Is It Time to Sell Your Company?

There may be any number of reasons why you would want to sell your company.

With that in mind, doing all you can so that the sale comes off without a hitch is the most important thing you can do. If too many speed bumps get in the way, it can make trying to sell your company a rocky experience.

So, what steps must you take to try and have a smooth sale in front of you?

Avoid Doing Things on the Fly

When the time comes you want to sell, it is critical that you have a good sense of what is going on in your industry.

For instance, if you have a company in the tech world, is that industry seeing a lot of sales right now? If things are rather stagnant, you may want to hold off on pulling the trigger on a sale.

One way to get more info on your industry is going online.

You can do some research on the Internet to see if tech acquisitions are a big thing right now. If they are, chances are better you will have a fair number of interested buyers knocking on your door.

Whether your industry is busy or rather slow with sales, knowing what is going on is something you have to be on top of. Selling too early or late could have a major impact on your financial well-being now and down the road.

Second, you want to make sure you use the appropriate channels to announce a sale.

Yes, some companies want everything done in private so as not to scare off potential buyers. For others, they will go public with announcing their company is for sale.

Should you choose to do the latter, simply putting a for sale sign on your front door is not going to cut it.

Your best bet is to use press releases, social media and other tools at your disposal to announce a sale. As word spreads of the company being for sale, you should see a fair amount of offers come in.

 

Who Should You Sell Your Company to?

In deciding who to sell your company to, this of course will depend on various factors that come into play.

For one, you want to be sure you do background checks on any prospective buyers. Not doing so is a disservice to you and your business. It can also be a disservice to your customer base.

Sure, if you are selling your company, you may not have your current customers at the top of your priority list.

That said you do not want to burn any bridges with them.

If you plan to open another business, you may well want to bring some or many of those customers along with you. Selling your current company to one not as concerned about the customer base as you can come back to haunt you.

Last, make sure all the legal and financial paperwork is in place before a sale goes through.

This is especially important when it comes to your finances, taxes and more. You do not want to find out later that something is amiss. One option to strong consider is hiring a legal pro and an accountant. Both can help assure you that all the paperwork is in order.

If selling your company is on the near horizon, are you ready for something new?

About the author

Dave Thomas writes for a variety of websites on topics such as human resources and running a small business.

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