It would appear I have been a bit remiss in my blogging duties and for that I apologise, however, in my defence it was a very busy time in the final quarter of 2010 and of course the first quarter of the year is always the busiest in this industry.
Today, I thought I'd take the opportunity to discuss selling your business in a bit more detail. When the question arises, and for all business owners the question of succession or an outright business sale will at some time or another raise it's head, your first thought may or may not be "Which Business Transfer Agent should I use?" but it certainly should be. Not all business agents are the same, many will visit you to 'value' your business with little or no experience/knowledge of how to value a business. Many valuers are not really valuers at all but are in fact merely sales reps who may pluck a value out of thin air substantially above it's actual value in the hope that greed will kick in and you will write them a cheque for substantial upfront fees and sign their contract.
Then there are the other type of inexperienced 'valuers', the type who may substantially undervalue your business either through incompetence or perhaps even in an effort to secure a exceptionally early sale to earn a quick commission, and in hard economic times like this, small agents with little capital may find this all too tempting.
It is essential to you therefore that you choose a good agent, an agent who will give a realistic valuation of the best possible price your business should achieve on the open market.
A good agent will be qualified, his or her firm will be a member of a professional body, such as ICBA (Institution of Commercial and Business Agents) or RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and will have several colleagues who are also members of such professional body. By being a member of such a body, the agent will abide by a code of conduct and maintain professional standards. A good agent will be knowledgeable of businesses and the marketplace, he or she will have access to substantial levels of comparable evidence and unless that agent is selling many businesses he will not have access to the comparables as BTA's closely guard this evidence. A good agent will be able to answer your questions fully and give you sound advice on any aspect of the sales process, whether it be "does the alienation clause within your lease allow an assisgnment to take place", "do the TUPE regulations apply in this case" or "will the HMRC TOGC rules apply". Perhaps you own a property and are looking to let the premises, your agent should have no trouble advising which classification under the Use Classes Order would be required for any particular use. A good agent, is always so much more than a listing of businesses for sale.
If a valuer attends you at your business and seems to have substantially overvalued your business and appears more concerned that you should write a cheque and sign his contract, if the valuer is using high pressure selling techniques and if he is unable to answer very basic questions such as those above, you are almost certainly talking to a sales rep rather than a professional.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. By all means ask how many years he has been a business valuer, ask how long the firm has been established, ask if they are members of a professional body and if so which one. Perhaps most importantly, ask them if they can supply information on similar businesses that they have sold recently.
Check! If a professional valuer attends and you want to take time to think about their valuation and/or check that they are members of the professional body they say they are or check the answers they have given you to any other questions you may have raised, he or she will not mind at all. If however, high pressure tactics are used at this stage, again, you're talking to the wrong Business Transfer Agent.
At Ernest Wilson all our Valuers are members of ICBA, except our Associate, Andrew Idle who is a member of RICS, I personally have over 25 years experience and all our valuers have an absolute minimum of 15 years. We have our own Commercial Energy Assessor, David Brereton DIPNdea and professional financial experts from a former Area Director, former Local Director and a former Bank Manager of the High Street Banks to ensure that once an acceptable offer has been received on your business the very best possible application for finance is made and in the current banking conditions this is absolutely crucial. At Ernest Wilson, we leave nothing to chance to ensure that your business is sold for the very best possible price and once a sale is agreed it proceeds to completion as smoothly as possible.
So, if the question "How do I sell my business?" has just popped up, why not call us now to arrange a free, no obligation valuation on 0113 238 2900 or visit the Ernest Wilson website.
Today, I thought I'd take the opportunity to discuss selling your business in a bit more detail. When the question arises, and for all business owners the question of succession or an outright business sale will at some time or another raise it's head, your first thought may or may not be "Which Business Transfer Agent should I use?" but it certainly should be. Not all business agents are the same, many will visit you to 'value' your business with little or no experience/knowledge of how to value a business. Many valuers are not really valuers at all but are in fact merely sales reps who may pluck a value out of thin air substantially above it's actual value in the hope that greed will kick in and you will write them a cheque for substantial upfront fees and sign their contract.
Then there are the other type of inexperienced 'valuers', the type who may substantially undervalue your business either through incompetence or perhaps even in an effort to secure a exceptionally early sale to earn a quick commission, and in hard economic times like this, small agents with little capital may find this all too tempting.
It is essential to you therefore that you choose a good agent, an agent who will give a realistic valuation of the best possible price your business should achieve on the open market.
A good agent will be qualified, his or her firm will be a member of a professional body, such as ICBA (Institution of Commercial and Business Agents) or RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and will have several colleagues who are also members of such professional body. By being a member of such a body, the agent will abide by a code of conduct and maintain professional standards. A good agent will be knowledgeable of businesses and the marketplace, he or she will have access to substantial levels of comparable evidence and unless that agent is selling many businesses he will not have access to the comparables as BTA's closely guard this evidence. A good agent will be able to answer your questions fully and give you sound advice on any aspect of the sales process, whether it be "does the alienation clause within your lease allow an assisgnment to take place", "do the TUPE regulations apply in this case" or "will the HMRC TOGC rules apply". Perhaps you own a property and are looking to let the premises, your agent should have no trouble advising which classification under the Use Classes Order would be required for any particular use. A good agent, is always so much more than a listing of businesses for sale.
If a valuer attends you at your business and seems to have substantially overvalued your business and appears more concerned that you should write a cheque and sign his contract, if the valuer is using high pressure selling techniques and if he is unable to answer very basic questions such as those above, you are almost certainly talking to a sales rep rather than a professional.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. By all means ask how many years he has been a business valuer, ask how long the firm has been established, ask if they are members of a professional body and if so which one. Perhaps most importantly, ask them if they can supply information on similar businesses that they have sold recently.
Check! If a professional valuer attends and you want to take time to think about their valuation and/or check that they are members of the professional body they say they are or check the answers they have given you to any other questions you may have raised, he or she will not mind at all. If however, high pressure tactics are used at this stage, again, you're talking to the wrong Business Transfer Agent.
At Ernest Wilson all our Valuers are members of ICBA, except our Associate, Andrew Idle who is a member of RICS, I personally have over 25 years experience and all our valuers have an absolute minimum of 15 years. We have our own Commercial Energy Assessor, David Brereton DIPNdea and professional financial experts from a former Area Director, former Local Director and a former Bank Manager of the High Street Banks to ensure that once an acceptable offer has been received on your business the very best possible application for finance is made and in the current banking conditions this is absolutely crucial. At Ernest Wilson, we leave nothing to chance to ensure that your business is sold for the very best possible price and once a sale is agreed it proceeds to completion as smoothly as possible.
So, if the question "How do I sell my business?" has just popped up, why not call us now to arrange a free, no obligation valuation on 0113 238 2900 or visit the Ernest Wilson website.
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