By: Dean Waters
Only one in three of Australia’s many family businesses are exit or succession ready and while handing over the reigns may not be a near term prospect for yourself, there are steps you can take today to maximise the value you receive on exit. Following are three of our favourite tips for getting your business ready for sale.
1) Make yourself Redundant
Often a large part of a business success is attributable to the personal goodwill of the working owner. This value attaches to this individual by virtue of long standing personal relationships developed with customers, supplies and staff. Deals may have been done verbally and agreements may be forged by handshakes.
The business owner may also have a high level of ‘know how’ and industry expertise that has never been documented or transferred to others.
By initiating knowledge transfers to key employees and formalising agreements, role descriptions, procedures and policies, the owner can de-risk much of the business and become more saleable to a greater number of potential acquirers.
