The right time to sell your business

When you're selling your business, you naturally want to maximize your financial results. How do you time the sale of your company? What is the best moment to sell your business, and how do you find the most suitable successor for your company? For some, it's the end of a long career, while for others, it's a stepping stone to a new challenge. Some examples of good moments to sell are:

• Your company is growing;
• Growth is stagnating;
• You're outperforming the market;
• You have an attractive customer base;
• Capital is available.

The growth potential of a business is crucial in the acquisition market. A promising future outlook is bound to make your company more attractive. However, many entrepreneurs are afraid to sell too early. In practice, businesses tend to wait too long, leading to growth stagnation. To prevent this, it's essential to sell your business before it enters a saturation phase. Increasing revenue and sustained profit margins indicate that your company is healthy and therefore attractive to buyers and investors.

Preparing to Sell Your Business

At some point, every entrepreneur faces it: the sale of their business. It's generally challenging to estimate what's involved in an acquisition process and how long it will take. Making your business exit-ready can take anywhere from 2 to 5 years. That's why it's crucial to start the process early. Proper preparation is half the battle, and that holds true in the world of acquisitions as well. Preparing your company for sale is essential before taking the step to sell. The process involves various aspects that require attention, such as maintaining a clean balance sheet, limiting the intercompany account balance, ensuring there's no obsolete inventory, and keeping the risk profile low.

If you're curious about the state of your company, take the exit-ready test. By answering a few questions about your personal situation, your company profile, financial situation, and future outlook, you'll gain insight into how exit-ready you and your company are within a few minutes. You'll also receive tips on how to increase the company's value by 10 to 30%. Marktlink’s advisors understand the parameters potential buyers consider important and how to positively influence them.

Finding the right business succession for your situation

Various strategies are possible when it comes to business succession. It's essential to consider which business succession and exit strategies are best for you. Do you want to sell all or part of your shares? Are you considering a partial sale, a pre-exit, with further growth ambitions through an investor? Is there an internal business successor, involvement of family members, or are you looking for external entrepreneurial talent? Are the buyers individuals, strategic buyers, or are they financial buyers? Each scenario requires a customised approach. Depending on your company and the situation, we'll determine the profile of the ideal match together and look for potential buyers.

Through our data-driven approach and a vast international network of buyers and investors, we identify an average of six to ten potential acquisition candidates. This creates the most optimal negotiating position for you as an entrepreneur.