So many business owners fail to achieve the asking price that they want, and the reason for this is there is often a mismatch between the owner’s expectations and the market’s estimations.

But the funny thing is, with a bit of pre-thought and preparation, the two disparate values can really come a lot closer. When preparing a business for sale it is vital that business owners add value to their company well in advance of the sale date.

This ‘window dressing’ can help business owners achieve the highest possible price for their business while also benefiting from any efficiencies put in place in the run up to the sale.

Adding value does not just mean cutting costs, it can actually involve increasing spending on elements that will make a firm a more attractive prospect for a buyer.

Capturing ‘quick wins’ is key to the value improvement process and business owners need to think strategically well in advance of the intended sell date in order to achieve these.

Once value has been optimised, sellers can move onto the next stage of preparing their business for sale, which involves getting their firm valued and marketing their company for sale.

If you are looking to get a realistic valuation for your business, asking for advice from an accountant or a solicitor will help you to choose the most appropriate valuation method.

And remember, in terms of marketing your business to potential buyers, listing the business in the Business Sale Report is a useful (and free!) place to start, as you can target serious buyers – saving you money and time.

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 7:04 pm and is filed under Exit Strategies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.