November 25, 2014
Selling a business creates a unique liquidity event that can have a huge financial impact on your lifestyle, taxes, cash flow and wealth transfer plans. To help you potentially maximize the value of the deal, while simultaneously attempting to keep your assets protected, put a game plan in place long before any papers are signed.
“One of the more important things you can do before you even start looking for a buyer is to prepare well in advance,” says Kenan Aksoz, Head of U.S. Bank’s Business Owner Advisory Services. “Ideally, you would start this process three or more years before your exit.”
Starting in advance gives you the time you need to get the business in order and be ready just in case a quick sale opportunity arises.

“For example, three years may be your time frame for selling, but you also have to consider the market’s time frame,” Aksoz says. “If you haven’t been preparing and a lucrative offer comes along, you might not be able to take it.”