Optimizing Business Exits

Selling a Religious Education School

There are few things as intimidating as selling a business in a sluggish economy. Fortunately, a religious education school sale isn't as scary as it seems.

You won't find any magic formulas for selling a religious education school, especially while the market is struggling to overcome the perceptions created by a down economy.

Most religious education schools are good business opportunities, a fact that is not going unnoticed by today's discerning buyers.

Working with Appraisers

An experienced appraiser is part and parcel of a successful religious education school sale. Leading industry appraisers equip sellers with a value gauge that can be accessed during negotiations. Following the appraisal, you may choose to delay your sale until you can increase the value of assets and revenue.

Buyer Concessions

Most religious education school sellers realize they will need to offer concessions to sell their businesses. But for every concession you grant, there may be an opportunity to obtain a concession from the buyer. For example, if the buyer needs seller financing, you can leverage a five-year loan to push for a higher sales price. Although you won't see all of the proceeds upfront, you'll earn interest on the balance and realize a higher price than you would in an all cash deal. Asset exclusions, retained ownership shares and long-term contracts with another of the seller's companies can also be leveraged to extract concessions from buyers.

Setting the Stage

Effective religious education school preparation focuses on communicating value to prospective buyers. Professional business brokers understand buyers and know how to properly communicate a religious education school to the marketplace. Specifically, brokers can advise you about the preparation of financial statements and other documents buyers expect to see in a premium religious education school opportunity.

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