Selling a Business Advice
Selling an Individual Counseling Business
A lot can go wrong during the sale of an individual counseling business these days. More than ever before, it's important for sellers to know the tactics and techniques that are being used to maximize sales price and achieve desired sale outcomes.
With planning and patience, most individual counseling businesses can be sold for a fair price in the current business-for-sale marketplace.
The business-for-sale market is extremely dynamic. Knowledgeable entrepreneurs understand that market timing isn't nearly as important as other factors in a individual counseling business sale. To improve sale outcomes, you will simply need to tailor your individual counseling business to today's buyers.
Identifying Serious Buyers
If you haven't sold a business before, prepare to be overwhelmed by tire kickers -- seemingly interested buyers who lack the capacity, ability or desire to actually purchase your individual counseling business. Selling a business is hard enough. You can't afford to waste time on prospects that have no chance of turning their interest into an actual purchase. Good business brokers are adept at separating serious buyers from the rest of the pack. Never provide detailed information about your individual counseling business until the prospect has been qualified as a serious buyer.
How Much Does It Cost to Sell an individual counseling business?
In an individual counseling business sale, pricing is based on a number of factors, including the costs incurred during the sale. Although they can significantly increase the final sale price, brokers typically receive a 10% commission. Attorneys, accountants and appraisers work for a flat fee that can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Furthermore, your time has value, so you may need to include a personal compensation consideration in your expense estimates.
Average Preparation Time
It's critical to properly plan for the sale ofan individual counseling business. Since buyers prefer to see evidence of future cash flow, you'll want to to strategically lock in cash flows and increase profits before you list the business. Additionally, prospective buyers usually request documentation that allows them to understand the business's daily workflows and operational strategy. Since all of this takes time and effort, a individual counseling business can rarely be ready for the marketplace in less than six months. A more likely scenario is that it will take more than a year to create the conditions necessary to receive the maximum sale price.
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