From Thanksgiving through the New Years Celebration business owners are incredibly busy. For some there is a spike of in store traffic or depending on your business stagnancy to the point of insanity. But for you boomers out there or those owners thinking of exiting in the next several years December is the best time to get an exit planning consult executed.
Notoriously a slow time for business sales due to the short weeks and holidays of the professionals involved in the business sale process the holiday season is the perfect time to sit down, reflect on your 2019 performance, do an assessment, get a valuation, and adjust for 2020 and the years ahead. This late it the year there is very little that will sway your business performance trends so it is a great time to call your local business broker and get a sit down.
Here is what I like to see: Your last three years financial performance in tax return or profit and loss format, a copy of your equipment list with an assessment by you on the need for replacement and capital investment go forward, and finally a honest assessment of where you are in your life in terms of retirement, passion for the business, and a listening ear.
You see the numbers will be what the numbers will be but the last part….well that’s the hard stuff. You business sale is important as it relates to your retirement but it by no means should be the fundamental driver of your retirement plan. You need to get going on that front long before you speak with a broker about selling and or exiting your business. But if nothing else the December sit down should give you a “reckoning” of where you are, what your business looks like relative to getting it sold, and how to fix it.
Now in the exit plan meeting you should as a seller have comps shown to you of like sized and a typical businesses and what they sell for and what the terms are. You need to fully understand how your financials should look in order to assure the best outcome and be prepared for some frank feedback from the broker should you books and records not be up to snuff. Much like a doctors appointment…your exit interview is not a time for sugar coating tough truths…it is a time for hard facts and tough love. If you need to change your approach then change.
For more on exit planning I would welcome your call and or your time for a sit down to get you started on your exit. Call 321-287-0349 or visit www.yourfloridabusinessbroker.com