Business owners will be selling into a very competitive marketplace, which means it's likely that only the most attractive and well-prepared businesses will sell for what they're worth. You'll want your business to be one of them. Here are our top 10 tips to sell your business AND protect its value, increase your personal wealth and reduce the taxes you will need to pay on the proceeds.
On Valentines' Day, I posted my Top 7 reasons to love Canada's small businesses, a short by-the-numbers post along the lines of what the Small Business Administration had just published in the United States. Clearly, small business owners are critical to our economic success.
Let's show our small businesses some love. They deserve it. As I've said here before, Canada’s small business owners take the risks and provide the imagination, the capital and the energy that drives the economy, jobs and wealth in Canada.
With all that we try to fit into every day, setting aside the time for the truly important and meaningful activities can be/is difficult. Planning and good intentions go by the wayside. Yet not preparing for the sale of our business could cost us the very lifestyle we have worked so hard to build. Isn't it time you start thinking about the life you want when you leave your business?
Grant Mellow, ActionCOACH, in action at Sunbelt's Ottawa office. A business owner must be able to seek out and take advice and keep learning. Most of us have access to many networking and training options, both in person and online.
Are you expecting to die with your boots on? Or do you intend to kick off your shoes and seek other surroundings, near or far? Some eight per cent of us who own small businesses in Canada do not plan to retire at all.
How many miles have you put in on your business journey? Are you still enjoying the ride? Maybe you’ve started thinking about passing the wheel and your business to someone else. Will you have enough money for what you want to do next? If not, what will it take as a business owner to get you there?
What about owning a small business that only operates at certain times of the year—say a tour boat line in Canada? I saw an article recently about owning a seasonal franchise and it prompted me to put together my own list of pros and cons to owning a seasonal business that buyers should be aware of.
Jumping into a pool isn't top of mind for most of us as we hunker down to face our Canadian winter. But that's one of the things my team and I were thinking about earlier this week as we learned about the traits and preferences of the four DISC personality types. Our training leader (Grant Mellow of ActionCOACH) used the pool analogy to help us grasp the differences between each so we could recognize them and adapt.
