3 Signs Now Might be the Time to Sell Your Business

This is a collaborative post

When you’re running a business, it’s inevitable that at some point in time, you’ll have to make the tough decision of when it’s time to sell. To help with this difficult question, here is a compiled list of three signs that might indicate it is time for your company to be sold.

#1 Retirement

There are many different reasons why your company may be ready to sell, but one of the most common is that you’re retiring. If this is the case for you and your business, then it’s time to start preparing yourself financially in order to make a smooth transition from work-life to retirement life. 

Selling your company could provide a solution here by helping ease some stress when selling your business. Additionally, if you do not plan on retiring and still want to sell your business, it is important that you make the decision as soon as possible. If you wait too long, then your company will become less desirable because of its age and may be harder to sell in a competitive market.

When considering selling your business, it’s also vital that you take into account all expenses such as legal fees and taxes before deciding what profit percentage offers are reasonable for yourself and who they come from. This way, if an offer comes along that doesn’t meet those terms or expectations, you’ll have already done some research, so there won’t be any surprises later down the road when negotiating with potential buyers.

#2 New business ventures

Another common reason for selling your company is because you want to start new business ventures. It’s important not to confuse this with retirement, as starting a new business can be exciting and thrilling, but it requires much more time than running an already established one. If the market is competitive (which most are these days), finding clients may also prove difficult if you’re just getting started, which could lead some people down the road of overworking themselves to keep their businesses alive. 

If this sounds like something that you’ve considered or would like to do after retiring from work, then perhaps now might be the best opportunity before things get out of hand. This way, by selling your business first, you have money saved up, so when creating your new business, you know exactly what start-up costs will be and how much money it’ll take to get things off the ground.

#3 Debt

It’s important to keep your business debts under control, but if you find that they are starting to spiral out of hand, then it might be time for you to sell a business quickly. This may mean closing up shop temporarily in order to save money until the right buyer comes along who is willing or able to pay off all debt accumulated. 

If this happens, don’t give up on your dreams just yet! Instead, use the opportunity while closed down as a chance to reassess everything from top to bottom, including costs incurred by running the business day-to-day. By doing this, when reopening again with new management, at least there will likely be some sort of plan already in place so expenses can stay low enough not only for survival but to turn a good profit in the future.