{"id":4226,"date":"2019-11-22T09:10:26","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T09:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allegrafranchise.com\/?p=4226"},"modified":"2019-11-22T09:10:26","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T09:10:26","slug":"whens-the-best-time-to-sell-your-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/why-allegra\/industry-news\/whens-the-best-time-to-sell-your-business\/","title":{"rendered":"When\u2019s the best time to sell your business?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Those who begin to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel be it their retirement, the pursuit of another business opportunity or simply a desire to step away to do <em>something <\/em>different after umpteen years of ownership often ask themselves: Is there an opportune time to walk away?<\/p>\n<p>The best time to sell your operation occurs when three key factors align: Your company\u2019s prospects are bright. The market conditions are favorable. And you, without a doubt, are ready to move on to the next stage of your life.<\/p>\n<p>Consider all three considerations one by one:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Is your business ready to sell?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Most potential buyers you encounter will be focused on three things. Does your company have a solid book of business? Does it represent good prospects for growth? And, is it valued reasonably?<\/p>\n<p>Sooner or later in the selling process, you\u2019ll have to open your company\u2019s ledgers to show a solid book of business and demonstrate a sustained record of growth.<\/p>\n<p>As for a valuation, there are many who, for a reasonable cost (or no fee at all) will provide a professional business valuation. It assesses a company\u2019s market cap, earnings multipliers, book value and many other factors to determine its value \u2014 often provided on a low, medium or high scale.<\/p>\n<p>In their article, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indinero.com\/blog\/when-is-the-right-time-to-sell-your-business\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">When Is the Right Time to Sell Your Business?,<\/a> inDinero notes that with this valuation in hand, you can better answer these questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What is my business truly worth?<\/li>\n<li>What is my asking price?<\/li>\n<li>Can I justify it?<\/li>\n<li>What changes can I make now to increase the value of the business?<\/li>\n<li>Would my business continue being successful without me?<\/li>\n<li>What do the company\u2019s stakeholders stand to gain and\/or lose from a sale?<\/li>\n<li>Do I have a transition team in place?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. Are market conditions favorable? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Much like the stock market, the mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;A) outlook waxes and wanes in step with overall larger economic forces \u2014 sometimes in your favor, but sometimes not.<\/p>\n<p>Look at your competitors in your industry. paying particular attention to similar-sized companies.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How many have been sold or acquired over the last several years?<\/li>\n<li>How many of them are acquiring smaller companies?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Considering the economy from a larger perspective, in their article inDinero suggests that these factors figure into a favorable time to sell:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A high rate of recent transactions closed<\/li>\n<li>High recent purchase-price multiples<\/li>\n<li>Higher-than-average strategic buyer activity<\/li>\n<li>Low taxes<\/li>\n<li>Low interest rates<\/li>\n<li>A strong economy<\/li>\n<li>Inexpensive debt financing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. Are <u>you<\/u> ready to make an exit? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As inDinero\u2019s article notes, \u201cUltimately, the success of your business sale rests on you \u2014 your actions, expectations and ability to endure the admittedly challenging M&amp;A process. Before you start approaching buyers, be sure to make time for self-reflection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s a matter of career burn-out, you might first try a vacation to test your resolve. Some return from a break rested, refreshed and ready to reapply themselves to their business. Others come back with the certainty that it\u2019s time to move on.<\/p>\n<p>The other major factor when considering selling your company is your life stage. No one (realistically) plans to operate a business forever. So, look at yourself closely as you examine the considerations noted above. Are you ahead of schedule in terms of moving on? Behind schedule? Right on time?<\/p>\n<p>Per inDinero, \u201cDepending on your age and cost of living, the decision to sell could precipitate your retirement, provide you with enough money to take a well-deserved vacation, or launch you straight into your next venture.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Those who begin to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel be it their retirement, the pursuit of another business opportunity or simply a desire to step away to do something different after umpteen years of ownership often ask themselves: Is there an opportune time to walk away? The best time to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-selling-your-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.allegramarketingprint.com\/franchise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}