You thought it up. You built it up. Can you really let it go? While you've done your best to never let business be personal, the idea of selling the business you've poured your blood, sweat, and tears into is probably leaving you surprisingly emotional. Even entrepreneurs who have strategically built up businesses specifically to get into position to sell for a profit at a certain stage begin to feel the tug of sentimentality once sale time rolls around. Here are three things to know:
- It's common to feel torn about selling a business you built.
- Those mixed emotions could be the result of the doubt and insecurity you feel about making the wrong moves with a sale. For most business owners, getting help from the right people can help to ease seller anxiety.
- The right time to sell your business is when you're financially and emotionally ready to do it.
While making decisions based purely on emotions isn't smart, the way you feel about selling your business does matter. You need to decide if this is merely a case of sentimentality or a sign that you're not in the right position to sell. Here are some tips for coping when it's time to sell your business.
Recognize the Emotional Journey
For most entrepreneurs, selling your business is the "big moment" you've been waiting for since you started. That's why feeling apprehensive about selling comes as such a surprise. This is where understanding that selling a business isn't just a financial transaction becomes important. Selling a business is an emotional experience that challenges you to face your future. Accepting these emotions can help you to manage them better. Take time to plan for your next step in your personal or professional life to begin picturing how you will enjoy your time after the sale. By seeing your purpose beyond your business, you may be able to push past the emotions of fear, reluctance, or nostalgia fostering your uncertainty.
Seek Professional Guidance
The emotions you feel over selling your business could actually be veiling insecurities you have about your plan for selling. It's hard to feel confident about a choice when we aren't sure if all of our financial and legal ducks are in a row. This is where engaging with trusted advisors who can provide objective perspectives and support throughout the process can help.
Advisors can help you to ensure that your legacy is protected. They can also point out advantageous tax and financial strategies to help you maximize your financial standing from the sale beyond just the offer price. At ACRES, our business consultants specialize in helping business owners like you navigate the complex considerations of planning your exit strategy. Part of this guidance includes realizing your business's full potential to maximize your sale options. We also prioritize founder legacies while facilitating smooth transitions.
Evaluate Your Readiness
This is something else that advisors can help you with as you prepare to sell your business. By objectively evaluating both your personal readiness and the readiness of your business, you can see if your business has been properly nurtured for a sale. Have you taken your business as far as you can take it? Have you taken your business as far as you want to take it when you consider the time, energy, and financial commitment needed to bring it to the next step? Ensure that the reasons you're selling align with your long-term goals.
Set Realistic Expectations
Will buyers be lining up to put their names on your business? Knowing the temperature of your industry or niche helps to set realistic expectations for the sale process. Having unrealistic expectations might cause you to pull back from good offers simply because you don't have a benchmark for how much you can realistically expect to get for your business in terms of price and concessions. The first step for establishing expectations is getting a proper valuation done. It's also important to know about the growth outlook for your specific type of business. Like some of the other steps for emotionally and financially preparing to sell your business, this step can be easier to handle with help from an experienced advisor.
Plan for the Future
What will you do after you drive off from the office on the day you sell your business? Surprisingly, few business owners make clear post-sale life plans. Making a concrete plan for your transition can help you to make clear-headed decisions when signing a contract to sell your business. Once you know how you intend to spend your next chapter, you can plan smartly.
Ultimately, doing your due diligence properly when gearing up to sell your business can create peace of mind that contributes to your emotional readiness. When you bring in ACRES to confirm your readiness to sell, you'll get the advantage of knowing that all aspects of your business are organized and transparent for potential buyers. Contact ACRES today to bring some extra business sense to what feels like an emotional decision.
