 |
Last Lap in Selling Should be Strongest
SOURCE: Green Bay Press Gazette, April 13, 2008
By Scott Bushkie
It’s sophomore year of college, it’s spring, and I’m on the track running the 1500 meter race. Everything is going well. I’m not in the lead, but I’m running strong.
I round the corner and gear up for my final lap. As I pick up the pace, I start passing people left and right. I see the finish line and sprint for it. As I close in, confident of my victory, the start judge hollers out, “One more lap to go.”
I had miscounted, and the realization left me crushed. I pushed on, but my drive was gone. Psychologically, I was defeated. Pretty soon, everyone I had passed came running by, and then some. I finished with my worst time ever.
I tell this story a lot when I’m talking to business owners. Why? Because just like a race, when you want to sell your business, you need to finish strong, and in order to do that, you need to know where the finish line is.
One of the biggest misconceptions we encounter is that owners think their businesses will sell quickly and leave them free to walk away. This is rarely the case.
In fact, it takes an average of nine to 12 months to sell a business. Now here’s the real rub: In the United States, the number one reason business owners sell is burn out.
That means many sellers are mentally exhausted before they even walk in our door. Still, we urge them to push strong for one more year. Make the last year the best.
If sales and profits are increasing because you are sprinting to that finish line, you will get a higher price. You might have had strong sales for the last 30 years, but if the last three weren’t all that great, the value goes down.
The best time to sell is when you don’t have to. You want to be sprinting to the end with energy and confidence. Enter a sale with a positive attitude, and you will have much better leverage than if you seem ready to hand over the keys at any price.
In college, we trained for months before we took the track for our first race. Our coaches ran us through drills, taught us proper form, and kept us motivated.
The same goes for selling your business. Ideally, we tell sellers to start preparing three years before a sale. Get organized, develop your staff, and drive profits to the bottom line.
Get an advisor who will help you prepare and stay focused to the end. My start judge was busy fiddling with his watch when I rounded lap two. Make sure your intermediary isn’t equally distracted with too many other clients.
Go in with realistic time expectations, and your heart and your head will stay focused on the prize. Know where the finish line is and make your last lap the strongest.
Scott Bushkie is President of Cornerstone Business Services, a lower-middle-market M&A firm with offices throughout the upper Midwest. Reach him by telephone at (920) 436-9890 or by e-mail at sbushkie@cornerstone-business.com.
|
