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If your future plans include selling your business, you’ll want to be prepared well in advance.
You’ll have a lot of decisions to make, a lot of experts to consult, and a lot of paperwork to process. First and foremost, you’ll need to keep your practice thriving to make it attractive to potential buyers.
In this episode, Gail invites interior designer Patti Julber back to the podcast. Patti, who serves as director of coaching for Pearl Collective, recently sold her interior design business, Complements Home Interiors in Bend, Oregon, after 21 years. Gail asked her to share her experience and lessons learned from the process.
Patti said she knew it was time for her to sell when she realized she had lost her enthusiasm for the business. She first listed the firm for sale in 2018 but did not find a suitable buyer until 2022. Her first choice, she said, was to have a member of her team buy the business. But that turned out not to be an option. She then worked with a mergers and acquisition broker to find an outside buyer.
In the course of their conversation, Patti noted several key factors that owners should be aware of when considering selling their business:
- If your name is the name of the business, you’re likely to get about 20 percent less for it than if it has a corporate name.
- You want to be sure that you continue to market and attract new business. Buyers want to see a pipeline of current and future projects they can count on to start generating revenue right away.
- Have all your processes and procedures documented. All manuals, policy documents, inventory records, personnel records, and, of course, financial records need to be up-to-date at the time of sale.If it is taking you several years to find a buyer, make sure you revalue your business every year so the most recent valuation is current and accurate.
- Know what you want out of the sale going in, including what is an acceptable price.
Gail asked Patti what, in hindsight, she would have done differently. Patti said she would have asked up front for a checklist of all the tasks and paperwork she needed to complete and a schedule with the due date for each one. She also mentioned the importance of having good relationships with your bank, your attorney and your CPA. That can be a big help in moving the process along more quickly.
For more insights from Patti, listen to the entire podcast.
If you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, read the full shownotes here: https://thepearlcollective.com/s8e8-shownotes
Mentioned in This Podcast
You can find out more about Patti’s coaching services on our team page. There’s a link at the bottom of the page if you want to arrange a call or appointment with Patti.
You can also listen to Season 6 Episode 10 of the Creative Genius Podcast in which Patti talks about the benefits of working with a business coach.
For information about Patti’s former firm, go to the website at www.complementshome.com.