Hire a Service Business Intermediary to Sell Your Professional Business Quickly
A service business intermediary can help sell your professional service company in California quickly.
Selling a service business can be daunting, especially if a business owner decides to go all the way alone. It involves tackling many things right from preparing to sell, initiating the selling process, and closing the deal.
Remember, you still need to do what you do best-run your business. So why go the hard way when a professional service business intermediary can help with the planning and selling process?
Are you a professional services business owner in California looking to sell your service business for top dollar? Here’s why you should hire a business intermediary.
Why Hire a Business Intermediary?
A business broker assists entrepreneurs in valuing their businesses. They also help take them to the market and find the right qualified buyer to pay the highest value to acquire the company.
A service business intermediary doesn’t stop at that. They assist in all the steps involved in preparing the company for sale.
Some of the most vital roles of business brokers are:
- Working with business owners, company accountants, and CPAs to help value the business and sell it the right way.
- They help with promoting the business to qualified buyers.
- They save entrepreneurs the hassle of contacting buyers and negotiating the sale.
- They ensure the business sticks to an exit plan and that all the framework is secure.
- To ensure the smooth proceeding of the sale transaction.
How the Business Broker Can Add Value
Before you can put your service business for sale, you need some preparation. That’s because it’s not an overnight process but something that may take several months.
After preparation, you then put the business for sale and close the deal. In all these stages, an intermediary adds significant value to the process.
As you lay down your exit plan framework, a broker works hand in hand with you to manage the following steps in the sale of the company:
- Valuing the service firm.
- Assisting with documentation.
- Contacting potential buyers.
- Conducting interviews.
- Selecting motivated buyers who qualify.
- Due diligence.
- Negotiations.
- Obtaining finance.
- Assisting with the transfer of ownership process.
How Can I Sell My Service Business Quickly?
You want to sell your professional service business as quickly as possible and at the highest price.
With the help of a business broker or intermediary, you can speed up the sale process. However, it calls for a proper plan.
The following tips will help you close the deal quicker.
Read more: How to sell a business quickly
Have Accounting Records Accessible
Have a set of accounting records with you to make it easy for potential qualified buyers in California to estimate the business value. This should include updated records complying with accounting standards, budgets, cash flow forecasts, and business plans.
Industry analysis and benchmarks also go a long way in helping speed up the process.
Document All Your Business Operations
Your business professional service business operations include a procedure manual, third-party service providers’ contracts, employee agreements, organization chart, and automated processes.
With a clear picture of how the business operates, buyers can easily plan its operation upon acquisition, so they will likely buy it.
A Marketing Plan Is Key
A marketing plan is a document every buyer would be interested in.
It shows how you survive competition, what distinguishes you from your competitors, how you generate leads, increase brand awareness, and attract prospects. It makes a qualified buyer confident the plan will work with them too.
Hire a Reputable Business Brokerage Firm
We’ve just highlighted how vital an intermediary is in the sale of a service business quickly. Engaging one can only speed up the process.
Seek the Right Qualified Buyers
Have your business broker draft plans that target prospective buyers. These include CEOs of competing companies, retired executives, or any other private firm interested in the industry.
Done right, this may result in selling faster than you ever expected
Be Available
Often, sale transactions take a long time because one of the parties isn’t collaborating enough.
For the transition to be effective, smooth, and quick, work with all stakeholders during the after-sale process. By doing so, you make the takeover easy for everyone, and in case of any concerns, you’re available to address them accordingly.
Increase the Chance to Get Acquired by a Bigger Company
To maximize the chances of a bigger company acquiring you, prepare well in advance. Here are some highly beneficial tips on how to get acquired.
Market Your Service Business
The acquirer is not only interested in your product/service but the business itself too. They want to know that they’re acquiring a business that will add value to their company.
Otherwise, your service business may be great, but you have not done enough to portray it as a business that’s going places.
Explore Product/Service Synergies
With the help of your business intermediary, you can explore and test potential product partnerships on prospective acquirers before considering selling your professional service business.
If the partnership with a bigger company works, the acquisition will be better and more valuable than selling.
Have the Right Business Broker
One of the best brokers to include in your advisory board is a California-certified business intermediary. By involving a broker and other influential and senior people who have little stake in your company, finding a bigger company to acquire you may be easy.
Great relationships can be that secret card you need to pull and leverage with potential acquirers.
Final Take – Hire a Service Business Intermediary
Selling a professional service business in California involves several steps. To guarantee a smooth sale process, hiring a certified business broker or intermediary is a great idea.
As mentioned, these professionals can be vital valuable in ensuring you do everything correctly without missing a single crucial step.
An intermediary also helps save time and money while ensuring your business gets into safe hands after exit. Send your questions to Andrew Rogerson, certified business intermediary serving Sacramento and all of California.
Go to the next article: Part of tips to sell a company in the professional services business in California series ->
