POSITIONING, A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION?

Whether a sale is in the imminent future or not, business owners who run their companies with a “for sale” attitude keep their companies tuned up, generating increased profits and boosting enterprise value.

Fundamentals for positioning your company “for sale” value include:

• Have a plan, align organizational objectives, focus on what creates value, i.e. profitable and reliable.
• Review contracts with customers, suppliers and employees, address all the issues from a buyers’ prospective.
• Shore up accounting systems, profits must be documented; buyers, investors and bankers do not recognize undocumented profits.
• Improve the quality of financial information, highlight key financial metrics and management tools.
• Secure and protect the rights to the company’s intellectual property, future due diligence should not expose hidden weaknesses.
• Delegate responsibility, build the business to run without you, make yourself expendable.

The New Year is an excellent time to review your company’s systems, culture, protocols and personnel.  If you position your business well, you stand to gain enormously from profitable operations or a sale.  With the actual events triggering a sale possibly unknown, owners should always regard the prospect of a sale.