REALTOR® Magazine Online: 8 Value Enhancers for Your Business

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			GETTING YOUR BUSINESS READY FOR SALE
	Are You Ready to Retire? Retirement Budgeting Sources of Retirement Income Tax-Deferred Savings Vehicles Estate Planning Selling Your Business Getting Your Business Ready for Sale Working With a Business Broker Closing-Your-Business Sale More Resources: Retirement Planning		“Don’t wait until you hit the wall before you sell,” says Ronald Schmaedick, CRB, of Eugene, Ore. Schmaedick is a consultant on the purchase and sale of real estate companies. He’s also an associate broker with Realty Executives, which he sold to his daughter in 1996. Try these tips from Schmaedick before you sell. Make it look like you're at the top of your game. Spruce up your office just like you would a house you’re trying to sell. Document your processes. Buyers will find your company more attractive if they can easily understand your business operations. Have an accountant review your books to be sure that they follow standard accounting practices and are error free. Even minor, unintentional errors could shake a buyer’s faith. Keep your salespeople focused and motivated. You don’t want sales to fall now. Implement a new marketing program to raise your company’s profile. Visibility and name recognition are some of your business’s greatest assets. Guard against costly expansion strategies that reduce current earnings and will not yield profits until you're out of the picture. 8 Value Enhancers for Your Business Tom Wright, a commercial business broker and president of Century 21 T. L. Wright Realty in Cobleskill, N.Y., recommends these steps to increase the value of your business. 1. Cut the fat. Eliminate unprofitable or nonessential services. 2. Renegotiate or cancel problem contracts and leases. 3. Upgrade automation systems and office equipment. 4. Evaluate salespeople and office staff; terminate marginal and nonproductive people. 5. Clean up your financial statements. Remove owner perks and nonessential expenditures. Improve your bottom line to reflect maximum profits. 6. Make sure a solid management team is in place who are willing to stay with the business, advises Beatrice Mitchell of investment banker Sperry, Mitchell & Company, New York City. TIP: Having a management team in place that can keep your company operating when you sell is one of the most important things you can do to sell your company for top dollar. —Patrick Grabill, Coldwell Banker King Thompson, Columbus, Ohio 7. Refinance any debt at more favorable rates, if possible. 8. Reappraise your assets (especially your office building, if you own it) that may have appreciated in value. What Is Your Business Worth? >

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