What rules should be considered in selling a business?

Question

Has anyone ever sold your business? Rules on what to watch out for?

Answer 1

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I sold a business a couple of years ago. There's a lot of things you should watch out for.

If the valuation of your business is big (ie in the millions of dollars), the buyer might want to pay in stock instead of cash. Never let them do that. Always get paid in cash, because stock can be worthless the next day.

Before selling, you should put your business on growth steroids (meaning cut costs to artificially increase profits). Buyers like businesses with healthy profits.

Another thing you should consider is whether or not your business can be sold. Some businesses are just personal brands in disguise. There's no way you can sell a personal brand.

Source(s): http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/business/smallbu...

Answer 2

Selling a business is serious business, so you want to make sure you take the time and trouble to do it right. Careful preparation and using the professional resources available are the keys to getting as good a price as possible when selling a business - and the keys to seeing your business realistically and setting a fair price for it.

Source(s): http://www.2misi.com/

Answer 3

Here's a whole site devoted to "how-to-sell-a-business" topics:

http://exitadviser.com/how-to-sell-business.aspx

Answer 4

Permit and licensing transferal. Lawyers to check and recheck ALL paperwork. Filing with the state about transfer of ownership.