{"id":9399,"date":"2021-12-30T18:25:44","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T23:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/?p=9399"},"modified":"2021-12-30T18:26:03","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T23:26:03","slug":"important-things-that-you-must-do-before-selling-your-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/important-things-that-you-must-do-before-selling-your-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Important Things That You Must Do Before Selling Your Business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It&#8217;s estimated that <a href=\"https:\/\/fortunly.com\/statistics\/small-business-statistics\/#gref\">two-thirds of small businesses<\/a> make it to two years, while half of small businesses survive five years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But even if your business is profitable, you never know when market demands will change or if technology will make your product or service obsolete.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if your business is past the two or five-year mark,&nbsp;it&#8217;s vital that you at least think about selling your business.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But before you sell your business, there are a few important&nbsp;steps you need to take. You don&#8217;t want to sell your business for less than it&#8217;s worth, or scare away the perfect buyer with messy financial statements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you&#8217;re ready to sell your business, keep&nbsp;reading for the non-negotiable things you need to do before you sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learn About the Process First<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The entire process of selling your business can often take anywhere between 6 and 11 months. So, there&#8217;s no need to rush the&nbsp;process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you put up your business for sale, familiarize yourself with the steps involved in selling a business. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Valuation<\/li><li>Confidentiality<\/li><li>Finding buyers<\/li><li>Meetings to discuss management<\/li><li>Letter of intent<\/li><li>Due diligence<\/li><li>Closing procedures<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>As you learn about each step, make sure to look up any terminology you don&#8217;t know. Always consult with your team if there&#8217;s anywhere you get stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Review Your Key Business Processes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Any good prospective buyer is cautious, and they&#8217;ll be looking at all your business ownership processes and paperwork with a fine-toothed comb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So you need to have all your key processes in order, including any employment contracts, financial records, intellectual property, and your business&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sba.gov\/business-guide\/launch-your-business\/choose-business-structure\">legal structure<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Create an Offer Memorandum<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>An offering memorandum (also called a business information memorandum) gives a comprehensive overview of your business to a potential buyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This legal document contains information like your company&#8217;s financial statements, information about your company&#8217;s management, your business operations described in detail,&nbsp;your major accomplishments, and the risks to your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Put Together a Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Every successful entrepreneur has a team of experts to help them, and this is no different when selling your business. This team includes your legal advisors, accountants, and business brokers to help with the sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your team can also help you determine how much your business is worth. This includes what buyers will look at and how these items will impact the value of your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on determining what a reasonable price for your small business could be, read <a href=\"https:\/\/fusionadvantage.com\/a-guide-for-determining-a-reasonable-price-for-your-small-business\/\">this post<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do These Things Before Selling Your Business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For some, entrepreneurial success starts at your first year of profits. For others, it&#8217;s selling your business and using the money to retire or to fund your next venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And while selling your business&nbsp;can be one of the most rewarding moments of your career, you need to know each step of the way so you get the most out of the sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As&nbsp;a small business owner, you&#8217;ll love the rest of our helpful business posts, so make sure to check them out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s estimated that two-thirds of small businesses make it to two years, while half of small businesses survive five years.&nbsp; But even if your business is profitable, you never know when market demands will change or if technology will make your product or service obsolete.&nbsp; So if your business is past the two or five-year [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9399"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9399"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9401,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9399\/revisions\/9401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atyourbusiness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}