How To Sell Your Business Quickly

---

 Ideally, business owners plan for the sale of their business years in advance to allow time to plan their exit and maximize the value they get out of it. But sometimes personal or professional circumstances necessitate an immediate exit. 

Whatever the reasons, motivated business sellers may be able to shorten the duration of the sales process, provided the financials and operating documents are in order and a willingness to concede a bit on sale terms.

Pricing Strategy

If you are in a rush to sell your business, the most effective lever you have is price. You can expedite the sale of your business by listing it slightly below market value in hopes of drumming up a storm of buy offers. This is not an ideal negotiating position to be in, but if a quick sale is the priority, you will need to accept that you may wind up leaving money on the table.

Start with an Assessment of Value

Serious business buyers focus on earnings (discretionary cash flow to the owner), so your price should be centered on a multiple of the business's recent earnings. You need to be able to document the full financial benefit your business generates for you, and use that to derive your asking price. 

A complimentary "Assessment of Value" from Chelsis Financial will inform your decision regarding a fair asking price for your business. The Assessment considers various factors such as your financial performance, market trends, and industry benchmarks. Knowing the true value of your business will help you set a fair asking price that will attract potential buyers and maximize your return on investment.

Get Documents Organized

From start to finish, selling a business involves a mountain of paperwork. Much of the process involves buyers requesting and sellers providing documentation on financial and operational details of the business. This is especially true once a buyer makes an offer and begins due diligence.

Days, weeks, and even months can get eaten up simply waiting for documents to get into the right hands. To help facilitate the process and speed things along, get all available financials and business-related documents together and thoughtfully organized from the start. Chelsis Financial can help, collecting documents, providing guidance, connecting with your lawyer and CPA, and keeping responsible parties accountable.

The earlier potential buyers have all the documents they need to adequately evaluate the business, the sooner a business sale can be made.

Consider Buyer Incentives

You have some options in the way you structure and market the sale that can help ease any buyer concerns, or assist in making the financing work. These incentives can "grease the wheels" of potential deals and maintain momentum:

Offer Seller Financing

The most effective tool business sellers have is to offer some amount of seller financing. Business owners that offer to personally finance a portion of the sale price – commonly around 10% - tend to close the sale more quickly, and at a higher price.

Seller financing can help expedite the sale in two ways:

• Allowing a portion of the sale price to be paid over 3-5 years can help the buyer      bridge financing gaps, which are common in these transactions.
• Offering financing means the seller retains some "skin in the game". Hesitant buyers may be more willing to take the risk if the owner retains  a vested interest in the ongoing success of the business.

There is some upside to offering seller financing for the seller as well, in the form of interest income and potential tax advantages.

If you choose to offer seller financing, we will be sure to include it in your business for sale listing, offering memorandum, and any marketing materials. This type of financing has become common enough that many buyers won't even consider businesses without it.

Include a Reasonable Training or Transition Period

Another consideration is to offer a gracious time period to train and mentor the new business owner. This doesn't have to be a full-time commitment, but rather a part-time consultancy to ensure the new business owner has adequate time to leverage your experience and knowledge to ensure business operations continue without a hitch.

Training periods in business sales vary widely depending on the nature and complexities of the business being sold. For some businesses, it may be as simple as the original owner making themselves available to answer questions for a few weeks after the sale closes. For others, there may be set hours that the previous owner will be on-site for several months. Consider how complex your business operation would be to someone brand new to it and offer a training period that allows them adequate time to leverage your experience to get up to speed.

Engage Chelsis Financial

Hiring a business broker adds cost, but good business brokers make up for it with higher sales prices and an efficient process. No one is better suited to sell a business quickly than brokers that do it for a living.

You want someone that dedicates most or all of their practice to buying and selling businesses. They have the network, marketing infrastructure, market insight, and negotiating chops to get deals done efficiently.

Get Started

Chelsis Financial provides the platform for selling your business. We have the tools and resources to help you understand the process, market data to conduct an Assessment of Value your business, and large directory of potential buyers. Start by scheduling a brief question and answer call to discuss your business using this link: 

https://calendly.com/chelsis/getanswers 

The Experience You Need

Chelsis Financial was established in 1998 to focus on business brokerage and private intermediary services. Today, the practice continues to provide business owners, with complimentary, comprehensive business value assessments leading to the quiet transfer of business ownership. Decades of experience help owners make informed decisions about selling, backed by independently validated asking prices. 

For more information, contact:

C. Ross Hedges, Principal  |  Chelsis Financial 

www.chelsis.com   |  Email: crhedges@chelsis.com 

Cell: 812-249-4608 | Ph: 866-842-5151 | Fx: 866-576-9381

Schedule a brief call: https://calendly.com/chelsis/getanswers