At Prospect Estates we understand that knowing where to start when retiring or planning your exit strategy can feel a bit impossible. If you’ve not done something before then how can you expect to know how to do it? To help you get to grips with what selling a business actually looks like, here’s our snapshot guide to selling.
Find out how we help and guide you through the process here.
Also, you might be interested in the range of services we offer and the sectors we specialise in.
Know what you’ve got and decide what you want
- You need to work out if selling is financial viable and if it will actually get you to where you want to be from a personal perspective.
- Get a valuation, don’t just guess based on your accounts and what your friend said. The achievable valuation at the beginning of the process is what will decide how much cash you leverage on your exit. Get a free business valuation here.
- Based on your personal circumstances and the chape of your business, you need to work out what the ideal buyer looks like, money to one side, focus on the fit.
Find your buyer
- Going cap in hand to the corporate in your area isn’t the best way of finding the right fit and getting the best price. Take time to meet with a small handful of buyers and compare and contrast along the way. It’s not an open house but you need to see what the market has to offer to get the optimal results.
- An experienced broker who understands the whole of market, is the best route to finding the right fit. Why try and go it alone if you can get an expert onboard at no cost? That’s right, we don’t charge sellers a penny.
- Pick the fit and shake hands
- First decide, money to one side, on the best home for your business based on the buyers that you’ve met with.
- Assuming the interest is mutual, the buyer will make an indicative offer, subject to due diligence and contracts.
- Shake hands and get your chips of the table before the buyer loses interest. A pro-active, genuine, buyer will more than often have multiple options at any given time so take the opportunity to agree a deal as soon as it’s there, provided the number is right of course!
Heads of terms
- Heads of terms (HOTs) is a crucial part of the process. A non-legally binding account of the ins and outs of the agreed deal.
- It is the buyer’s responsibility to provide the HOTs and something that we provide bespoke to every deal, to the buyer, at no extra cost. This way we can make sure that there are no mysterious clauses that work there way in and that everyone gets a fair and impartial account of the deal.
- We’ll walk you through the HOTs to make sure you are assured and happy that you understand the basis of the deal and what the agreement means.
Due diligence (DD)
- The buyer will want to lift up the bonnet; let them.
- We’ll share with you a DD checklist so that you can start preparing and get ahead of the process. DD isn’t something to panic about, the buyer wants to buy your business, they’re just doing a health check.
- DD works both ways so get some advice from an acquisitions expert as to what to look for in your buyer, make sure you don’t have any doubts before you go into the legal stage of the process.
Business purchase agreement
- The buyer’s solicitor will produce the purchase agreement in keeping with the heads of terms, essential a legally binding account of the deal with protections for both parties.
- You need your own solicitor. We have our own panel of partner law firms that are highly experienced in our sectors, so we’ll introduce you to someone who can protect your interests and your money.
Completion
- Sign on the dotted line and receive your payment.
- You will have completion documents to prepare which your solicitor will help you with.
- Focus on the handover of your business to the buyer, re-assure your staff and customers and make sure that it’s a smooth transition.
Enjoy your newfound free time and the pay cheque!
We don’t charge the vendor anything throughout the process, so if you feel you would benefit from having a seasoned veteran to guide you from start to finish and take away the stress and hassle of selling your business please get in touch below.
