Prepare Your Business For Your Ultimate Customer
by Noel
Peebles
More Business
Skills Articles
Published on this site: January 2004 - See
more articles from this month
Most business entrepreneurs would rather be in the drivers seat than to be driven.
Yet, surprisingly enough, many business owners put little effort into planning
to sell to their biggest and ultimate customer... the person (or company) that
buys their business.
I've seen genuine hardworking people struggle and
persevere to build up a successful business, only to watch them fail to reap their
deserved rewards when they come to cash-out.
They don't know what to do,
or where to go. They lack the required skills to present their business effectively
to potential buyers. The end result; they get stressed-out and bitterly disappointed
with the outcome.
Don't fall into the same trap. The day will come when
you want to (or have to) sell your business and cash-out.
That might not
be in the near future, but now is the time to start planning for your ultimate
sale.
Self-made millionaire entrepreneur Mal Emery, has bought, developed
and sold 14 businesses. Mal had this to say:
"Before I even consider
buying a business, I must be able to visualise or articulate a clear and concise
picture of what that business will look like when I sell out.
You see,
I design all my businesses to sell. I call the buyer of my business, my ultimate
customer... the one who puts me out of business."
Even if you are many
years away from selling, it still pays to plan an exit strategy, because that
time will eventually come. What would happen if you died unexpectedly?
If
you haven’t got a workable exit strategy in place, your heirs may have no
choice but to place the business with an agent and say "get what you can
for it." The assets may be liquidated and sold off piecemeal, getting virtually
nothing for the goodwill you’ve built up over the course of many years.
Plan
for the big change well before the signs of burn-out, boredom or apathy start
to show in your balance sheet.
A decline in the financial results will,
more than likely, scare buyers (and their lenders) away. You could get less for
your business than what it’s really worth.
You’ll have more chance
of coming out on top, both financially and personally, if you make an effort to
understand the steps to selling. You need to spend time on careful planning, so
that when you’re ready, you can take the time to negotiate a price and terms
that will satisfy your reasons for selling.
Noel Peebles, Market Leaders ebooks.
www.instantsellbusiness.com
www.instantsellhome.com
www.homebizideasgoldmine.com
www.marketleadersltd.com
www.instant-detective.com
Noel Peebles is author of the best selling ebook "Sell
Your Business The Easy Way." www.instantsellbusiness.com
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