Advice on Selling a Business - Establishing Owner Needs

Determining the needs of the business owner/s is the first task which we as business brokers will complete as part of the process of selling a business: 

• What is the owner's personal exit strategy? Does he wish to leave immediately after the handover or would he prefer to stay on - perhaps on a part-time, consultancy basis?
• What is he going to do after the sale to fill his time? What are the implications for other members of the owner's family?
• How much cash does the owner need to realise out of the sale to fulfil his needs? What kind of deferred consideration arrangement can he accept?

Answering this last question may require a detailed analysis of the owner's pensions, investment portfolios etc. and/or his tax position which is beyond the scope of our expertise. We can, however, recommend advisers to carry out this work in conjunction with us. If we do not believe that the sale of the business is likely to yield what is required to fulfil the owner's needs we will tell him. It is better to delay the sale than embark on the process on a false premise. 

Quote from History: ‘The end of labour is to gain leisure.' Aristotle (384-322 BC)

In summary, when Anderson Shaw is engaged as the business broker, selling a business, we always start by establishing the owner's needs. By doing so, we ensure the owner has fully thought through the implications of his exit strategy.