You don’t have to use any professionals at all when selling your business. You could do the legal, accounting, due diligence, TUPE and everything else yourself. Indeed, a lot of people have tried this already.
But by using professionals you get the best experience you can pay for, the deal moves forward much more quickly and you are still able to focus on running the business in the meantime.
The biggest question is whether you have the time to take on these multiple roles and the expertise which keep your sale legal and protect your from potential warranty claims.
Which Professionals You Will Need?
In no particular order, but perhaps naturally, we are going to start with ourselves. BUSINESS BROKERS offer any number of skills in the sale process from marketing, negotiation, stability through the process, being a sounding board to vent frustration. They are peacekeepers between buyer and seller more often than you’d expect and they also come with a wealth of knowledge and experience for every possible bump in the road you might hit, and how to avoid them.
Choose a COMMERCIAL SOLICITOR used to dealing with business sales. The hourly rate may be higher than the guy who did your family arrangement, but you will save money in the long term by completing on complicated aspects much more quickly.
Your ACCOUNTANT should also be capable of producing completion accounts to a commercial standard at short notice. You may find your completion funds are penalised if they don’t. Ensure your accountant is up to the task. Make sure they have capacity to do the detailed work you need in the short completion timescale. If they can’t, move to an accountant who can during this critical time.
TUPE experts exist for the reason of protecting your employees as well as protecting the business. If TUPE applies to your sale, a specialist HR professional or a specialist HR solicitor will be your guiding hand.
ASBESTOS & LEGIONELLA reports are becoming requested more and more as part of the property searches undertaken before completion. Get ahead of the game and get yours in place where there is a legal requirement to do so.
Selling your business is often a one time activity for many business owners. Never done it before, and unlikely to do it again in the future. Have the professionals you need in your corner. They will get the job done.