how does a business sale affect me the owner?

The purpose of Stage 1 was to assess the underlying financial performance and therefore potential value (aka The Number) of the business, if you decided to sell.

This is important information but there is much more to it.  This stage is about you The Owner.

Most of you will only ever own one business.

Most of you won't have sold a business before.

Many of you will be unsure about where to go for the expert advice you need.

There is a lot involved in planning a sale and only one chance to get it right.

We understand that when you start to think about ‘’getting out’’ there a mixed emotions and a lot of anxiety and uncertainty.

Many questions will surface.

• Is ‘The Number’ sufficient?
• Do I actually want to sell, even if the number is ok?
• Do I want to sell even though the number is not ok?
• Can I put my head down and improve the number?
• Do I just want to keep running my business and forget about ever selling?
• What would I do if I didn’t have the business to keep me occupied? 
• Are there buyers I wouldn’t want to sell to?
• How will this affect my customer and staff? Does it actually matter how they feel?
• Are there other options to selling?

In this frame of mind it’s easy to make bad, knee-jerk decisions.

The better way forward is to identify, analyse and compare all the possible options before making a major decision. You won’t get that from a lot of business sale advisers simple because they aren’t incented to. They get paid when the business sells and their typical approach is to get the business onto the market quickly to see if there are any buyers. 

VSD is designed to help you understand and evaluate all viable options, and how they will impact you and the business.   

We conclude with a confidential 45 minute personal phone call to discuss the Stage 1 Report and any other questions or uncertainties you have. 

It’s all about owners getting clarity from asking questions that often they thought were too ‘personal’ and therefore not relevant to ‘the business’.  

Because we aren't trying to lock you in to selling the business our independent and expert advice will help you make a much better decision on;

• whether you should sell
• when you should sell
• when not to sell (if the offer isn't enough or the sale terms are too risky)
• whether you can realistically explore other options (aside from selling) e.g. could you sell a part of the business, could you 'shrink' the business to make it less complex, could you put a manager in
• how to go about increasing business value and future sellability 

Armed with the greater understanding gained through Stages 1 & 2, the options presented in Stage 3 will make a lot more sense.

You’ll be clearer in what you want to do and more confident when making your decision.