Selling a business?
Please fill in the form on the left of this page if you wish us to help sell your businees. Please also read the guidance notes below on how to prepare your business for sale.
Preparing your business for sale
When you start to prepare to sell, you’ll need to gather all the relevant documents you have. Ensuring you have top-line financials from the previous three years of trading, as well as an adjusted balance sheet, will help your business broker to make an informed valuation of your business. If you don’t have these documents yourself, they should be easily produced by your accountant. The valuation will be based on how much value the broker sees in the business, and how much profit is available to potential buyers.
Business appraisal and valuation meeting
Once you’ve gathered the financials of the business, the next step is to meet with our business transfer agents for a free valuation of your business.
Hiring a professional at this stage is crucial, as getting the correct asking price will ensure both a prompt sale and maximum profit for you. Our agents will provide a comprehensive valuation report to demonstrate our commitment to a rational, realistic valuation. You will also receive further advice on sales, marketing, potential buyers and sales strategy.
Marketing your business & meeting interested buyers
Putting your business on the market is an important step, and one that should be handled professionally. This will ensure a careful balance between creating interest with buyers and also avoiding disruption to your business. Should you wish to sell confidentially, you can request a confidential listing to protect your business’ identity.
After your appraisal meeting, your broker will start the marketing. Our professionally-prepared sales material will generate interest in your business and ensure a higher selling price for you.
Depending on your individual needs, we can have your business listed on our and our partners’ sites within hours. Our stringent confidentiality and buyer screening procedures mean only suitable buyers are contacted.
Once your business has been marketed, you will start to receive enquiries. At this point, you need to be ready for viewings. Your agent will help you to book these in, and make sure you’re still able to run your business. Viewings are completely booked around your availability, and to your discretion.
Remember that your business will be on show, so make it presentable. Be prepared to answer any questions and have documents to hand. Discuss successes and difficulties. Most of all be honest, because what you view as a difficulty could be an opportunity to an interested buyer.
Negotiation & due diligence
Once you’ve got an interested buyer, the negotiation process will begin. At NEY Commercial your experienced negotiator will negotiate on your behalf to get you the best price possible. Rather than accept the first offer due to the fear of not receiving another one, your negotiator will compare it to other offers for similar businesses and provide a recommendation based on industry intelligence.
Due diligence is the next step. It’s a crucial part of the buying process, and can take the longest. A prospective buyer will want to ensure that the business they’re purchasing is worth the agreed price. In order to commence due diligence, both parties sign a “heads of terms” document. This provides an agreed outline of the sale, and protection if either party pulls out of the deal.
As the seller it’s good practice to assume the buyer will want to see all aspects of your business, and won’t complete unless they do. By preparing everything in advance you’re assisting the buyer and creating a positive relationship by being forthcoming with the information. Good preparation also ensures a swift completion, as no issues are raised which interrupt the deal process.
Some issues that are often overlooked and regularly come up during due diligence are:
- Share capital irregularities
- Poor customer and supplier contract documentation
- Inadequate employment contracts
- Liabilities on leasehold properties.
Closing the sale
Once you’ve negotiated an offer, completed the deal and signed the contract with the buyer, your broker will schedule the sale closing. We recommend a formal handover of the business to introduce the buyer to any stakeholders and employees. This ensures that you can exit completely, minimising future buyer questions down the line.
Once you’ve handed over the business, the only thing left to do is to celebrate the successful sale of your business!