So You Think you're ready to sell...

So, you think you’re ready to sell your business but there are a few stops between deciding to sell and cashing that check. Where do you even start?

First, contact a CEPA (certified exit planning advisor and you just happen to know the best in me!) for any and all assessments - a strategic business analysis, a business valuation, and personal, financial, and business assessments. 

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Okay, maybe I started off with too much too soon. Let’s break it down into more manageable nuggets of information so you know exactly where to start and what to expect along the way.

Like I said above, your first step is to contact a CEPA (or to simply book a discovery call with your friendly neighborhood CEPA here). A CEPA has the team and tools in place to successfully navigate this path so you don’t get overwhelmed by the process and get top dollar for your business. Think of the CEPA as your guide through selling your business - they wrangle all the moving people and parts into easily digestible action items for you.
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Once you’ve got your CEPA, you’ll then turn to focusing on a strategic analysis. To complete a strategic analysis of your business, a CEPA will lead you through interview questions to determine the current health of your business and which areas you should focus on going forward.

Think of this like a health assessment for your business: once complete, the assessment shows you where your business is super healthy and where it needs a little help measuring up to its peers.

The next step in preparing to sell is to receive a ballpark business valuation. A certified valuation can be completed by a certified business appraiser. 

Like used car values (private party, trade in, and retail), businesses are valued differently depending on the desired end goal. In a business transaction, that end goal is usually related to who the ideal buyer of the company might be: a 3rd party, a private equity group, or an acquisition by a larger competitor. 

Similar to real estate, a business broker can provide you with a Broker’s Opinion of value. If you need a certified appraisal for a legal purpose such as a divorce, you can expect to pay several thousand dollars. A broker’s opinion of value (AKA ballpark business valuation) is more casual, usually less expensive, and in some cases even free. If you want a business valuation for an internal metric to get a general sense of your overall business health, a broker’s opinion of value should suffice. 

To complete a personal, financial, and business assessment, you will need a CEPA to lead you through “A Triggering Event,” which is a robust process that includes in-depth looks at your business, personal, and financial goals. It usually also includes a collaborative approach with a wealth advisor as well as key members of your family and business team.

During the interviews and analysis, your goals in these three key areas will be overlaid upon one another. This helps identify gaps, specifically wealth, profit, and value gaps. The professional advisors (as well as your key family and team members) will co-create situations with these gaps in mind as well as a master plan to achieve your goals.

As is most often the case, these are oversimplified responses edited for the brevity of fitting within the confines of a blog post. The full process, methodology, and tools are so much more detailed!

Schedule a discovery call now to determine if the timing is right for you to take a closer look at how to get started with selling your business!