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Do you run a business and hope to sell it someday? Here’s how to ensure you sell your business and make as much money as possible from sales.
Every business owner hopes to one day be able to sell their business for 10x, 20x what they invested and buy their freedom. We all wish that selling for more than what it was worth happened more often, but it doesn’t. We know it’s possible because it has happened to us, but it’s not the norm.
Then what’s the trick? What is the secret to building a business up to that level? What makes a business do well enough to reach that level?
When it’s time to sell, the business will only be worth a little if it depends on you a lot to run it. But, on the other hand, if the business runs itself, the payoff could grow quickly.
This plan gives you more freedom before you sell the business, which is a plus. In addition, you get to work in your area of expertise and can relax and spend time with your family without feeling guilty.
Six steps to sell your business for more
Here are six steps with tools you can put into practice to guarantee you 10x returns when you sell your business:
- Vision design
Start with where you want to end up. The most important first step is to have a clear picture of your long-term personal and business goals and the core values of your business. Then you can divide your goals into goals for the year and each month.
Founders who have more business than they can handle and spend most of their time putting out fires should make sure they take the time to set goals and think about their values.
It’s important that everyone in the company, from the top down, knows the company’s vision and goals. Effective communication is the key to keeping a high-performing team informed, on track, and up to date.
According to a Harvard Business Review Analytic Services Report, less than half of the companies that took part in the Harvard survey said they kept track of how far along an employee was in reaching a goal. So don’t do what they did! Instead, set up regular meetings to discuss your current goals and how they fit into the bigger-picture goals of your company.
- Find and keep track of your challenges
Find out exactly what your biggest problems and challenges are and the most important things for your business to do well. Then, change what needs to be changed. Most of the time, this step needs the objective view of a skilled outsider.
- A good team
An important ingredient to guarantee 10x returns when you seel your business is putting together a good team. You can do this by hiring people with the right skills who fit the company’s culture. Build systems so that you can always find and hire good people and that it is easy to train and bring them on board.
Also, if you’re the founder or CEO of a business and you’re involved in the day-to-day operations, you either need a COO, an implementer, and an executive assistant, or you need to find good people to fill those roles.
As you climb higher to reach your group goals, remember that each team member has a specific job. It’s essential to give employees clear, strong instructions about their jobs and to set up processes that make work easier and more effective. For a team to be successful and happy, it’s important to give employees clear roles and instructions.
As a leader, you need to give input, resources, tools, training, and technology, and you also need to delegate to give people a sense of ownership. For example, Spotify, a company that streams music, videos, and podcasts, has done well by putting its 2,000 employees on self-organized “squads” of eight people each.
- Hub for process
When there aren’t clear processes, the leader is pulled into every part of the business. Find your core processes, keeping in mind that in most businesses, 20% of the processes produce 80% of the results.
After finding them, write them down and make sure they are used. This is how you make team members that can make more of themselves.
- Multiplier for return on investment in technology
Getting the most out of your technology is the secret to getting more time for yourself and your employees. Does your current software have features or automations that could save you 10 minutes daily? That’s 40 hours per year.
When everyone on your team looks for ways to work more efficiently, you can get more done without hiring more people. Profits, which mean raises, can encourage people to do their jobs well. Get the help you need to make the most of your technology.
- Engine for speed
Lastly, to sell your business for more and ensure it is in good hands, you must have the right systems in place. These will give you time to set up your meeting structure and learn how to run effective meetings. It’s also time to teach the people on your team how to make plans for the week. With all of these parts in place, your velocity engine will run smoothly, and you’ll be able to spend one day a week working on your business instead of in it.
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Having the right systems in place will ensure that even after you sell your business, it continues to run seamlessly without any signs of a change in leadership.
