Valid Reasons To Sell Your Company

One of the most important questions to ask yourself when you are positioning a business for sale is why. Selling your business for the right reasons will make a sale very easy and increase interest with potential buyers. Selling for the wrong reasons can result in a drawn-out sales process that ends with you not getting what you put into the business, or worse, a bankruptcy sale.

There are so many valid reasons to sell a company. Here are just a few.

• Age: If you are getting to the age where heirs are a consideration, it might be time to sell your business. Particularly if the people to whom you would heir your business make extremely poor decisions or simply don’t deserve it, it makes more sense to sell your business rather than giving it to them and knowing they will run it into the ground.

• Family: In some cases, you can have a very successful business and just not have the time to give it and your family. Young children want and deserve a large portion of your time. If your marriage or your family is suffering because of all the time you are spending with your business, it might be the right timing to move on to something that will be less stressful and less time-consuming. If family is a primary reason, it is always a good idea to sort it out with your spouse beforehand. However, if you are suspecting an impending divorce, make time to speak with your financial advisor before doing anything. In some cases where you owned your business prior to marriage or your spouse signed pre-nuptial agreement, the business will be safe from divorce proceedings whereas it will not be once it has been converted to cash.

• Growth: If you have expanded as far as you can go and desire something more, it is a good time to sell your business. A business will sell the best when it is at peak production and generating a large amount of revenue. Don’t wait until the peak has passed you by and your business is on a downhill spiral. Knowing your market will help you determine when the right time to sell is and how to price your business competitively.

Remember that when it comes to selling your business, it needs to be a well thought out decision. Don’t do something rash just because you’ve had a bad day, quarter, or even year. There are always people looking for a steal. If you are selling for the right reasons, your business will be competitively priced in the marketplace and should bring exactly what it’s worth.