Thoughtful exit planning is critical to successfully selling your business. But as you move closer to the world of M&A, you might neglect a core component of exit planning: emotional preparedness. The art of making a deal is as much art as science, and as much emotion as nitty gritty logistics. So are you really ready to sell a business? Here’s what you need to consider.

Why Emotional Preparedness Matters

Being emotionally prepared to sell your company is one of the most important first steps toward taking the plunge. If you’re not ready, you may:

• Unintentionally sabotage the sale.
• Have unrealistic value expectations.
• Struggle to plan for retirement, or whatever comes next.
• Lack the ability to focus on due diligence.
• Fail to prepare your team to sell the company.
• Neglect key aspects of the sale, causing it to fall apart.
• Behave unreasonably with the buyer, causing them to walk away.

Are oyu Really Ready to Sell?

So how do you know you’re ready to sell? If you’re selling under pressure, that’s a bad sign. Sometimes owners have to walk away even when they don’t want to, but if there is any other option, it may be better to wait.

Try asking yourself the following questions. If you can answer in the affirmative to all or most, you’re probably ready to move toward M&A:

• Do you trust your employees and managers to run the company in your absence?
• Can oyu walk away from your company, even if the buyer doesn’t run things exactly as you hope?
• Do you have a plan for the future?
• Have you consulted with a retirement planner or wealth management expert?
• Do you have a good idea of how much your company is worth?
• Are you working with an expert business broker?
• Do you have a clear exit plan?
• Are your books in order, and are you ready to respond promptly to due diligence requests?

Getting Emotionally Ready

If you’re not emotionally ready to sell your business, then no amount of support from a business broker or sell-side advisory team is going to get you there. The right team can, however, play a key role in assessing how prepared you are to sell a business. Some of the benefits include:

• Helping you get realistic about what a deal will demand of you, how long the process will take, and what you’ll need to do to prepare.
• Setting reasonable valuation expectations.
• Working with you to assess your plans for the future, so you can weigh the extent to which selling your business can help fund those plans.
• Supporting you to manage the daily challenges of selling, so the deal can move quickly and efficiently.

If you’re ready to sell, or just want to know what the sale process might look like, we’re here to support you. Give us a call today!