1. Preplan the sale of your business. This should not be a spur of the moment decision. Rather, it should be well planned in advance. Though it is not possible to control the external environment, such as interest rates and strength of the economy, it is possible to plan for an orderly transition. Start thinking about some obvious sources for a potential buyer. For example, should an employee be groomed for possible succession? Might a good customer be interested in acquiring your business in the event of its sale?

2. Recognize the importance of finding the right buyer. Most businesses don’t have a value that is set in stone. Instead they have a range of value. This means that different buyers will have different perceptions of the same business’s value. It becomes important to pre-plan your confidential marketing effort to gain exposure to multiple buyers, especially synergistic buyers. Synergistic buyers are those individuals who, because of their location, complimentary customer base, financial resources or market position, can profit more from owning your business and are therefore willing to pay more.

3. Consider getting professional help. Unless you have a background in taxes, legal issues and merger and acquisition work, you will probably unknowingly make a multitude of costly mistakes by trying to sell your business yourself. Those mistakes may cost you substantially more than any fees paid for competent professional assistance. Do some homework on various alternatives. Become informed by attending seminars regarding tax issues, estate planning, and so on. Ask your CPA or lawyer to recommend “general knowledge” seminars that might assist your learning curve.

Question: How do I legitimately minimize my tax obligations when I sell my business?

Answer: Plan well in advance by reviewing your corporate structure on an ongoing basis. This will enable you to maximize the amount of proceeds you retain from your business’s eventual sale.

As one would expect, the tax rules make it difficult for any quick fixes that give rise to immediate benefits. Consider changes to structure now that may result in more favorable tax treatment when the business is sold in five or ten years.

Start by getting up to speed on recent developments in the tax code. Chances are the code is very different today than when you bought or started your business. So sit down with your professional advisor and review your current business structure and its appropriateness for your business’s eventual sale.

For example, if you are structured as a corporation, the substantial difference to your after tax dollars on sale depends on whether you proceed with an “asset” sale or a “stock” sale. Selling the corporation’s assets can result in proceeds being taxed at the corporate level as well as the individual level when the remaining proceeds are distributed to the stockholders. However, if the stockholders sell their stock, it is likely that capital gains provisions would apply. The difference this makes to retained proceeds can be enormous.

Paying our share of taxes in the United States is an economic reality of life. Yet after tax dollars in the sale of a corporation can vary between 45 percent and 85 percent of the sales price based solely on tax structuring issues. The earlier you start planning for the sale of your business, the more likely you will be to minimize tax obligations.

Question: When is the best time to sell your business?

Answer: The best time to sell your business is determined through a careful consideration of the factors that can and cannot be controlled to maximize the amount of cash you receive. These factors include:

Environmental/External Issues- Beyond our Control

Low interest rates and a low inflation environment with plenty of liquidity and a buoyant economy create an ideal scenario for mergers and acquisitions. Clearly, we have enjoyed this scenario in the United States over the last few years. As a consequence, there has been a flurry of activity in corporate America as well as small business America. Well-run, sound businesses are selling relatively easily for nice multiples. Yet, as we all know, the economy goes in cycles. If the sale of your business is on the immediate horizon, then perhaps consideration should be given to bring the “sell” decision forward in order to take advantage of these robust conditions.

Internal Issues-Within our Control

A potential buyer is going to pay significantly more for a business that demonstrates a consistent track record of growing revenues and profitability. However, all too often a business is allowed to stagnate or even decline because the owners have taken their foot off the accelerator. Getting “burned out” and other health issues are probably the most often cited reason for a small business owner wanting to sell. This is understandable, but also often controllable. Recognize the warning signs and take whatever corrective action possible. Again, choosing to sell for a good price while the business is buoyant is far superior to forcing a sale because of health or other issues that have impacted revenues and reduced the business’s value.

Above all, think with the head and not with the heart. A decision to sell can be very difficult for a host of good reasons. Most small businesses don’t have boards of directors holding management accountable. However, sometimes it is prudent to seek outside objective advice from respected confidantes or professionals. These individuals bring a fresh perspective and insight that will assist you in making good strategic decisions for the future of your business.

Question: When a business is sold, what liabilities are the buyer responsible for and which remain the obligation of the seller?

Answer: In general, whether it is as an asset sale or a stock sale, just remember that sellers are obligated to provide “lien free” assets to the buyer. While all transactions are unique, buyers will typically assume liability for the following: leaseholds related to real estate, unless they are relocating the business; accounts payable (and if they do they will also get the accounts receivable); advertising commitments such as Yellow Page contracts; customer deposits, provided seller relays to buyer a like amount of cash; and any other liabilities that are agreed upon in writing.

Sellers will typically be obligated to pay off out of the sale proceeds the following: lines of credit; installment debt and/or leases related to vehicles, computers, equipment; all obligations to employees up to the date of closing; all tax related matters; and all other debt that has any claim against any of the assets that are being transferred to the buyer.

There is another issue related to liabilities. The seller is obligated to give the buyer strong “warranties and representations” (guarantees) that there are no undisclosed or unknown liabilities that might create claims against the assets being sold. The California Bulk Sales Law essentially states that a buyer can be held liable for goods transferred to him or her that has not been paid for by the seller. Obviously, all buyers want and are entitled to protection from having to pay for the same goods twice.

In summary, it is essential that both buyer and seller commit to having everything in writing (i.e. no verbal agreements) and that both sides be represented by competent legal advice before signing on the dotted line.

Steve fitzgerald writes about southern california business broker. This firm has specialized in assisting owners of privately owned manufacturing, distribution and service businesses in selling their businesses. Learn more at www.acquisitionservicesgroup.com .

Yet, you HAVE to bring in customers!!!

What ARE you going to do?

Many of my current or former clients fit the above description. Many of them finally contacted me, a coach, when they were in trouble because they had NO CLUE where to start. They decided that they did need help, and they realized that only a professional could rescue the mess that they’ve made.

And guess what? They survived! And not only did they survive, but they thrived! As soon as they realized that they didn’t need to change their personality, become a raving fan, or over the top, they relaxed and settled into learning what they had to do.

I’ll take you through a typical client and what they learn to do.

Kirk was a guy who found me in one of my Charisma classes! He was basically a smart fellow who was trying to make partner in his law firm. He had been told upon his hiring that he’d be responsible for attracting business to his company. He bluffed his way through the interview by mentioning how many people that he knew and how many big cases he had worked on successfully. He didn’t mention that the business wasn’t his, or that he was TERRIFIED of calling all of the people that he knew and asking for business!

When Kirk and I finally got together I asked him to start by naming all of his strengths. We went over all of the benefits that any of his clients or future clients would get by working with him. I had him post these in his office so he’d never doubt how talented he really is in work.

Next, we outlined what sorts of clients he should secure and then wrote a list of any current or former friends or colleagues that he knew. We developed an information sheet on each of them which would be later transferred to a contact management system such as ACT or Goldmine. On each of the sheets, Ralph had to go and write about the person. He wrote down anything he knew about them professionally or personally. These ranged from where they went to school to their spouses names, to their hobbies.

Next, we put them in order from A Accounts ( HUGE!!!) down to D accounts (Barely worth calling) and everyone in between. When all was said and done, Ralph had a list of about 25 people on the A list and those were the ones that we focused on.

Those names went into the computer. We then called and got all of their current information such as emails, secretaries names, firms, etc. We then wrote a letter that was sent to each of them announcing his new position and then said that Ralph would soon be giving a follow up call to say a quick hello. The letter was written in a casual manner, and not too formal. It definitely did NOT look like a form letter from a law firm!

Over time, Ralph redeveloped these people into friends. He did it by meeting them to play basketball, going to networking events with them, or inviting them to political speeches. He was able to get tickets for a few of them to different events and basically became a resource to the whole legal profession for most of them. Ralph became a FRIEND to these individuals, their firms and as a result, guess what happened?

Ralph started bringing in business of course! Not only that, but his bosses wanted to know what he was doing and how it all started. Needless to say, a few of his co workers were in the position to hire a coach and we duplicated Ralph’s experience.

Developing into a sales professional is a scary thought for someone who is afraid of sales. But turning into a resource for your friends and colleagues is not only fun, but a great way to learn and grow your business. And if you get stuck, call me! I’ll help you through!

Contact: Mary at mary@marygardner.com or web: www.marygardner.com

Mary Gardner can be reached at www.marygardner.com

To start with, you need to make a choice as to exactly what area most suits your interests. A way of doing this is, discover solutions to issues a particular group of individuals are anticipating, and then what solutions are on offer to assist them. One of the better ways to find this is to look for specific sets of long tail keywords; there are fewer searches for these in general, all the same they will convert far more.

These lucrative keywords can be discovered by using Micro Niche Finder. Data collected by Micro Niche Finder or similar applications and software packages gives you associated keywords in a list format allowing you to get top spot on internet searches. Micro Niche Finder information will also calculate how many searches each word or phrase gets, the number of other sites using the particular word or phrase, and how successful those websites are. Lastly, Micro Niche Finder data will help in loacting the right domain, help you in putting together your website, and find suitable goods to market.

Building a internet site is next; but you still have some important things to do. Getting the best placing on internet based search engines requires the fine tuning of your site. Products such as SEO Elite will make this easy. Your rivals’ sites are analyzed by the program which then offers advice to better search engine rankings.

With software like SEO Elite, info provided by the program advises you on links, what words or phrases to focus on, and even a list of sites for submitting articles for reference. Concisely, Seo Elite information is similar to the data you may get from an experienced SEO professional. Once you have decided which target market you want to sell in, plan your product advertisements, and your site has been completed, all you need to do is get your site up in the search results. You will pick up a steady pay check and question why you did not try affiliate marketing earlier!

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