Simplifying Business Sales
The average business owner has most likely never gone through the process of selling a business before. This lack of experience can make the sales process feel intimidating and overwhelming. It can also lead to innocent mistakes that could otherwise be prevented. Unfortunately, you only have one chance at selling your business, which means these preventable mistakes must be avoided.
The best way to avoid these issues and reduce the stress involved in selling a business is to work with a professional business broker. At the Macon, Georgia, office of Morgan & Westfield, our team of professional business brokers will guide you through the sales process, so that you will not make mistakes.
One of the ways that our business brokers assist you through the sales process and simplify everything for you is by teaching you about business sales. By educating you, the process becomes less of a mystery, and you will thus feel less intimidated and know what to do.
One of the first things that our business brokers will go over with you is a general overview of the sales process. Yes, this process can change in some ways depending on your specific situation, but generally, the process of selling your business follows these steps:
- Business appraisals
- Determination of an asking price
- Putting your business up for sale and creating an offering memorandum
- Implementation of a confidential marketing campaign
- Buyer screening
- Negotiations with potential buyers
- Reaching a deal and securing the funding
- Closing the sale
What Every Seller Should Know
To simplify and illuminate the sales process for you, our business brokers will do more than just explain the various steps in the overall process. We will also provide you with useful information that our business brokers feel every business seller should know. Some of this insider knowledge that our business brokers will pass on to you includes:
- The ultimate value of your company is determined by the market. It is not determined by you, your employees, or our business brokers. Our business brokers provide you with an estimated price recommendation based on your business’s valuation. While this is a useful tool, the only thing that matters, at the end of the day, is how much a capable buyer is willing to spend.
- Always keep negotiations in perspective. Buyers often make low initial offers as part of the negotiations process. And sellers sometimes interpret this offer as a lack of respect or interest. This is not true; the buyer is just trying to get the best possible deal. So you must remember that as long as an offer is made, the buyer is interested. You must remain patient and go through this process while remembering that the only offer that ultimately matters is the offer that both sides agree to.
- You must sell your business discreetly. If your competitors learn about the sale, they will view it as an opportunity to gain market share. If customers know about the sale, they may take their business elsewhere. And if employees or suppliers learn about the sale, they may seek other opportunities. All of these results can be detrimental to your company’s value.
- You will most likely be expected to sign a non-compete agreement. This contract will prevent you from opening another business. If this is a problem for you, then you must discuss this with your buyer so that an alternative agreement can be worked out.
- You will most likely be expected to train your buyer. The exact terms of this training clause are dependent on the terms of the contract. But you should be prepared to do this and maintain a level of flexibility in your schedule to accommodate this obligation.
- For successful repayment to be possible, your buyer will need to run the company successfully. This is far more likely if you work with a qualified buyer, properly train him or her, and disclose pertinent information whenever necessary.
- Ask those who know about the impending sale to sign a non-disclosure agreement beforehand. This even includes employees and people whom you would normally trust. Failure to utilize these agreements can lead to costly information leaks.
Business Brokers of Central Georgia
In addition to providing this insider advice and sales knowledge to our clients, our business brokers also provide you with services that handle the technical aspect of selling your business. We provide a wide range of services from business appraisals, to marketing campaigns, to buyer screening services, to negotiation and deal structuring advice, to assist with the closing process and everything in between.
At the Macon, Georgia, office of Morgan & Westfield, we provide these services exclusively to business owners in Central Georgia. Some of the specific communities in this region that our business brokers serve include:
Macon, Payne, West Oak, Smarr, Forsyth, Barnesville, The Rock, Yatesville, Culloden, Musella, Salem, Roberta, Allon, Lizella, Angles Acres, Walden, Byron, Powersville, Albaugh, Centerville, Antebellum North, Elberta, Warner Robins, Bonaire, Westlake, Cary, Allentown, Montrose, Dudley, Danville, Jeffersonville, Dry Branch, Irwinton, Toomsboro, McIntyre, Griswoldville, Gordon, Ivey, Haddock, Gary, Coopers and Scottsboro.
We choose to cater to the business owners of this region because of our business brokers’ deep connection to the local communities. In these communities, our business brokers average more than 100 successful sales each year.
We also have more than 100 years of combined experience in facilitating business sales in Central Georgia. Through this experience, our business brokers have developed a unique connection to this region. We have built relationships with many local industry professionals and business owners throughout these communities. We have also developed an unmatched understanding of the dynamics of this local marketplace.
These factors enable our business brokers to better serve you, thereby enabling us to make the sale of your business easier for you and increasing the chance of a successful sale. To learn more about Morgan & Westfield and how we can use our expertise to facilitate the successful sale of your business, contact the Macon, Georgia, office of Morgan & Westfield today.
