Business Exits By Industry
Selling a Cleaning Services Business
Don't believe anyone who tells you it's easy to sell a cleaning services business. A lot of things need to happen before you can successfully exit your business. We'll tell you how to thrive in the middle of it and get top dollar for your company.
Personal and professional concerns surround the sale of a cleaning services business. In our experience, a common owner concern is how the sale will affect customers and employees.
At Gaebler, we think that's a mistake because with adequate preparation and the right sale strategy, this might be the best time to put your cleaning services business on the market.
Tips for Working with A Business Broker
Brokerage is a mainstay of the business-for-sale marketplace. Brokerage is particularly common in the cleaning services business-for-sale market, where aggressive selling strategies are the norm. However, your broker will still expect you to materially participate in the sale of your business. Successfully brokered sales are based on solid relationships between brokers and sellers as well as the strict execution of a common selling strategy.
Timing the Market
Now may be the best time to sell a cleaning services business. A depressed economy means lower interest rates; lower interest rates increase the number of investors willing to take a chance on cleaning services businesses. When the economy recovers there will be more cleaning services business buyers on the market, but higher interest rates could present challenges. So we see market timing as a concern that can be easily mitigated by applying fundamental sales strategies and adequately preparing your company for buyers.
Business Valuation
Professional appraisers can use three methods to determine the value ofa cleaning services business: The income method, the asset method and the market method. Appraisals based on the asset method gauge value as a factor of the company's real property and non-tangible assets; appraisals based on the income method consider the business's anticipated revenue. In many sales, the most accurate valuation comes from the market method which determines value based on the recent sales of similar businesses. As a safeguard, consider conducting appraisals using variations of multiple appraisal methods. To drive up your sale price, position your cleaning services business by improving variables like assets, revenue and profitability during the years leading up to a sale.
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