When starting a new business most owners rarely give any thought to the end of their business journey.

Business owners mostly focus on building and growing a successful business. Growing a robust customer base, employing great staff, and making enough to provide financial security takes precedence.

Although these priorities are important, it’s equally important to have a future plan for the next chapter and the ability to activate this quickly. In addition to retirement, other lifestyle changes including changing careers or serious illness may give you cause to sell your business.

Knowing when to sell your business is an important skill. To help you navigate the process of selling your business or preparing your business for an eventual sale, MEA has created a four-part Selling Your Business series outlining best practices and recommendations.

Thinking about selling your business? Here’s what you need to know

Is your business ready to be sold?

The current state of your business is an important indicator of readiness for sale. This includes how many systems you have in place and how well you can demonstrate the value proposition of your business. If you have established business processes and systems in place it’s a good idea to allow up to 12 months for your business sale to be finalised.

If you have more homework to do, the process could be a two-to-three-year journey. It’s important to get your business systems and processes in a position where you can quantify the business value as soon as possible.

Upgrading your business processes and efficiencies to make it highly attractive for prospective buyers and easier for you to run in the meantime. It is a win-win situation. If you decide not to proceed with the sale of your business, you’ll still have a high functioning business that is attractive to customers.

Decide what is for sale

It’s also important to determine what components of your business will be sold. Establishing exactly what will be sold will help you value your business. You will need to determine:

• Is the business going to be sold outright including all the assets?
• Do you have any assets that you don’t want to sell?
• Do you want to sell your registered business name?
• Are you looking to sell the business’ intellectual property (IP)?
• Do you want to include any property the business might own?

If you are thinking about selling your business and would like initial guidance, Master Electricians can contact the MEA Employer Relations Team on 1300 889 198 to discuss first steps. In article two, we’ll provide an overview about important professional services to engage when selling your business.

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