Eight Key Steps to Selling Your Business and Cashing In
by Afra AmirSanjari
This year, some 700,000 American businesses will be sold. Most will be small
and mid-sized businesses like yours. If you, too, are thinking of selling,
consider these practical steps for making the process go smoothly.
- Determine a Realistic Price Range
- Understand the Tax Consequences
- Prepare for a Sale
- Seek Potential Buyers
- Negotiate Your Deal
- Sign a Sales Agreement
- Plan for the Closing
- File Paperwork With the IRS
Now for the GOOD STUFF!
Getting the Cash Out of your Business Note
Known more specifically as seller carryback business notes, they are created
when the buyer of a business cannot or
will not pay all cash. Frequently, banks and similar lending institutions are
hesitant to loan money to new business owners who have minimal track records and
where hard assets make up a small percentage of the total purchase price.
In the case where a buyer cannot obtain a loan, the seller is left with two
choices (1) hold off until he/she finds a buyer who can pay all cash or (2) carry
back a note in order to collect future payments. The first option is often not
realistic. In the second case, the seller is hopefully able to at least extract
a large down payment to make extra sure that the buyer has some "skin in the
game." However, even then the seller is usually in a position that he prefers
not to be in - he has no lump sum of money to either invest in other
opportunities or to retire. Unlike a real estate note, where is there is a hard
asset that is fairly easy to appraise, the business note is relatively risky to
hold.
So, what is a business seller to do when he didn't want to be in the lending
business to start with and now has a need for immediate cash? What many people
don't realize is that the business note can be sold. The former owner can sell
all or part of the note to get a lump sum of cash. In this way, both the goals
of selling the business and getting the cash out of it are met.
In summary, selling a business note is an excellent way for the former owner
of a business to get his cash out of the business. Whether the reason for
selling the note is that the seller would have preferred all cash all along,
that he now has large debts to pay, or that he has the opportunity to pursue
other investments, the sale of a business note is a tool of which you should
always be aware.
Afra AmirSanjari is the Principal for Peacock Capital.
Peacock Capital specializes in solving the cash flow challenges of Small/Medium
Businesses, Government Vendors and Individuals with innovative financial
solutions by providing a network for securing operating capital.
http://www.peacockcapital.com
info@peacockcapital.com
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