It has been said that the sale of a business is usually event driven. Very few owners of businesses, whether small or large, wake up one morning and think, \u201cToday I am going to sell my company.\u201d It is usually a decision made after considerable thought and usually also prompted by some event. Here are a few common \u201cevents\u201d that may prompt the decision to sell:<\/p>\n
Boredom or \u201cBurn-out\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 Many business owners, especially those who started their companies and have spent years building and running them, find that the \u201cbatteries are starting to run low.\u201d<\/p>\n Divorce or Illness<\/strong> \u2013 Both divorce and illness can cause a rapid change in one’s life. Either of these events, or a similar personal tragedy, can prompt a business owner to decide that selling is the best course of action.<\/p>\n Outside Investors<\/strong> \u2013 Outside investors may include family, friends, or just plain outside investors. These outside investors may be putting pressure on the owner\/majority owner in order to recoup their investment.<\/p>\n No Heir Apparent<\/strong> \u2013 In this scenario, no family member has any interest in the business; and the owner has not groomed his or her successor. Unfortunately, in this event the owner often continues to run the business until he is almost forced to sell.<\/p>\n Competition is Around the Corner<\/strong> \u2013 In this scenario, the owner would have been better off selling prior to competition becoming an issue.<\/p>\n A \u201cSurprise\u201d Offer is Received<\/strong> \u2013 This may be about the only reason not truly event driven; an unsolicited offer is presented that is too good to pass up.<\/p>\n Everything is Tied Up in the Company<\/strong> \u2013 The owner\/ founder sometimes becomes aware that everything he or she has is tied up in the business. In other words, all the eggs are in one basket.<\/p>\n Should Have Sold Sooner<\/strong> \u2013 Owning a small to midsize company (or even a large one) is not without its risks. A large customer goes under, suppliers decide to increase their prices, trends change, business conditions change, etc.<\/p>\n Surveys indicate that many small company owners do not have an exit strategy; so, when an event does strike, they are not prepared. Developing an exit strategy doesn’t mean the owner has to use it. What it does mean is that a strategy is ready when the owner needs it.<\/p>\n A professional intermediary can supply a business owner the real world information necessary not only to develop a plan, but also to know how to implement the plan when it becomes necessary.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Copyright 2015 Business Brokerage Press, Inc.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Photo Credit: luanarodriquez<\/a> via morgueFile<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It has been said that the sale of a business is usually event driven. Very few owners of businesses, whether small or large, wake up one morning and think, \u201cToday I am going to sell my company.\u201d It is usually a decision made after considerable thought and usually also prompted by some event. Here are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560707,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-560706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seller-articles"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbmadison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbmadison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbmadison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbmadison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbmadison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbmadison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbmadison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbmadison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbmadison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbmadison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}