Complete Guide To Selling Your Business

Search the UK's Largest Businesses for Sale Marketplace

1.Taking The Decision To Sell

Identify key reasons why a buyer should be interested in your business.

Deciding to let go of your business is often very emotional from building such attachment to the business. Some of the most popular reasons to sell:

Capitalisation
Reaping to the dividends for many years of hard working by capitalising.

Health Issues
The owner may be in ill health and need to sell the reason on health grounds.

Limited Potential
Not seeing potential or seeing poor performance are likely reasons to sell.

New Project
Entrepreneurs may wish to move on and have another project in mind.

No Longer Enjoyable
Some owners may not enjoy operating the business anymore.

Personal Debt
Successful businesses can be sold to pay off owner’s personal debts.

Work/Life Balance
Business owner's may wish to sell their business in-order to maintain a healthier balance of work and life, or even consider retirement

2. External Help

You will need help from the following

Business owners won’t have the legal/accounting experience of selling a business. To ensure a smooth and safe transaction happens, the following team members will be required :

Accountant

A complicated process of the sale is the accounting. An accountant will be able to help with this aspect of the sale.

Solicitor

The legal aspect is something we usually do not specialise in. A Solicitor will be able to help with this legal side of the business.

Banking/Financer

If the business is not being bought in cash, a banker or financer will be required in negotiations.

Tax Advisor

A tax advisor is recommended for advice on sale tax matters.

3. Valuation

Find out the value of your business

The valuation of the business is extremely important. A valuation must be realistic as ultimately this is what the buyer will be paying for your business for sale.

Valuation Principle

NET ASSETS + GOODWILL = SALE PRICE.

E.g. Net assets in balance sheet £100,000 + Goodwill £200,000 = Sale price £300,000

NET ASSETS

Net assets can be found in the balance sheet.

Fixtures and fittings include:

- Paintings
- Ovens
- Tv equipment

Plant and equipment include:

- Cooker
- Printer

Stock includes the valuation of stock

GOODWILL

The level of profitability is a key factor in determining the goodwill element. If you consider your revenue in the goodwill, this tends to be just vanity. For the goodwill - profitability matters most.

4. Preparations made by yourself

Get documents and assets ready

There are a few areas in which a business will need to prepare for a sale. What exactly is required will vary from business to business and the sector operated in. We recommend you to create a checklist of the following:

Accounts
With your accountant, ensure all accounts are fully prepared and up to date.

Asset disposal
For any assets no longer needed, dispose of this so that the buyer is provided with assets that are important to the business.

Account archive
Having a minimum of 3-years of annual accounts available will give credibility to your business sale.

Assets list
A list of all assets with a valuation to each asset (use Microsoft Excel to produce a spreadsheet with the help of an accountant).

Banking
Bank accounts, bank addresses, bank contacts, statements, etc.

Commercial agreements
Copies of any commercial agreements such as a:
- Supplier agreements
- Maintenance agreements

Employee information
List contracts and package information (e.g. pensions) included in the employee contracts.

Insurance policies
Include any details of active insurance policies including the insurer’s benefits and terms dates.

Intellectual property rights
Details of copyrights, patents, registered designs, and trademarks should definitely be included in the sale of the business and stated in the sale.

License information
Such as software use and waste information and waste disposal.

Limited company formation
Companies house documents such as a certificate of formation, memorandum of association. Name & address information - shareholders, members, directors, and company secretary.

Property documentation
Rent information, rates, copies of leases or freehold ownership.

Reasons for the sale/profit
Develop acceptable reasons for the sale of the business and the increase/decrease of profits. Buyers will want to know.

5. Marketing and Selling Points

It's time to find your buyer in the fastest and most cost-effective way.

Once all stages are complete (steps 1, 2, 3 and 4), its time to market your business for sale on the UK’s Largest Business For Sale. It is important to get the best coverage for your advert while using a cost-effective package to sell your business for sale. Selling with Rightbiz comes with the greatest benefits:

- Expert Selling Support from Rightbiz Selling Team
- Trusted by over 400+ of the UK’s Largest Agents
- No commission & no hidden fees
- Best Value On The Internet
- 1000's of Successful Sales

Create My Advert Now »

When describing your business for sale on a Rightbiz advert, use the most powerful selling points:

Customer base
Describe your steady income, coming from repeat customers.

Existing interest
Showing that you have an existing interest will give buyers the impression that this business will sell relatively quickly.

High Potential
Describing the full potential of the business is important. Giving the buyer ideas on where to take the business next.

Exclusivity
Describe the exclusivity of the business’ features. Describe what features this business has that other competitors do not.

Trading history
Explain the history of this business to give the buyer an idea of what the business can achieve.

Extensive information
Display great photos and extensive information on what is included in the sale of the business.

6. Finding the ideal buyer and selling

Sell to the right person

Qualifiying potential buyers - Once your advert is on the market and is live on Rightbiz, sit back and let Rightbiz do the rest of the hard work. Now its time to guide you in finding your ideal buyer. There is no point selling to a buyer who cannot finish the sale with you. So qualifying potential buyers is very important so that time and fees are not wasted.

Confirm timescales of the sale
It's important to confirm with the buyer the timescales for completion of the sale.

Previous experience
It's a positive if a buyer has previous experience of the business.

Reasons for buying
Understanding the buyer’s reasons for buying the business can add confidence.

Verifying available finance
Easily avoid a lot of wasted and legal fees by first verifying if the buyer has appropriate funds to buy the business from you.

7. Negotiate and Sold!

Terms and negotiations - once you have qualified the buyer and are happy to sell to them, it’s now time to get into the nitty-gritty, and negotiate the terms, here are some factors to consider:

Financing
The transition of the business is not over once the terms have been agreed to. It’s about how quickly payments are received:

Cash upfront - this is the best and maximises the benefit of the deal for the seller and has the least complications.

Staged payments - You can set up staged payments with the buyer and your solicitor.

Legal aspect of the sale
Ensure with your solicitor that all terms of the sale are legally binding and in writing.

It’s ok to walk away!
If the buyer cannot agree to the terms, always remember that another deal will come through so don’t rush!

Sale price
The sale price will largely, reflect how successful a sale is.

Learn more about the UK's Largest Business Marketplace

With unwanted fees, complicated contracts, and unnecessary commissions from agents, Rightbiz was born in 2006 to offer business owners a fast but powerful way of selling their business. Rightbiz has come to offer simple yet powerful tools - bundled in the most cost effective package. On top of that, our trusted teams eagerly work with sellers to overcome the biggest problems in selling a business, all in-order to get connected to the ideal buyer they’re looking for.

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A Complete Guide To Selling Your Business

A Complete Guide To
Selling Your Business

1.Taking The Decision To Sell

2. External Help

3. Valuation

4. Preparations made by yourself

5. Marketing and Selling Points

6. Finding the ideal buyer and selling

7. Negotiate and Sold!

Rightbiz wishes you an amazing smoothe selling process!

Learn more about the UK's Largest Business Marketplace

Buy Business

Sell Business

Wanted Advert

Brokers

Company

Support

A Complete Guide To Selling Your Business

A Complete Guide ToSelling Your Business

1.Taking The Decision To Sell

2. External Help

3. Valuation

4. Preparations made by yourself

5. Marketing and Selling Points

6. Finding the ideal buyer and selling

7. Negotiate and Sold!

Rightbiz wishes you an amazing smoothe selling process!

Learn more about the UK's Largest Business Marketplace

Buy Business

Sell Business

Wanted Advert

Brokers

Company

Support

A Complete Guide To
Selling Your Business