Every business owner will leave their business at some point. It’s absolutely a sure bet. The question is do you leave on the best possible terms or does the way you leave the business jeopardize the future of the business, the value of the business for you and your heirs and put your employees in the unemployment line.

Too many business owners have difficulty imagining the time and the circumstances that will determine when they will leave the business. Most think that someone will just walk into the business one day and make them an offer to buy the business that they can’t refuse. The reality is that’s a 1 in a 100 shot.

Here’s what usually happens…. One day the business owner gets news they didn’t expect but it is news that forces them to sell the business and execute an Exit Strategy…even if they don’t have an Exit Strategy!  What kind of “news” does the business owner get? Here’s the list of the most common items: a serious health issue is diagnosed, a spouse files for divorce, a partner dispute erupts and, frequently, the kids tell you they don’t want to take over the business. There are many more examples. These things can happen suddenly in even the best of families and circumstances.

Good to know: “Our clients who achieve the best results in a sale are the ones who started preparing for a sale long before they decided to sell.”

How can a business owner plan around the unforeseeable? First, and this is critical, run your business like it’s always for sale. If you are managing the business this way, when something comes out of left field at least the business is positioned for a sale that will give you the best opportunity to maximize the value, minimize the time needed to complete the sale and minimize the stress on you and your family.

Let’s assume you are not ready to sell but you are ready to put together an exit strategy. What’s involved? There are a number of things to consider. We can review your business with you and make recommendations about changes that can increase the net value to you when you are ready to sell.

Areas for our review:

Corporate structure, buy sell agreements, tax issues, customer concentration issues, supplier issues, key managers, intellectual property protection and many other areas. Once we have identified these areas for value enhancement you can begin the process of positioning your business for a very profitable and low stress sale….. whenever that might be. And it may be sooner than you think.

Once we have the pieces of value enhancement identified we can assess the best potential buyer types. Is your company a better fit for a strategic buyer or a Private Equity Group buyer?

After we’ve determined a market value for your business we can work with your accountant, financial planner and estate attorney to work out the best, most efficient structure to maximize the value you receive while minimizing the tax burdens that can be painful if not prepared for in advance.

The bottom-line, now is the time to start working on an Exit Strategy, don’t wait for the unexpected….it’s called unexpected for a reason. We’re ready to help get you started.

There are often many, many variables that a business owner has to consider.

Business owners often tell us that “everything” is for sale and if the buyer shows up with the right amount of money then the seller is ready to take the money and run. This is one of those things that is often said but rarely true.

Once the business owner begins serious discussions regarding the sale of their business the items with emotional importance begin to show themselves and the good business seller tries to do what’s right for themselves, their employees and their company.

The business sale process is very complicated and very, very specialized. A business owner who wants to consider a sale needs to have expert assistance in the process. There are many legal, tax, accounting, insurance and human resource issues that have technical characteristics that unless handled properly could shift significant risks to a seller in a transaction. Because the process is so complex and the mistakes so expensive, it is a good idea to have the sale process lead by one of our experienced M&A Advisors.

Before going on the market with the business we’ll spend a lot of time with business owners trying to help them understand all the moving parts in the business sales process. It’s important that the seller comes to terms with these options and requirements so that any potential buyer has a clear understanding of the boundaries of a potential deal.

Different types of buyers will want to operate your business differently after the sale. Understanding how different buyers view the future of your business can be a critical piece of a good transaction. It is a good idea for a business owner to sit down with us to discuss all the likely outcomes for a transaction and decide which possible scenarios are acceptable or desirable for the seller.  If the business owner understands the business selling process and we understand their priorities the business sale process is more likely to end in a better transaction for everyone.

Our M&A Advisors serve a very important role in the sale of a business. A strong m&a advisor manages the entire process from analyzing your business, determining a value range, identifying potential buyers, managing LOIs, negotiating purchase agreement terms, managing due diligence and closing.

Each one of these transaction stages requires experience and expertise to make certain the business seller gets the best possible combination of price, terms and risk.

When selling a business to a Private Equity Group or a Strategic Buyer, it’s important to keep in mind that these buyers have professional business buyers working for them. The job of these buyer professionals is to make sure the BUYER gets the best possible combination of price, terms and risk. As your ClearView M&A Advisors our job is to get you, the Seller the best possible transaction. Our advisors deal with these professional buyers virtually every day and all throughout the U.S. and around the world. Our knowledge of the market and what other transactions are being completed by buyers allows us to get our clients the best possible deal.

The process of selling a business often takes many months, involves thousands of tasks and thousands of hours in discussions with buyers, attorneys, accountants, financial planners and many others involved in the process. Your ClearView M&A Advisor will carry that burden and perform those tasks on your behalf to assure that you, the business owner, can continue to focus the majority of your time on operating the business. The performance of the business during this sale process is very critical. Faltering results of the business operations can be very, very expensive at the closing table.

Our ClearView M&A Advisors can guide you through the process with a minimum of distraction and maximum benefit to you, your employees and your company.