Overcoming adversity when selling a business takes creativity and hard work
Let’s suppose you worked hard for 15, 20, even 30 years to build a nice little business.You supported your family.
You supported local community.
You get to you 60’s and think – well, it is time to plan to hand your business down to an employee or family member – but then they leave the business unexpectedly.
“What now?”, you think.
Maybe you soldier on, and replace them to keep the business growing.
But what if you are devastated by their loss, and the business stumbles? Maybe you think – I should just sell the business.
A lot of folks fall into the latter story, and it often ends badly for them – liquidation.
Why?
Because buyers want to buy a growing business, not a declining one.
So if you want to sell for a fair value, you have to choose to grow the business, or at least stabilize it.
This shows that the business can take a hit (a recession, or a pandemic) and recover.
That is when you can sell – because buyers see a growth story. They will not overpay for it – but at least they can see how to finance a deal.
And you get to retire, or move onto your next great adventure.