Common pitfalls
- Not questioning your ‘why’
- The blind leading the blind – not using professional advisers
- Don’t forget buyer due-diligence – especially on small buyers who don’t have a proven track record
- Not managing your own expectations, especially around the value of your business
- Not putting yourself in the buyer’s shoes and considering their motivations
Conclusion
Selling your business is part of its lifecycle, and part of your personal journey. Taking time to plan and define this journey, with help from experienced advisers can transform the experience from being quite daunting into something as well executed as the business you’ve dedicated your time to build.
What next?
If you are thinking of selling your business in the next 3-5 years, your best course of action is to attend a Gunner & Co. workshop, to fully understand to process, followed by a business review by Standards International. This will allow you to define a realistic plan to maximise the value of your business at the point of sale.
Contact Louise Jeffreys at Gunner & Co. (louise.jeffreys@ gunnerandco.com ) and Michelle Hoskin at Standards International enquiries@standardsinternational.co.uk
About Louise Jeffreys
Louise Jeffreys is the managing director of Gunner & Co., the specialist IFA mergers & acquisition brokerage and consultancy. Louise has worked with countless financial planners to develop exit strategies which align to their timescales, taking into significant consideration the needs of their clients, any team members, and the aspirations of the principal themselves. Through detailed business analysis Louise is able to match up business sellers with credible business buyers, using her network of experienced acquirers, enabling the buyers to realise fast growth in a mature market.
About Michelle Hoskin
Michelle Hoskin (aka Little Miss WOWW!TM) is well known for her endless enthusiasm and energy, infectious personality and unique outlook on what she describes as a “magical profession”.
With over 20 years’ experience working alongside some of the world’s most successful financial services organisations, Michelle is an internationally recognised author, speaker, coach and leading expert in the design and implementation of international framework-based best practice standards.
Michelle is pioneering a drive towards increased professionalism and operational excellence through her continued work at Standards International – the UK’s premier certification body for British and international financial services standards – of which she is the founder. She also most recently led a sector committee whose objective was to develop and launch an exciting new international standard for professional paraplanners.
Relentless in her pursuit of a global movement of change within financial services, Michelle is fully committed to supporting financial professionals worldwide to achieve things they only dreamed were possible, and to working with them so that they become the best possible version of themselves.
