In a perfect world, every entrepreneur would have ample time to prepare their business for sale. It’s a long, often complex process that demands our full attention—and ideally, assistance from professional brokers. After all, there are many factors to consider: Why am I selling? Is the market ideal? Do I have my legal and financial ducks in a row? (And more.)
That being said, there are certainly times when a speedy sale is essential—or unavoidable. Life can change in a moment, and when an urgent situation demands your attention, it helps to know that Transworld’s advisors are here to help facilitate your business’s sale with haste and precision.
Why Sell Quickly?
If you find yourself in a situation that calls for a quick sale, you’re not alone. Our advisors have helped many clients accelerate the process for many, many different reasons.
- A sudden change in personal circumstances. We recently helped an owner sell their business because their partner took a new job out of state, and they were moving. Other reasons for a quick sale may include an unexpected illness or even a death in the family, divorce, and partnership disputes have compelled many of our clients to sell quickly.
- Favorable (or unfavorable) market changes, such as the Federal Reserve planning to hike interest rates approximately 148 times in the next 6 weeks (OK, those numbers aren’t exact)
- New (and potentially profitable) opportunities. Perhaps you’ve found an exciting new venture and need to hand off responsibility—or you need to find more capital quickly.
Time-Consuming Roadblocks
Certain steps need to be taken to protect you and your business with any business sale. With an expedited business sale, these steps are still essential—which is where we come in.
- We find and vet potential buyers. Once your business goes up for sale, you’ll likely receive a flurry of requests for more details. Transworld’s advisors will field these requests and share only the essentials while keeping your business’s important information confidential.
- We prepare your business for sale. While you do the important work of keeping your business running and profitable, we gather the information needed to value and list it—plus important documents regarding your financial obligations, legal obligations, and due diligence.
- We screen negotiations and paperwork. Don’t be taken in by a seemingly perfect buyer. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Our advisors have decades of experience and know what’s normal in a deal, when to accept an offer, and when to die on a particular hill.
Ways to Expedite Your Sale
Having a trustworthy business broker at your side to facilitate a quick sale is the best thing you can do when time is of the essence. However, there are also many steps that entrepreneurs can take themselves to make their businesses attractive and speed up the process.
The most obvious may be to target the most likely buyers. This seems obvious, but many of our clients forget to look in their own backyards. The best buyers for your business could be the people in your industry, old business connections, and maybe even former rivals and competitors. And, if you have a buyer but are concerned about seeing the rest of the process through – we can help there…for a significantly reduced cost.
Conclusion
If you need to sell quickly, you absolutely must have an experienced broker to facilitate the process. Errors can slow you down and waste your time. Remember, a good deal dies when you don’t have the professional guidance needed to navigate the next steps. Don’t get caught without an advisor who knows their way around preparation, negotiation, and closing.
