How to Prepare a Business For Sale

How to prepare Business For Sale

 

How to Prepare a Business For Sale – 5 Steps

I  am a business broker based in South Carolina.  I work with business buyer and business sellers in both South Carolina and  Florida. I also owned my own business of 20 years and sold it.  A business owner interested in selling a business needs to know how to prepare a business for sale.

FACT-  Many businesses that try to sell  do not actually sell.

Looking at the reasons that a business does not sell can be guidance towards measures a current business owner can make to prepare a business for sale. Selling a business has a lot of moving parts.  How can one  increase the likelihood of a successful sale?   The answer can be in preparing  for your business sale.

What are some of the top reasons businesses Don’t Sell?

  • Price
  • Business Performance
  • Business has poor records
  • Business completely dependent on Business Owner
  • other liabilities encumbrances

 

The value of a business is ultimately defined by what a willing capable buyer (s)  is willing to pay for that business.

What could possibly be the best approach to preparing to sell your business is to look at your business as a Business Buyer rather than a Business Seller.   Would you buy your business?  If so how much would you pay for your business?

What steps can a business owner do today to prepare  a business for sale?

How to Prepare a Business For Sale

  1. Have realistic expectations. Stories circulate about “Google buying this business for 10-20x cash flow”.

Sales like this are not the norm.  Businesses with Sales of $5M + sell for a higher multiple of cash flow than businesses with $800k of Sales- Generally.  Try to research what other similar businesses my be selling for or have sold for.  A qualified Business Broker may assist with this step.

  1. Ensure your financials are concise and clean.  Are there any outdated entries on any of your financials. Can you readily reconcile any differences between tax records and Income Statements?    Furthermore a business that is doing better is more likely to sell than a business with declining sales or margins.
  2. Have documented business operational procedures or business practices and procedures. If you already have them, review and update them. Consider if it is time to archive or throw out records from 5- 10-15 years back.
  3. Make big and small steps to have less reliance on you as a business owner. Ask the question- “Does your business rely on you ? Delegate if possible.  Sometimes it’s hard to let go of the idea that “only I can do that”.   I’ve personally experienced a long stretch of illness while owning a business and quickly learned of the many activities that I was doing that could be done by other members of my staff.
  4. Clean up your business. Your office, your trucks, grounds, facilities, equipment, tools and employees appearance can all add value.  Equipment involved with the sale that is well maintained and in order provides to the “Peace of Mind” a business buyer is seeking.  Again envision yourself as  business buyer  and looking at your trucks and most of the tires are bald, and smoke is coming out of the exhaust and they look like hell.  It may only take a few thousand dollars to improve this conditions, but a prospective buyer may mentally devaluate business value by tens of thousands or more.  It may create more doubt and uncertainty about other components of business.

 

Again- not every business that tries to sell actually find a buyer that is a fit.   There are steps you as a business owner can make to increase the likelihood of a successful business sale and transition.

Preparing your business for sale is a very important step in the process of selling your business.  Working with a trusted advisor,  finding prospective business buyer candidates is highly important as well.  Finding the “right” buyer candidate  to transition your business to is the end goal that begins with preparing your business for sale.

For More information on Selling a Business or Buying a  Business contact   Scott Messinger- Business Acquisition and Sales-   Gateway Business Advisors      www. SellaBusinessAdvisors.com

 

 

What Can I Sell My Business For?

As a Business Broker Based in Florida,   I talk with small business owners daily about their businesses.  Reliable and usable information on the small business owner that is selling their business , buying a business, or contemplating a potential sale or acquisition is usually hard to acquire.  What does the market for those selling a business in Florida and those looking to Buy a Business in Florida really look like?

Pricing Your Business

One or the benefits  of owning a privately held corporation is that you are private.  So information regarding small privately held small businesses that are sold and bought   is both minimal and hard to obtain, because of the private nature of the transactions.  I am a member of the Business Brokers of Florida (BBF) , which is the 2nd Largest Association of Business Brokers in the World.  I have for my own purposes reviewed and evaluated  Business Sales Activity in Florida, (figures obtained via BBF websites) along with trends of businesses sold in Florida, Cash flows, and business values of those sold by members of the Business Brokers of Florida These numbers involves thousands of businesses over several years.

As I plan going forward,  for my business broker activities, understanding these trends and activities is one of my 1st steps in my planning process.  Here are some figures and observations:

The number of  businesses sold in Florida in 2010 were 5% less than  2009.  The Price for a business was sold for in Florida in 2010 was lower than 2009.  Both 2009 and 2010 were down years in the business acquisition and sales market in Florida. Most business brokers I speak to  believe  business acquisition activity will increase in 2011.

2010- 860 Florida Businesses Sold

Sales Sold Price Adjusted Net Days on Market
592,931 232,120 107,427 222
2009 – 910 Florida Businesses Sold
Sales Sold Price Adjusted Net Days on Market
594,449 270,327 106,251 233

More Restaurants are Sold in Florida  than any other type of Business. Accounting for over 20% of all Florida Businesses Sold by Members of the Business Brokers of Florida.  Do you wonder why so many restaurants sold?  Currently, As of today- 693 Restaurants are for Sale in Florida thru BBF Members. !!

Restaurants 2010  Averages   (187 Total Sold)
Sales Sold Price Adjusted Net Days on Market
360,242 131,343 73,258 210

 

Restaurants 2009  Averages

Sales Sold Price Adjusted Net Days on Market
361,493 162,087 72,703 211

It could just be me, but I do speak to a lot of business owners that “feel “their business is worth $1,000,000.  Only 4% of all business sold in Florida thru members of the Business Brokers of Florida were greater than $1M.  Florida  business climate, while having some diversity, is very strongly service based with a lot of small businesses with 10 employee or less.

Businesses Sold in Florida for $1,000,000 or More (38 Total or approximately 4% of all sales)

2010 Averages  (38 Total or approximately 4% of all sales)
Sales Sold Price Adjusted Net Days on Market

2,739,402 1,894,700 576,038 378

 

2009 Averages
Sales Sold Price Adjusted Net Days on Market
2,748,466 2,132,351 574,604 391

Please Note- and this is an important fact- the Days on Market does not included businesses not sold and ultimately taken off the market.

2010 was a difficult year in the business acquisition and sales market in Florida.  Last Wednesday I attended an educational seminar that was attended by 70 plus professionals in the Florida business acquisition and business sales market.  Generally most all I spoke to were both guarded yet optimistic  about the industry prospects for 2011.

The above numbers speak to averages.  All businesses and industries have their own uniqueness.  Businesses generally are sold as a multiple of their adjusted cash Flow.  ( adjusted cash flow attempts to determine actual cash the business generates for discretionary expenses, owner wages, debt service etc.)  Each business and industry will demand a different valuation.  Determining your business value may be dependent upon what similar businesses in your same industry are selling for as a multiple of adjusted cash flow.  If you would like to know what businesses similar to yours are selling for, review a website such as mine, or contact a trusted business broker or other trusted advisor.