Show Me The Money! Selling Your Business Quickly and Easily When the Time Comes

Exiting your business can be as simple as closing the doors and going home to complicated take back financing and share retention. Rarely will you be offered a cheque without strings. In this workshop, you will learn how to prepare your business for sale, how to ready yourself for a sale of assets or shares, why capital gains tax really matters and structuring a deal.

10 years ago, the TD reported that 60% of their business customers had no exit plan beyond simply closing the doors. For the next 10 years there will be more businesses for sale by their retiring owners than ever before.
Most businesses do not get full value for their company because they did not prepare themselves or their company beforehand. It takes 2 or 3 years of solid financials and a tidy organized business for a potential buyer to secure financing from an institution.

General Outline:

• How to prepare your business for sale
• Valuing the business
• Using a broker or selling yourself
• Should this be a share sale or asset sale
• What about shareholder loans?, receivables, payables, physical assets, company vehicle, cash in the bank?
• Your goals: a quick dash for the door or a long term position as "founder" with the new owner
• Is it best to lose 50% of proceeds to tax in a quick sale or take payments over years and accept the risk

Learning Outcomes:

Since most people decide on Saturday to put their business on the market on Monday, they have not taken the time to clean up the smelly bits and present their company in the best possible light to attract the best possible dollar. So they leave money on the table. Workshop participants will know better.
Since there are a lot of retiring owners selling their businesses, it is hard to stand out in the crowd and get the best dollar. Workshop participants will know how to stand head and shoulders above the crowd.

Presenter: