The Forced Sale
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because you are not currently ready to retire that you have plenty of time to prepare your business for sale.
As a business intermediary, I have been involved in a number of transactions (and potential transactions) where the business owner wanted to sell, or in some instances, was forced to exit the business earlier than expected. In fact, retirement is NOT the number one reason why businesses sell. Here is a list of the most common reasons why owners sell (or otherwise discontinue) their businesses:
- Burn-out (this is the number one reason for selling)
- Health issues
- Personal diversification
- Retirement/semi-retirement
- Death
- Divorce/partner disputes
- Business growing too fast
- Second generation not up to the task
- Loss of market share
Owners, who are forced to sell, relinquish most of any control they might have had in a negotiation. The end result of this situation…the owner is forced into accepting unfavorable terms, conditions, pricing and a possibly unanticipated life style.
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