
But kindly don’t call us if you want to hear sugar coated verbal pablum about how great your business is, how easy it will be to sell, and how quickly you will be vacationing on that far away beach. That’s a Listing game, not a Selling game.