Preparing to sell your business can be an emotionally taxing and intensive process.
Not only are you preparing to take the next step in your life and career, but you’re also looking to hand off control from something you built and cultivated into something worth celebrating.
Even if this isn’t the first time you’ve sold a business, managing the entire sales process on your own can quickly turn into a turbulent situation.
Post Contents
5 Ways A Business Broker Helps Increase Profit
The preparation, planning, marketing, negotiations, and finalization of a sale require attention and effort that may simply be impossible to navigate while simultaneously running your business.
Luckily, there are trained professionals whose entire job is to assist you throughout the entire process and work to close out a sale at the right price.
1. Put the Sale Together
Putting the right sales plan together takes dedicated effort, and partnering with a skilled business broker can help elevate the potential sale value of a business.
So much of the work required to put together a pristine sales package happens long before ever listing the business.
In many cases, this is best done before you even start hinting at the possibility of a sale. While doing this legwork may appear tedious at the outset, the long-term value it can help build is well worth the time it takes to complete.
2. Do Due Diligence
As you focus on running your business so that it remains a profitable and enticing option for potential buyers, your broker can dedicate their time to complete their due diligence to identify what potential issues need to be addressed. Next, they highlight what should be put to the forefront as a centerpiece of your sales pitch.
Some of the steps your broker can take to get everything in order ahead of the sale include:
- Preparing the necessary financial documentation
- Gathering all relevant legal and contractual information
- Identifying all assets and liabilities
- Verifying all assets held by your business.
3. Narrow Down the Ideal Type of Buyer
Handling everything before you even consider entering into negotiations with a prospective buyer is one of the most important steps a business broker can help you take.
Your broker understands exactly who and what to account for. Plus, they also have experience with every step of the sales process and know what potential pitfalls could cause setbacks if they aren’t addressed ahead of time.
Once you officially put your business on the market and start interacting with potential buyers, the value of this preparation should be readily apparent — you’ll have the information you need as soon as it’s asked for.
Then, if potential buyers approach with unrelated or misleading queries, you’ll be able to recognize it. Finding the right buyer is important — wasting your time with an unqualified offer could set you back and cause compounding problems down the line.
4. Avoid Costly Missteps Before They Occur
According to IBEX Middle Market Business Brokers, one of the most dangerous ways you could misstep when selling your business is failing to properly account for what you owe to the state or federal government in taxes.
Even when you’ve been diligent throughout the existence of your business and stayed on top of paying what you owe, it’s not uncommon to be thrown a curveball as you prepare to sell your business.
Taxation authorities, especially those at the state level, are very thorough when digging through records in order to see if they can collect on services or products provided that they missed in the past.
Even if it comes to light that you didn’t, in fact, owe those taxes and everything is settled, that uncertainty can cause unnecessary complications and, in the worst cases, impact the potential business sale.
5. Look Into Taxes
One of the key roles an experienced business broker can fill is digging through your records and relevant documentation to ensure that all outstanding payments are in order.
This time-intensive task can be exceptionally difficult to handle while also managing the responsibilities of running your business.
Entrusting that role to a trained professional can help catch any potential roadblocks before they become more pressing.
Handling any taxes, bills, or other outstanding costs before interacting with a buyer can not only help you start negotiations on the right foot but it can also help put you in an even stronger position to push your asking price higher.
Final Thoughts: Working With a Skilled Business Broker
The right broker can transform the potential selling value of your business. Through a combination of savvy marketing, efficient preparation, and shrewd negotiation, you could walk away with exactly what you need to catapult your next venture to new heights or step away from the limelight with the funds you need to live how you’ve always planned.
When you’re planning to sell your business in Austin, TX, work with a partner you can trust to get the job done right.
