BusinessesForSale.com

If you’re considering selling your business, congratulations! This could be a great move for you. Or, it might not.

It’s definitely a big step, though, and one that requires thought and preparation in order to optimize the outcome for everyone involved. Unfortunately, many business owners go into the sale of their business with unrealistic expectations, or without properly preparing, and they end up making costly and frustrating mistakes that can be detrimental to the effort.

Here are five specific things to avoid when selling your business:

1. Failing to plan

As everyone knows, failing to plan is actually planning to fail. When you’re taking on a complex and high stakes task like selling a business, that axiom is certainly true. Murphy’s Law also dictates that anything that can go wrong will go wrong, so it’s important to prepare well ahead of time to minimize any bumps in the road.

In many ways, the groundwork for a successful and profitable sale can be made back when the business is first opened. Having one or more strong and well-planned exit strategies in place is key to developing the business with a successful sale, acquisition, or merger in its future.

When it’s actually time to prepare to put the company on the market, detailed preparation is also necessary in terms of documentation, and many other intricate details that you may not think about often as you’re running the business day to day. It’s always best to get professional help.

2. Going it alone

The independent “can-do” passion of the entrepreneur is what got you to this point in the first place, so it’s understandable that you’re ready to roll up your sleeves and handle this sale all by yourself. But please don’t.

The sale of a business is a complicated, time consuming, and potentially very costly undertaking. It will be better all around – in terms of your time and stress, as well as the eventual profit you make from the sale – if you bring in professionals who handle the minute details of a business sale every day. They will be able to lessen the burden on you while you’re still running the business, plus you’ll end up getting more for the business faster than you would have on your own.

Hiring a professional business broker is a must; they will be able to guide you through the whole process from accurate valuation to marketing to the right buyers.

3. A glitch in timing

Sometimes, it’s the economy itself, which you have no control over. Or, it’s your industry, which you have little control over. Or, it’s just your company itself, which you have plenty of control over, but which you may not realize is causing a problem.

Timing is everything when it comes to negotiating a successful and profitable sale. If the timing is right, it can go off without a hitch, quickly and efficiently. If the timing is off, though, it can become a long, arduous process.

Again, the help of seasoned professionals should eliminate any issue in this regard. They may be able to assist you in making the necessary adjustments to fall in line with how businesses like yours are selling right now, or they may be able to make some recommendations that will get you in shape to put the company up for sale in six or nine months.

4. Overvaluing the company

In many cases, this is a matter of emotional investment. You’ve worked your fingers to the bone building this company from nothing. You’ve given it years of your life, not to mention your blood, sweat, and tears throughout all that time. There’s no way its worth less than $45 billion! But, actually, it’s only worth $2.3 million, and not a penny more.

The input of objective outside parties, such as the business sale professionals mentioned above, can help you place a realistic value on your company. But you will also need to make the conscious decision to accept their advice and step out of the way, or the sale will never succeed.

5. Undervaluing the company

It’s rarer, but it does happen: the business owner is so eager to be done with the business, he’s ready to give it away at a bargain basement price.

It seems reasonable that anyone should be able to see the value in a business being sold at half its expected cost. But, instead, it just ends up raising red flags in the minds of potential buyers who want to know why the owner is in such a hurry and what they’re missing about this company that indicates it’s ready to sink.

Again, professional help can mitigate this concern as they can assist you in placing a reasonable, profitable, and accessible value on your company in preparation for the sale.

For more information on selling your business and what to avoid if you want to do it right, speak to a business sales professional near you.