Don’t Wait Too Late

“I wish I would have …” It’s a phrase we hear way too often from business owners who come to us to sell their business and discover it doesn’t have the market value they hoped for.

Here’s the Top Ten list of I wish I would haves:

• Kept better financial records.

• Put in place systems so I wasn’t necessary.

• Gotten more testimonials from satisfied customers.

• Tracked my numbers better (sales, conversions, profits)

• Focused more on showing a steady pattern of growth.

• Not let my business decline because I was tired and looking to retire.

• Done more to distinguish my business from my competitors.

• Created a stream of recurring revenue.

• Kept my technology updated.

• Not continued to be the most important person in my business.

Don’t wait too late and find yourself looking back at what you could have been doing to make sure your business had maximum value when you were ready to sell.

Learn from other business owners by taking the time to view your business through the Buyers Glasses. By examining your business from a buyers point of view it’s easy to see that:

• You should be the least important person in your business.

• Your business is more attractive if sales have been increasing for at least three years.

• Documented systems lessen dependence on any one person and provide a proven way of achieving results.

• Clean financial records give buyers confidence they can trust your numbers.

• Buyers love recurring revenue and will pay more for it, and banks will finance it.

• If your business doesn’t stand out from your competitors it won’t stand out to buyers.

• Telling buyers your customers are satisfied has less power than your customers saying it in their own words.

• Numbers speak at high volume to buyers! Quantification of lead generation, lead conversion and operating metrics get buyers attention – especially when they show growth and profit.

Take the time today to begin designing your business for maximum value, and give yourself the option to be a paid volunteer in your business, or sell it when you’re ready…or need to. Start by learning the market value of your business, and dedicating part of your time to build a business of value that’s Ready To Sell When You Are.