Exit Planning Advice By Market
Selling an Animal Transport Service
The sale of your animal transport service is the culmination of this stage of your entrepreneurial journey. Although most business owners expect a storybook ending, it will take the careful application of sound selling principles to bring your sale to a successful conclusion.
Most business sellers are interested in disposing of their businesses as quickly as possible. But that's not how an animal transport service sale works.
Too often animal transport service owners cave under the pressure and settle for a lower sales price than they should. Smart sellers know the value of their companies are prepared to identify buyers who are willing to pay top dollar.
Laying the Groundwork
In addition to improving profitability and market share, planning the sale of your business will require you to think about how you will present your company to buyers. In our experience, it pays to solicit the advice of a professional business broker as soon as possible. A good broker will guide you through the preparation stage and make sure you've covered all the bases. Specifically, brokers can advise you about the preparation of financial statements and other documents buyers expect to see in a premium animal transport service opportunity.
Buyer Concessions
Sellers aren't the only ones who can make concessions in a business sale. In many instances, sellers can request buyer concessions. Although this scenario frequently plays out around seller financed deals, it's possible to push for a higher sales price or other form of compensation if you agree to mentor the buyer for a specified period of time. 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.
Working with Appraisers
An experienced appraiser is part and parcel of a successful animal transport service sale. Armed with a professional appraisal, both you and your broker can enter the negotiation stage with confidence. If you're disappointed with the appraiser's estimate of your company's worth, you have the option of seeking a second opinion. However, it's more often the case that you will need to adjust your expectations of your business's value to buyers.
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