Selling a business can be an exciting and financially rewarding experience. As a business owner, you must be prepared and follow specific steps to make sure that the sale process runs smoothly.

Buyers will want to view your financial records detailing liabilities and assets as well as tax return from the past three to four years. These documents will help buyers to better understand the profitability of your https://localdataroom.com/selling-a-business-with-a-virtual-data-room-and-its-productivity company and its potential value. Having these documents ready can help speed up the process. Create a list of equipment to be sold along with the business, as well as any agreements or contracts. This will give potential buyers an overview of the company before they make an offer.

You should also assemble an inventory of potential buyers. This could include local competitors as well as companies in your field seeking to expand or enter your market, and even companies that are seeking to purchase your business to reduce costs. Once you have an inventory of potential buyers, you can move forward with the sale. Before you disclose any information to buyers, you must have them sign nondisclosure or confidentiality agreements.

Depending on the circumstances you may decide to remain as a part of the company following the sale or transition into an advisory role. Consult your financial and legal advisors to determine the best option. This could involve vendor financing such as an earn-out, a phased transfer of ownership to long-time employees.