Time is the most expensive currency…and selling your company is a very nuanced and complex process. There are specific disciplined process steps to take when selling your life’s work.

However, there’s no ‘one size fits all’ even for multiple companies in the same industry sector, segment and demographic. I’d rather be lucky than good, and one thing I’ve learned in business is you need to be lucky! What I’ve found is the harder I work, the luckier I get.  So, how do you prepare your business for an exit?

If you build it, they will come

Your business must have sustainability. It must have legs to be sustainable, to be defensible long-term. We believe it begins with your mindset. Chances are you’re obsessed with your business – in many cases, it’s your baby. Avoid losing sight of the little things, the daily things that influence and impact your business. The things you did in the early days that gave you significant results. For some as the decades clicked by, take a breath here and there and assumed ‘we got this.’  Straying away from the disciplined execution and applications that made you successful early on, now  in the later years comes back to bite you in the ass.

When the time comes to sell your business, and you take that same mindset of ‘I got this’ [because I’ve been successful all my life] attitude from building to selling your business, you will fail! You will not get the valuation you expect because instead of focusing on building your business for sustainability, your ego will get in the way, your mindset wanders towards selling it instead. What’s changed now that you’ve read this far – how do you prepare your business for an exit?

The short answer is: Be good and consistent with the fundamentals.

What are those fundamentals? Know where you are! Know what your gross profit is, know what your operating margin is, know what your customer concentration is, know your customer acquisition cost, know your recurring revenue is… know how to deliver your story to an audience with a modicum of sophistication. Certainly, there’s more to add and more to knowing your numbers and where you stand. The point is the being disciplined to act upon the data that’s in front of you. The disciplines driving this month’s, this week’s actions of your team and people. When you loop them into why it’s important, there will be those who step-up and fill in the what-to’s and how-to’s for you. Lead your team, give feedback, communicate more often and solve problems together.

Obviously, you’re good at what you do! What buyers want to know is do you have an attractive opportunity, or have you merely created a lifestyle-in-a-job and without you the operation fails?  What we do is come alongside you and prepare your business to run without you. Understanding what your goals and objectives are when you’re ready to exit. Whether the missing link we guide you through is financial, operational or strategic, we’ve been in your shoes and eaten the same dirt. What we learned was with the proper fundamentals, effective communications,  proven processes and diversifying your customer ecosystem will put you on the path to achieving those lifelong goals whatever they are.

What about balancing the short- and long-term objectives?

There is no such thing as balancing anything in life unless you’re using a scale! Short term gains don’t balance with long-term results! It’s a rhythm. Sometimes the long view is necessary; other times short is best. It depends on the strategy implemented. A seller’s focus must be on what are we doing today that’ll increase enterprise value? Every situation is different and we can offer insight on what’s worked, what didn’t work, and the lessons learned along the way. We are an impartial sounding board providing proven-in-the-field, pragmatic strategies that deliver expected results.

You want answers, and you need to have options and solutions for exit planning. It doesn’t need to be some 30-page bloviated checklist of activities and priorities. Building your business to exit should be embedded with building your business just like you did on Day One. There’s building for growth and building for performance, and the strongest businesses with solid talent can do both. We offer a no obligation, no salesy BS conversation and assessment on where you are and what it takes to get where you want to go.

At JScott Partners, it’s about being a good fit, building a strong relationship with owners like you. Maybe you’re ready, maybe you’re not, maybe we’re a good fit, maybe we’re not, or maybe you’re testing the waters. When it’s time to find out more, or to find a solution for your unique situation, we’re here to have a conversation. Keep your foot on gas and we’ll help you accelerate through the curve and minimize the distractions, so sales don’t dip, margins don’t decrease, and staff doesn’t feel unimportant.