Business

5 Common Mistakes Made When Selling A Business In Edmonton

When selling businesses in Edmonton there are many mistakes that you can end up making that will cost you dearly. When this happens, all your effort and the capital that you spent in the process are wasted and this can be frustrating. When you have created and operated your business for years then the aim is to make sure that you benefit when you decide to sell it. In order to do this here are five common mistakes that you should be wary of and try to avoid:

  1. Not Being Adequately Prepared

Several business owner shave suffered dearly because they failed to do enough preparation for the sale. Before advertising your business for sale in Edmonton you need to do some house cleaning. You will need to fix any issues that the business might be experiencing at the time, whether it is financial or administrative issues. Ensure that your documents are all available and that all the facilities within the business are up and running. Additionally, ensure that your internal operations are running effectively and that you don’t have any issues with the current staff. The better the state of the business is the more value it will have. The planning phase should start a few years before the business goes up for sale, doing a quick sale typically never works out. 

  1. Leaving All the Work Up to Someone Else

Many business owners hire a broker and leave all the work in their hands. However this is one of the biggest mistakes that you can make. The broker does have valuable knowledge of the sales process itself but they will know less about the business than you do. The business sale has to have a personal touch that the owner will be able to provide. You should be in contact with the broker every step of the way to ensure that your needs are being met. You should also speak directly with prospective buyers to give them insights into the business operations so that they can be more optimistic about acquiring your business.

  1. Not Valuating the Business Appropriately

The valuation process can be tricky and so many business owners in Edmonton fail to carry out the process effectively. This results in the business being sold for too much or too little. Selling for too little will lead you to lose big time and asking for too much will lead to difficulties in selling the company. Furthermore, when you sell the business at an unreasonably high price you are setting the new owner up for failure when the returns do not match up. This might lead to the business failing in the short term, which is clearly not fair to the new business owner and will put an end to the many years of hard work that you invested into the business.

  1. Not Screening Your Potential Buyers Adequately

You need to pre-qualify the business owners who express interest in your business. There are many issues that can arise when you fail to do this. Sometimes you do not go through the effort of ensuring that the buyer is suitable and legit and thus rush into the process. In this case, you might find yourself handing over important confidential information to the wrong persons. Before you hand over any information ensure that the buyer provides their qualifications first so that you can move to the next stage. Have a thorough discussion with the prospective buyer and give yourself time to know them before you decide that you want to consider them seriously for the sale.

  1. Not Administering the Transition Adequately

After handing over their business and closing the sale some business owners think that everything is done and this is not necessarily so. The new owner will need support in order to get started. Sometimes buyers will request that you stay with them throughout the first few weeks of them running the business so that they can get acquainted with the process and observe how the operations are done. This will guarantee future success for the business. Many buyers look out for this when they are buying the business as they want to know that they will be offered training or support if needed. If you have a look at the business for sale Edmonton listing on some websites, you will see where a lot of the sellers mention training efforts that they offer for new business owners.

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