Running our own successful business can be a satisfying experience. The “buzz” we get as we move to the next level of success can be mentally invigorating. However, we may need to deal with new challenges as our business grows. If we need to drive the business forward, we need to think of ideas that can give us a true advantage over our competitors. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever and we will reach the time when we need to improve some elements of our business to devise suitable growth strategy. Assuming that our company is generating good profits, we may not need an exit strategy. But, if our company won’t last forever, we could consider our options, such as selling our business to the highest bidder. We should know about things that we can employ to ensure successful business sales. There are many legal process and valuation procedures we can use to improve the chance of success. It is clear that we will need professional helps to dispose our business.
It is important to perform a thorough review, before we give serious consideration to sell our business. As an example, we should know how much is our business worth and whether the sale of our business will affect our personal taxation situation. Business selling could also impact our pension arrangement and we should know what to do to safeguard our pension. These are only a few considerations that we should take into account. It’s vital that we get the best possible advices from all related professionals. As an example, there should be a good accountant who has experience in selling a business. They can examine our accounts and other financial factors to come up with professional informed advices.
We should make sure that statutory accounts we file are up to date. This should allow any prospective buyers to see our monthly assets records and management accounts. If potential buyers can’t obtain our recent updated financial situation, then it is not possible to sell it in a professional manner. We should be able to see forecasts of our cash flow and future profit/loss. Of course, buyers will want only to see that our business is generating good financial results. If our company is having financial problems, then it will be harder to sell it or we could only sell it at lower prices. Sound personal taxation advices can be very important if we want to maximize our financial positions. Regulation changes could take place quite often and we will need an advisor who is skilled, experienced and educated about these matters. Rules related to personal pensions could also change dramatically after we sell our business and we should make sure that it is a favourable change.
We should make sure that we have an effective exit strategy and this can happen when we want to carry it through successfully. In fact, the business sale process may take a few years and this should make sure that our revenue from the business sale can be maximized.