Three Steps to Prepare a Sale
You feel that it’s time to call it quits and sell your Long Island company, either for retirement purposes or to pursue other business goals.
The first thing that comes to mind is to contact a trusty Long Island business broker to begin the process right away. Still, in the meantime, there are other actions that you might want to perform in order to facilitate the sale.
Three Steps to Prepare a Sale
Let’s uncover the first three steps you need to follow in order to have a better selling position:
1. INCREASE PROFITS
The best moment to sell a business is when it is at its most profitable stage. This is what you’ll hear often from every competent business broker.
Long Island is a particularly difficult market to tackle, which is why you ought to try a bit harder to position your company so that it appears on the top of the list in terms of sales.
A thriving business is the dream of every avid investor. A business with poor or stagnant sales will not arouse the interest of anyone, much less a qualified buyer, which is why you have to find methods to stimulate sales before taking your business to the marketplace. A good Long Island business broker would probably advise you to do the following:
* Offer bonuses and incentives to employees and usual customers for bringing new clients.
* Improve the sales department by adding more personnel.
* Register every sale, including those that are paid in cash and not easily traceable.
* Boost the marketing campaign for further brand recognition.
2. Try to Sell off Inventory
Take the necessary actions to empty your shelves as much as possible before putting your business on sale. No buyer wants to deal with old inventory that might not be able to be sold after the deal closes. The best option is to turn that remaining stock into cash, even if that means lowering the price a bit.
The same goes with old equipment that is no longer being employed in the business’ daily operations.
3. Get Less Involved
It’s often said that you should not detach from your business before selling it (and even a while after). This is still applicable, but there are nuances you may want to consider.
A business managed by a single individual is at a rough spot when that single person ceases to operate or leaves. Buyers will not find that very convenient. In that regard, you should consider relying more on a liable and competent management team that can keep things running smoothly during the transaction.
You would still be capable of supervising the whole operation without having to get too personally involved.
Get Help From A Qualified Long Island Business Broker
A good Long Island business broker might not be wholly equipped to boost your sales or manage your company (or at least not directly). Nevertheless, you should be able to count on his/her advice and assistance throughout the whole ordeal of selling your Long Island venture, even at the very first stages of the process.
Read MoreWhat Do Business Brokers Do?
If you’re in Long Island and are looking to sell or buy a business, a good Long Island business brokerage firm can help boost the chances of landing good deals.
But the work of a business broker is not reduced to finding good buyers and sellers. They should be endowed with sufficient qualifications and expertise in the financial, technical, and legal aspects of business buying/selling to assist you through most of the burdens involved in every stage of the process.
WHAT IS BUSINESS BROKERAGE LONG ISLAND?
Business brokerage consists of the assistance provided by individuals or firms in all the operations related to buying or selling a business. This assistance comprises the following tasks:
1. Screening
Business brokers are instructed to assess the market and find the businesses that match the criteria and parameters laid out by an investor/buyer. A Long Island business brokerage firm should be more than equipped to show potential buyers the best investment opportunities for their needs.
In terms of selling. the business broker ought to be qualified for analyzing the financial situation of all interested buyers and to aid in choosing, from a pool of potential investors, the best prospects in terms of credit score, liquidity, capital, and professional experience.
2. VALUING
Surely you know how much your business is worth, but probably by heart! This is, frankly speaking, not enough to convince investors. You’ll need to show spreadsheets and measurable data that can be easily verifiable. A business broker walks sellers through the arduous task of doing an accurate business valuation to make sure that they’re not overpricing or under pricing their ventures.
3. FUNDING
In the “small” world of business brokerage, Long Island agents and firms would most probably know and associate themselves with the m0st trusted banks in the area, which should generate confidence at the moment of choosing the best bank in which to apply for a loan. The broker is also theoretically knowledgeable about the most efficient ways to get financing approved.
4. COMPLYING
Long Island business brokerage agencies should be thoroughly trained and updated with regards to the regulatory framework for business purchasing and selling. You won’t have to deal with the cumbersome task of finding out how to do all the paperwork. The broker should streamline the process so that you won’t skip any form or fee.
5. MARKETING
Posting an ad for your business is really not that hard, but you won’t be capable of getting noticed unless you have an adequate understanding of how positioning and marketing strategies work. In that sense, a competent Long Island business brokerage agent is versed in the most effective tactics aimed at driving traffic to your ad. He/she can also help you find the best business marketplaces to ensure that your business gets the necessary exposure to spark a negotiation.
6. NEGOTIATING
If there is anything that business brokers excel at is in the art of negotiation. We, as investors or sellers, can be very emotional about how we handle a deal, which is why it’s crucial to find a third party that can keep things “professional” and right any possible wrongs in the negotiating table so that any tensions in the relationship between buyer and seller can be alleviated before they escalate.
Conclusion
Hopefully, we’ve been able to support the reader in ascertaining the basic functions performed by a business broker and how a good Long Island business brokerage professional or firm can smooth out any rough edges in all the phases of purchasing or selling a company.
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