Hello, I'm Robert Nizza, with the BTI Group, in San Francisco. The topic today, is selling your small business. This is quite a wide topic, so I'm just going to give you some bullet points, to start off with. Probably the most important thing by far, including price, or whatever, is your true motivation, for wanting to sell the business. Are you just looking to get money? or are you looking to retire? Spend more time with the grandkids? Rent a sailboat, and go around the Caribbean for a few months? Your true motivation is a key thing, because the last thing you want to do, is not be motivated, and get into a deal, only to back out of the deal, at the last minute, so assuming you are motivated, the first thing you probably want to do, is go to a person that you trust, to start thinking about what is the business worth. I strongly recommend talking to people that have a lot of experience, not just one deal in the last ten years, or even three deals in the last ten, but somebody who works in the industry, so either a business broker, or a transaction attorney, an accountant who has a lot of experience with transactions. Please don't work with people that do not have experience with transactions. If it's a family lawyer, or a family account that never does business deals, it's exactly like going to a foot doctor, to have brain surgery. You want to work with people skilled with transactions, so number one, is determining, what's the value of your business? Number two, would be hiring a business broker, or perhaps an attorney, somebody like that, that has transaction experience, having a contract with that person to represent you. That person will then package your business. What's the vital information for your business? Are there some financial statements? Hopefully, there are, because it's very hard for a buyer to get interested in the business, if there is no numbers for the business. Are there any special permits, or are there any leases? Is it a retail store that is highly dependent on the lease? What are the lease amounts? Those can go into the package. If it's a liquor store, or a bar, or something like that, that requires an ABC license, that of course, should be in the package. Once the package is complete, now your representative is ready to show your business to buyers, so as a business broker, I would advertise your business on a bunch of websites, that I know. I'd also tell my fellow agents about your business, so that they can tell the people that they know, all in a confidential way, about your business. Get them excited about it. Then, if we do get a buyer, we write an offer. Once the offer is agreed upon, people agree on the price and the various terms and contingencies, then we go through the due diligence process, and if that goes well, you can close the deal. Those are the real steps to selling your small business.
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