How to Sell Your Small Business

Selling your business can be a daunting task. Don't fret. Here are some steps you can take to make selling your business a smoother and easier process.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. 

   Have an exit plan in place that prepares you for the sale of your company long before you need to. Early planning is important because it could take one to five years to fetch the best price and close on a sale.

2. 

   Work with experts to determine an optimal value for your business and ways to enhance its value over time. Choose a professional with sales and negotiation experience as your liaison. This person can then manage the advertising, bidding process and negotiations involved in a sale.

3. 

   Develop a sales strategy and decide which options works best for you. For example, you could sell everything for one price; offer to work through several months of transition; or sell part of your business now and keep the remaining part for a future sale in order to defer taxes.