When a business owner starts up there is invariably a vision that the owner has  which drives him to start up in the first place. That vision is manifested in many different ways; it could be a desire to acquire the trappings of wealth such as a house, car, boat, golf club membership or whatever. It could be the ability to fund charities or other altruistic aims, or to have the time to follow one’s personal dreams and ambitions. Or it could be that feeling of great self esteem brought about by running the best business of its type in the area.

 

However, whatever drives the owner, typically part of the vision is for a business which runs itself in some way, so that the owner doesn’t have to continue to invest his own time full time into the business.

 

Again, that can happen in a number of ways:

 

• Set the business up so that it just doesn’t rely on him at all, and runs itself, so that he can simply reap the financial rewards
• Pass the business on to someone else but retain a financial interest and have the business provide a pension
• Set the business up for sale

 

All of these have one thing in common; a business where the owner is not central to its  ongoing success is worth a great deal more than one where it is reliant on the business owner to be there. So regardless of whether the owner has the desire to dispose of the business or to retain it, the sellability of the business is a great measure for how effective it is as a self sustaining unit. But how many business owners have that growth-for-exit plan in place?

 

Seventy percent of business owners in today’s market plan to sell or pass their business on within 10 years, yet 76% don’t have an exit plan and many do not even know the value of their business.

When you spend a lifetime building a successful business, it can leave little time for anything else, including thinking about an exit plan; but even if you are planning to pass the business on to family, you want to ensure you are offering them a valuable and sustainable business. Whether you are creating an exit plan for the short term, or for 20 years hence, it’s never too late or too soon to start understanding – and increasing – the value of your business.

A well thought out exit plan can:

• Protect the legacy of your business

• Build value in your business

• Provide financial security for your family and your stakeholders

• Make it easier to deal with any unexpected events (illness, accident or death)

• Help to prepare you and your business for the future

 

The place to start is to rate your business in terms of its sellability. At Smartsupport we have a tool to help you do this, called the Sellability Score.  Starting with a brief online questionnaire the Sellability Score can be used as a gauge to measure how sellable your business would be today, and it can help you focus on where to increase your efforts within your business.

 

The online tool is quick and easy to use, and it generates a personal report that highlights:

• What you should consider when thinking of transitioning your business

• How saleable your business actually is

• The likelihood of receiving a premium offer

• What your financial options are

 

 

After completing the questionnaire online, you will be provided with a score for your business and a summary of what the score means. Meanwhile, we will organise the comprehensive report for your business and then we will set up a time with you so we can meet, review the recommendations together, and discuss any next steps required.

Do the Sellability Score questionnaire today, and determine how you really are going to get what you want from your business.