What Can I Do Now To Prepare To Sell My Business In 2024?

Selling a business requires a lot of work on your part. From the due diligence process to financial considerations to finding a potential buyer, you have lots of work to do to get your business in shape for sale in 2024.

To sell a business, you're also going to need time. This is why the new year is the perfect opportunity to set out a plan to sell a business. This article is going to cover some of the aspects of preparing a business for sale in 2024. Find out more below.

Make Sure You Want to Sell Your Business First

First and foremost, before starting the sales process, before finding business buyers, before employing a business broker, you need to make sure that selling is the right decision for you. Once your business has been sold, your life will be very different. This means you're going to have to be certain.

Consider why you want to sell. Do you want to begin a new venture? Are you thinking of retiring? Have you got plans for after you sell your business?

Understand the Current Market Trends

The next thing you will need to do is to understand current market trends, particularly in the industry in which you will be selling a business. If your market is struggling, then potential buyers may be hard to come by, and your business sale will likely take much longer than you want it to.

Understanding the current market can also help you with business valuation to ensure that you set a price that is both attractive and will provide you with some profits.

Prepare Your Financial Records

All business sales require potential buyers to be able to see the financial records of the business before a sale is closed. This means that you will need to collate all financial records, including profit and loss statements, bank loans, and any other financial records relating to your business.

Having this in order before you even start the sales process will have a profound impact on the time it takes to sell your business. Any potential buyer for your business will want to see properly recorded financial statements and any other records pertaining to the business. Not having this ready causes delays and mistrust with potential buyers.

Streamline Your Operations

Before selling a business, you need to get it into the best shape possible for any business appraiser a potential buyer may employ. One really simple way of making sure your business is running optimally is to streamline all your operations. It may seem counterintuitive to invest money into streamlining operations as you prepare to sell, but an efficient business is always going to fetch a higher price than an inefficient one.

Streamlining means replacing inefficient processes, reducing costs where you can, and ensuring that all aspects of your business are running at their peak.

Focus on Customer and Supplier Relations

One of your business assets that potential buyers will be most interested in is your customer base. Customer relationships, social media followings, and contacts can all be classed as intangible assets of your business, which means that having the healthiest customer relations possible will ensure a smooth sales process and a good purchase price.

To ensure you have a strong customer relationship, focus your energy on customer retention strategies. Make sure communication is always clear, resolve disputes and respond to enquiries quickly, and grow social media followings and new customer numbers.

Additionally, having a good relationship with your suppliers will also benefit your business sales. Interested buyers are likely to look over your supplier lists and even your contracts, should you wish to disclose them during the due diligence process. As such, seeing favourable terms and longstanding relationships lets potential buyers know that this is a business opportunity that is worth the money.

Potential buyers are more likely to want a business that is already running well. The new owner won't want to spend time creating business plans and finding new suppliers, so your loyal suppliers and customers will give you an advantage when selling your business.

Carry Out Legal and Compliance Checks

Selling a business comes with a lot of due diligence, and another task you will have to carry out is to ensure that the business is compliant with all legal requirements. Legal obligations and requirements can differ vastly per industry, which means that what one business needs to certify another business won't.

A new owner will likely not want to have to spend the first few months making alterations to the day-to-day running of the business simply to make sure it is compliant.

Prepare Your Employees and Management Team

When the right buyer comes along, you will need to ensure that your employees and management are in a position to transition from you to a new leader. You may want to hold off announcing the sale of the business as it is likely to cause panic, particularly if the new owner chooses not to keep people on.

If you're concerned about your employees finding out you're planning on selling before you make it public knowledge, remember that you can use non-disclosure agreements with potential buyers to limit the fear and panic in employees.

Invest in Technology

Even if you're selling your business, there is no reason not to get ahead of trends and use technological innovation to modernise your business. Implementing technological solutions is another method of streamlining your business, and a potential buyer is likely to look kindly at a business that has invested in newer technologies. You will also be able to set a higher asking price to make the money back.

Finalise Your Exit Strategy

When you first started your business, you may have made an exit plan for the time that you decided it was right to sell. If you didn't, and you're just getting around to it now you're considering selling your business, you can still make an effective strategy.

Things to consider as part of a solid business exit strategy include outlining your goals for the sale, what your timeline is, the steps you need to take to complete the sale of your business to the right buyer for the best price, and what you're going to do after the sale goes through.

We mentioned earlier that you have to be ready to sell your business, and a major aspect of this is having a plan for after it has been sold. While you will likely spend some time just relaxing after the stress of owning and then selling a business, after that, you will need something to do.

Whether you're going to retire totally, start a new venture, or take on a consultancy role, things will change dramatically for you. Consider things like where you will get your income from, what goals you have for this period, and how you will occupy your time.

Seek Professional Guidance

Lastly, selling a business is no easy feat, and as such, you may feel like you need expert help. In these cases, you could work with a business broker to help you find potential buyers and get your business ready to sell. You may also consider working with a lawyer or accountant to get your records in order.

If you're looking for all-round help with selling a business, then why not consider Eden Exchange? As an innovative online platform made solely for people to buy and sell businesses, we have everything that you need to be able to sell your business swiftly and get the price you want for it.

Our team can support you in creating a listing, offering personalised NDAs, and a secure space to share sensitive information. You will also get access to our network of active buyers who are looking to buy an already-established business right now.

Final Thoughts

Selling a business is going to take work, so giving yourself enough time to get everything in order to list your business for sale in the new year is a good idea. You will need to organise your finances, get operations running as smoothly as possible, and consider what it is you actually want from the sale.

Contact the team at Eden Exchange today for incredible support with selling a business.