How to exit a business

Essential Selling Tips

Strong Financial Prospects

Not only your business needs to provide positive income but it also should warrant a level of confidence in future earnings.

Independent Business Model

Understand that the business needs to continue to operate without you. Make sure your business is transferrable.

A Marketable Brand

A strong brand helps buyers and customers build trust. Get more positive customer and employee reviews to facilitate the transaction process.

Clean Financial Records

Your company’s financials record and bookkeeping process must be understandable and reasonable. Preferably you should have 2-3 years of clean financial records before your exit.

A Verifiable Valuation

A verifiable valuation is prepared by a qualified person. Your asking price must be reasonable and fair using industry valuation benchmarks as well as income and asset valuation methods.

Market Exposure

Having prominent and accurate marketing channels is imperative for a successful exit. Also make sure your business is on the market for a reasonable period. Data has shown a typical exit would take at least 6 months.

Commercial Goodwill

Commercial goodwill is the value gap between your fair value and your asset value. The value that is generated by recognizable product brand, positive features of your premise, contractual and other legal rights etc.

Strong P2P, R2R, P2P

Make sure your business has a solid financial process and system in place. How efficient are you in providing quotes, ordering inventory and paying the vendors? Do you have a standard procedure to record and receive payments?

Qualified Professional Help

Make sure your financials are up to date. Do you have well-documented operating and financial data? Are your external financial statements well prepared by qualified professionals? Do you need a M&A advior to help you source and qualified buyer leads?

Steps to Exiting Your Business

Plan, Market, Execute

Plan for the Exit

Get your business ready for the exit. The more you prepare your business for sale the more you can control your exit value. Investor Exit planning requires some fundamental changes of your business. First you must understand where it is currently standing within the market place. Then you must improve your financial accounts so that your financial statements and reporting make sense. Finally you should get a valuation of your business and learn about key drivers and parameters that can improve your exit value

Market Your Business

Market your business takes time. Our data shows that it takes about 6 months to sell a business on average. Provide as much information as you can to help you buyers make the acquisition. Provide them sufficient qualitative information about your business. How many hours do you work? How many employees do you have? What kind of challenges do you have? What are the ‘must have’ for the buyers? Your listing profile should be succinct and visual. Better, prepare a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) for your serious and qualified buyers so that you can quickly move on to the negotiation phase.

Negotiate & Execute

Once you receive an offer, you can negotiate on the price and terms. There is no best offer, only best execution. Prepare to let your buyer conduct due diligence during and after the negotiation phase. Most deals fall apart because of the broken trust as a result of the wide gap from the marketing and true version of the business. If you prepared and market the business as is, you will be fine. It is understandable that there is some unaware issues but misrepresentation is very difficult to overcome. At last, make sure you have qualified accountants and lawyers for your transaction.

What kind of seller are you?

We have solutions for different sellers

Small Business

List your business in 15 minutes. Get a free estimate for your asking price. No feedback? We will step in and provide free consulting.

Franchisor

Market and find your next franchisee today. Provide your franchise terms and agreements. We help you market and generate leads.

Medium-size Business

Create a confidential M&A listing and attract buyers with your unique resources. We help you generate industry buyer interests.

Seller Q&A about EXITMA.com

Can you validate my asking price?

Yes. Please click here and provide your listing name. We will contact you and review some financial information and suggest a reasonable asking price.

Can you make me a business presentation?

Yes, please inquire about additional marketing support through My Dashboard. Please note this service is only available for customers with an active listing.

How come I can’t see my inquiries?

If you listed your business under the Free Listing, buyer information is not shown. You can upgrade your account to a paid listing to uncover buyer inquiries.

What’s the difference between a paid and a free listing?

Free and paid listings are the same except buyer inquiries are not shown under a free listing. After the user upgrade the one of the three paid listing subscriptions the inquiries will be available immediately.

How long can I list it for?

You can list it for one month, 3 months, or 6 months. We recommend to list it for 6 months as data shows that most businesses take 6 months to sell.

I have questions. Where do I get professional advice?

You can send us an inquiry through My Dashboard. We will find a verified professional within our EXIT M&A network to connect with you.

How do I end my listing?

If your business is sold or if you simply wish to remove the listing before your listing expires, you can contact us through My Profile.

How much does it cost?

There are three types of subscriptions. One-month subscription for $150, three-month subscriptions for $325, and 6-month subscriptions for $468.

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