THE AGENTS

Paul Davey

managing director

Davey & Co

Many business owners are aware that they must ensure certain criteria are met in order for their business to achieve the desired response, and price, from the market when they press the button and instruct an agent to commence marketing.

Items such as ensuring your most recent year-end accounts are complete, that retained copies of the most recent VAT returns are available, plus an up to date staff list with pay rates, employment commencement dates and copy contracts of employment and so forth, should all go without saying. What many business owners overlook, however, is giving some forethought as to when their particular business is best presented for sale.

With perhaps the one exception of December - when pretty much most of the world is preoccupied with just about anything other than buying a business - different businesses are unquestionably better offered at different times of the year in order to achieve the best response.

Summer, for example, is the time of year when village and destination venues are not only looking at their best, but the journey out to them is also more conducive to ensuring buyers arrive in a positive frame of mind and, hopefully, see the place at its busiest.

Your busiest time of year may be the least convenient for you to be going onto the market, but the fact is that this is when your business is most likely to look its most desirable. Outside trading areas have never been more important to buyers than they are right now, so if that aspect is pertinent to your business the summer months present a great opportunity to ensure your business is playing to its strengths.

Owners tend to call the agents in for advice on marketing at the time they want to sell, and while this is fine if the owners have given all due consideration to the correct timing and preliminary work required, in many cases they would have been better off by taking advice much earlier in order to ensure they maximise their return.

Remember, you can only sell your business once, so when you do, make sure you are doing the right thing at the right time and, of course, with the right agent.