Are you starting to think more seriously about selling your business? Perhaps you have seen a competitor or contact in your industry transition their business and heard whispers of an eye-popping selling price or valuation multiple. Lots of things are possible, particularly for quality businesses with a durable earnings stream!
COVID was a true, black swan event in that none of us have had our businesses disrupted by a global pandemic. However, life has a funny way of continuing regardless of pandemics, the economic cycle, your business results, or industry activity.
Take a look at the top reasons business owners decided to take their business to market in the latest Market Pulse Report:
It is packed with insightful data on market multiples, deal structure, time to close, and the broader market for private business sales – encourage you to spend a few minutes reviewing.
This report is prepared by the International Business Broker Association (IBBA), we participate every quarter and find it to be spot on in terms of where we are at. I can tell you that the reasons business owners are ready to begin the sale process generally do not change – with the #1 reason being retirement. Next on the list are burnout, health issues, and proposed tax increases.
I talk with business owners every day. Burnout is real and happens to nearly all of us at one point or another – we love our business, our people, customers – but we are tired. Health issues unfortunately impact some as well. One business owner I spoke with had a second cancer scare during COVID and she wanted to simplify her life. On Friday I got a call from a gentleman in New York, his mother-in-law owns a business in Bellevue, and she was having health issues before COVID. They too are exploring how to transition their business.
This brings me to my message today – as you begin to consider the selling process you need to consult a Business Broker and your CPA or financial planner.
I have previously wrote about what to expect when selling your business and steps to take when you are ready to sell your business. If you are reading this you are (hopefully!) already planning to consult a Business Broker. If you are not yet planning to do so, here are 6 reasons business owners reach out to Washington Business Brokers:
- You want an independent, objective assessment of the value of your business based on comparable private transactions and market demand.
- You are thinking about selling your business and want to better understand levers to materially enhance business value.
- You want your business marketed confidentially and professionally.
- You want to generate buyer activity and competition amongst buyers.
- You want an expert to vet buyer fit and financial capacity.
- You want transaction expertise to avoid deal pitfalls and maximize net at closing.
As for your CPA or financial planner, this advisor intimately understands your entire financial picture and has likely been providing tax planning and/or financial advice to you for a period of time. Taxes are an important consideration in any significant business transaction – this is certainly the case when selling or buying a business.
In addition, a CPA can offer guidance on an asset vs. stock sale. We will be writing more about this soon.
As a business owner, I strongly recommend you have input from both a Business Broker and CPA.
If you have not read from our previous posts, I possess a CPA license as well as a Washington Real Estate license. That said, when we discuss your business I will always encourage you to consult a tax expert. And speaking of taxes, check out straight talk on the Washington State capital gains tax.
That is it for today – more to come in a future post. Please forward or share this content if you find it valuable. As always, thank you for reading!
At Washington Business Brokers we are experts in valuation, optimizing a business for sale, buyer identification and qualification, negotiation, deal structuring, and closing. Our strategic advisor, Glen Cooper, has sold 500+ businesses in his career and is a nationally recognized author and trainer in selling private businesses.
We do not sell you on selling your business or buying one. Instead, we listen, provide options and expertise, and ultimately partner with you to accomplish your goals.
If you would like to better understand the value of your business or learn more about the process of confidentially selling:
call or text 937.344.8750
email [email protected]
or schedule time for an exploratory chat at calendly.com/ryanhemmert