If you want to sell your business, think about the problems a buyer would inherit. A buyer may ask what needs fixing, what it’ll cost, and whether that should change their offer.
I made that point in a Loom for one of our operators.
He’d put together a report on risks in a deal and what those risks could cost.
I wanted him to ask the buyer a few direct questions. Would this help them make a lower bid? Could they get the businesses working together faster? Could it stop them burning cash on problems after the sale?
Now look at those questions from your side as the owner.
What would the buyer have to fix?
You know the parts of your business that need work.
Maybe cash gets tied up in stock. Maybe the team needs you to drive each change. Maybe one large customer makes up too much of your sales.
Those are problems we’ve discussed in real calls with our operators.
A buyer may see work they’ll have to take on. They may also see costs they hadn’t planned for.
You can ask about those problems before you start trying to sell.
Put a cost against the problem
In the Loom, I wanted the operator to connect each risk to money.
As an owner, I’d want that same help.
What’s the issue? What does it cost us now? What would it take to fix? Who’ll do it?
For one shop owner, the issue was stock bought too early. Cash was stuck in it. The owner was worried about payroll.
I asked our operator to find out how much cash was tied up and what the early buying was costing. Read that story in You Saved on Inventory. So Why Is Cash So Tight?
A report doesn’t fix the business
Once you know what’s wrong, someone still has to change it.
That shop owner had a manager who was good at the work. But he didn’t have someone he could rely on to lead the changes.
That’s where an operator could help. Find the problem. Work with the team. Make sure the change sticks.
In these conversations, we were discussing next steps. We hadn’t seen a final sale price or a completed fix.
Build a business someone can take over
I want our operators to help owners make more money and carry less of the work themselves.
That’s useful whether you plan to sell soon or keep the business for years.
If you want help fixing the parts that still depend on you, get matched with an operator who’s done that kind of work.