Just because you started or inherited a company doesn’t mean you need to spend your entire life dedicated to it.
After many years doing the same thing, business owners might become fed up. Many have already made enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives and now they would like to focus on other things. This is very common.
There are numerous owners that come to see us and explain how they want a change in their lives. They don’t want to become slaves to their own company.
Two business owners came to see us and explained that after twenty years doing the same thing, they wanted to sell their business and dedicate their energy to other exciting projects.
One of them wanted to give back to society and spend his time in an NGO that he had started. The other one wanted to sell in order to devote more time to his true passion, his family. The sale also allowed him to have time for other things, like playing golf with his friends. The process of searching for buyers began, and some of the buyers demanded that the owners stay in the company for some time.
We knew that this was not an option, as our clients already had other plans for their futures, we continued searching for buyers, and were finally able to find a buyer with a skilled management team capable of replacing those eight months after the acquisition.
The sale of a company is a complex process that lasts a minimum of six months and can be extended to twenty-four if negotiations with potential candidates fall through.
Experience has shown us that the average time of a professional sales transaction maximizing the interests of the seller takes around nine months. Therefore, if you are tired of your company, it´s time to start the sale process. Do it before this period of outstanding liquidity ends.
Article was written by Enrique Quemada, Chairman of ONEtoONE Corporate Finance Group
