Embracing Retirement and Selling: 4 Tips for a Smooth Transition
No one works forever. Regardless of how much you love your business, sooner or later you will have to step away. Owning a business can be very demanding. This fact can be doubly true for owner-operators of businesses. The simple fact is that you’ll have to embrace retirement at some point.
Most business owners have never sold a business before and may not know what to expect. The good news is that prospective buyers usually like the idea of buying an established business directly from a business owner. It is key, however, to do everything possible to make selling your business, as well as the transition period, as easy for a buyer as possible.
Prepping your business for sale has many diverse parts that need to be taken into consideration. Prospective buyers want to feel as though they will have a seamless transition, so it’s in your best interest to evaluate what steps you need to take to make the transition smooth.
You are the world’s greatest expert on your business. As a result, you are perfectly positioned to evaluate your business so as to ensure that it is both appealing to a prospective buyer and ready to sell. Let’s take a look at the steps you can take to ensure a smooth transition.
The Top 4 Transition Tips
1. Automate as many processes as possible.
In this way, prospective buyers are less likely to be intimidated by the level of work involved in owning a small business. The odds are good that many of your prospective buyers have never owned a business before. One of the best ways to not scare prospects away is to make owning and operating your business as streamlined as possible.
2. Work with your employees, key customers and vendors to ensure a smooth transition.
Anything that can cause a potential disruption may scare off prospective buyers. Put yourself in the shoes of prospective buyers and think about what may cause you concern if you were evaluating a business. Once you locate those areas of potential concern, do what you can start to remedy them well before placing your business on the market.
3. Pick out your “second-in-command” before you sell your business.
Having a competent and proven “right hand man or woman” that can step in and essentially operate your business is a very attractive asset to have in place when it comes time to sell your business.
4. Consider working with a business broker.
Brokers are expert in the art and craft of buying and selling businesses. They will be able to help you evaluate your business and address areas that need improvement so as to ensure a smooth transition.
Taking these steps will not just make your business easier to sell, but it will also shorten the amount of time it takes to sell. The last thing you want when you are ready to sell your business and retire is for the selling process to drag on forever.
Copyright: Business Brokerage Press
Read MoreIs It Time to Become a Business Owner? 3 Questions to Ask Yourself.
Many people know that owning a business isn’t for them. But for others, the appeal and lure of owning their own business can be powerful indeed. If you are uncertain as to whether or not this path is for you, there are a few simple questions you can ask to gain almost instant clarity. In this article, we will explore those key questions and help you determine if owning a business is in your future.
1. Are You Dedicated to Growing Your Income?
Quite often people like the idea of making more money, at least in the abstract. But when presented with what it takes, many people realize that they don’t want to do what is involved. Owning and operating a business can be a lot of work and it’s not for everyone. Yet, those who embrace it can find it rewarding in a variety of ways.
Being a business owner is radically different than being an employee. As an employee, you simply don’t exercise much control. Summed up another way, your financial fate is clearly in the hands of someone else: your employer.
However, owning a business means that you can take steps to control your own financial destiny. You can make decisions that will, ultimately, boost the success of your business and in turn increase your own income.
As an important note, statistics from 2010 show that the longer you own your business the more money you, as the business owner, will make. It is typical for those who have owned a business for ten years or more to earn upwards of six figures per year. If you have had more than one year of experience in running an organization, the yearly salary will likely range from $34,392 to $75,076. However, if you’ve owned your business for more than a decade, you will likely earn more than $105,757 per year.
While there are no guarantees, owning a business can be a path to growing one’s income and wealth.
2. Would You Like Greater Control Over Your Life?
Many opt to start their own business because they want more control. Business owners realize that unless they own their own business their financial fates rest in the hands of someone else. Some people are comforted with this feeling or don’t see a way around it and others are not so comfortable with the realization. If you want greater control over your life, then owning a business might be for you.
Owning a business increases the amount of control a business owner has over his or her life in many ways, not just financial. For example, business owners have more control over how they spend their time, where they work, when they work and who they work with on a daily basis. Instead of being part of a business, you help create, mold and shape it. Clearly, this is a lot of work and it isn’t for everyone, but again the rewards can be diverse and great.
3. What is Your Personality Like?
Owning a business translates to great control, but that control comes with a degree of risk. In the end, you’ll have to determine how comfortable you are in dealing with risk. As a business owner the “buck” stops with you. You’re risking your time, effort and, of course, money. You also don’t get a paid vacation, sick days or any of the other benefits so often associated with being an employee.
Other traits identified during a study by the Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute showed there are other ideal personality traits for business owners. These traits include collaboration, curiosity, focus on the future, and being self-fulfilled, tech savvy and action oriented.
Thinking about these three key questions is the perfect place to start when contemplating opening a business. Additionally, working with a business broker can help you gain clarity and determine if owning a business is right for you.
Copyright: Business Brokerage Press, Inc.
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Read MoreWhat is the Value of Your Business? It All Depends.
The initial response to the question in the title really should be: “Why do you want to know the value of your business?” This response is not intended to be flippant, but is a question that really needs to be answered.
- Does an owner need to know for estate purposes?
- Does the bank want to know for lending purposes?
- Is the owner entertaining bringing in a partner or partners?
- Is the owner thinking of selling?
- Is a divorce or partnership dispute occurring?
- Is a valuation needed for a buy-sell agreement?
There are many other reasons why knowing the value of the business may be important.
Valuing a business can be dependent on why there is a need for it, since there are almost as many different definitions of valuation as there are reasons to obtain one. For example, in a divorce or partnership breakup, each side has a vested interest in the value of the business. If the husband is the owner, he wants as low a value as possible, while his spouse wants the highest value. Likewise, if a business partner is selling half of his business to the other partner, the departing partner would want as high a value as possible.
In the case of a business loan, a lender values the business based on what he could sell the business for in order to recapture the amount of the loan. This may be just the amount of the hard assets, namely fixtures and equipment, receivables, real estate or other similar assets.
In most cases, with the possible exception of the loan value, the applicable value definition would be Fair Market Value, normally defined as: “The price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller when the former is not under any compulsion to buy and the latter is not under any compulsion to sell, both parties having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts.” This definition is used by most courts.
It is interesting that in the most common definition of value, it starts off with, “The price…” Most business owners, when using the term value, really mean price. They basically want to know, “How much can I get for it if I decide to sell?” Of course, if there are legal issues, a valuation is also likely needed. In most cases, however, what the owner is looking for is a price. Unfortunately, until the business sells, there really isn’t a price.
The International Business Brokers Association (IBBA) defines price as; “The total of all consideration passed at any time between the buyer and the seller for an ownership interest in a business enterprise and may include, but is not limited to, all remuneration for tangible and intangible assets such as furniture, equipment, supplies, inventory, working capital, non-competition agreements, employment, and/or consultation agreements, licenses, customer lists, franchise fees, assumed liabilities, stock options or stock redemptions, real estate, leases, royalties, earn-outs, and future considerations.”
In short, value is something that may have to be defended, and something on which not everyone may agree. Price is very simple – it is what something sold for. It may have been negotiated; it may be the seller’s or buyer’s perception of value and the point at which their perceptions coincided (at least enough for a closing to take place) or a court may have decided.
The moral here is for a business owner to be careful what he or she asks for. Do you need a valuation, or do you just want to know what someone thinks your business will sell for?
Business brokers can be a big help in establishing value or price.
Read MoreDo I need an attorney?
It may be advisable to have an attorney review the legal documents. It is important, however, that the attorney you hire is familiar with the business buying process and has the time available to handle the paperwork on a timely basis. If the attorney does not have experience in handling business sales, you may be paying for the attorney’s education. Most business brokers have lists of attorneys who are familiar with the business buying process. An experienced attorney can be of real assistance in making sure that all of the details are handled properly. Business brokers are not qualified to give legal advice.
However, keep in mind that many attorneys are not qualified to give business advice. Your attorney will be, and should be, looking after your interests; however, you need to remember that the seller’s interests must also be considered. If the attorney goes too far in trying to protect your interests, the seller’s attorney will instruct his or her client not to proceed. The transaction must be fair for all parties. The attorney works for you, and you must have a say in how everything is done.
If you know someone who has owned their own business for a period of time, he or she may also be a valuable resource in answering your questions about how small business really works.
You have to make the final decision; that “leap of faith” between looking and actually being in business for yourself is a decision that only you can make!
Read MoreWhy should I go to a business broker?
A professional business broker can be helpful in many ways. They can provide you with a selection of different and, in many cases, unique businesses, including many that you would not be able to find on your own. Approximately 90 percent of those who buy businesses end up with something completely different from the business that they first inquired about. Business brokers can offer you a wide variety of businesses to look at and consider.
Business brokers are also an excellent source of information about small business and the business buying process. They are familiar with the market and can advise you about trends, pricing and what is happening locally. Your business broker will handle all of the details of the business sale and will do everything possible to guide you in the right direction, including, if necessary, consulting other professionals who may be able to assist you.
Your local professional business broker is the best person to talk to about your business needs and requirements.
Read MoreWhat happens when I find a business I want to buy?
When you find a business, the business broker will be able to answer many of your questions immediately or will research them for you. Once you get your preliminary questions answered, the typical next step is for the broker to prepare an offer based on the price and terms you feel are appropriate. This offer will generally be subject to your approval of the actual books and records supporting the figures that have been supplied to you. The main purpose of the offer is to see if the seller is willing to accept the price and terms you offered.
There isn’t much point in continuing if you and the seller can’t get together on price and terms. The offer is then presented to the seller who can approve it, reject it, or counter it with his or her own offer. You, obviously, have the decision of accepting the counter proposal from the seller or rejecting it and going on to consider other businesses.
If you and the seller agree on the price and terms, the next step is for you to do your “due diligence.” The burden is on you – the buyer – no one else. You may choose to bring in other outside advisors or to do it on your own – the choice is yours. Once you have checked and approved those areas of concern, the closing documents can be prepared, and your purchase of the business can be successfully closed. You will now join many others who, like you, have chosen to become self-employed!
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