Selling your business for top dollar

WHAT BUYERS LOOK FOR

Selling your business is a major decision. You’ve spent countless hours building it and you should be compensated fairly for your efforts. As a business brokerage, we market and sell all types of  business. The ones we sell for the highest price have some characteristics in common including:

It’s never too late to start tracking accurate sales. The easiest way a buyer can feel safe in investing is providing them with accurate bookkeeping and accounting and verifiable sales. Also, matching POS, credit card and quarterly sales tax filing puts a buyer's skepticism at bay.  We recommend hiring a bookkeeping firm that specializes in your type of business.   See our resources page for assistance.

Having systems in place allow a buyer to take over an existing business with confidence.   Having procedures manuals, training videos and step by step systems make the business attractive to buyers.

Train key employees to run the operation including scheduling & ordering of inventory. Buyers look for a BUSINESS to invest in, not a JOB to purchase. 

Fix any broken items and thoroughly clean the entire business from top to bottom. Use bright light bulbs as needed. Put away clutter and get rid of unnecessary items.   Keep an organized filing system and office.

Partial owner financing shows faith by the owner in the business. It also allows for a higher selling price and possibly a lower tax consequence for the owner as income may be tax deferred. (contact a CPA for more information)

A seasoned business broker will have a large database of buyers and will market specifically to those buyers. The broker will have industry specific contacts, know how to market your business properly, speak the language of business and aggressively price the business to sell.