Working with Professionals to Sell Your Business

Working with Professionals to Sell Your Business

When we imagine the very wealthy, we often think of Wall Street executives and star professional athletes. But the truth is that the most common path to becoming rich is to own your own business. Business owners certainly dominate the ranks of the highest tax brackets – Merrill Lynch has estimated that nearly 80 percent of those with at least $5 million of investable assets are former entrepreneurs who have successfully exited their businesses. And around half of all Americans with net assets over $1 million grew their wealth by growing a business.

Even if you don’t personally own a business yourself, you likely know someone who does. Selling one’s business is a major, often life-changing event. It often represents the opportunity to realize the potential of the wealth you’ve been building. It can also be very emotionally taxing. It’s not easy to walk away from something that you have poured countless hours and considerable sweat equity into. You may think of your business with the same type of pride as a parent.

Naturally, you may want to be as hands-on as possible in making sure the selling of the business goes as smoothly as possible. Unfortunately, this is precisely where too many business owners run into major trouble. They have built a great business and grown it to great heights – so why can’t they be just as skilled as selling the business?

Calling in the Pros

The fact of the matter is that building a successful business is an entirely different skill set altogether from selling one. Just as you likely rely on professionals for your wealth management and accounting, you should absolutely work with a professional to help facilitate the selling of your business. It’s important to work with someone who brings market awareness to the transaction, unencumbered by poor emotional judgments driven by personal attachment to the business.

Think of it this way – you will likely only sell one business in your life: your own. A seasoned investment banker, on the other hand, will bring the knowledge and perspective of professionally specializing in this very type of transaction. As a professional that values experience and specialization, you have much to gain from working with a pro.

What the Pros Offer

• Helping to identify the viable pool of potential buyers for your business
• Promoting the sale of your company to the candidates
• Developing strategies to enhance the value of your business and sales price
• Managing buyer interest to ensure competitive bidding for your business
• Helping minimize tax burden and unforeseen costs

You’re preparing to transition to a new phase of your life, whether it’s retirement or your next business challenge. Why not make the transition as smooth as possible by working with a professional to ensure that the sale of your business is as successful as possible?

Reach out today to learn more