Our Secret Seller continues their sale journey! This month it’s getting ready to sell

If you’re following our Secret Seller’s sale journey and loved our first episode, the second in the series, entitled ‘Getting Ready to Sell’ is below. If you haven’t read Episode 1, go back and check it out – it’s a great read!

When you’re selling a business, understanding exactly what you want from the sale and making your firm as acquirable and desirable as possible is vital. So, Brian worked closely with our client to help them prepare for what was to come, making the process as straightforward and stress-free as possible.

Our Secret Seller says: “So the decision to sell was made, but what’s next?

“The first part of this stage is what Brian described as a “data dump” where we had to pull together all the information we could possibly think of about the company – luckily Brian provided a handy spreadsheet detailing what was needed!

“This entailed everything from the advice areas we cover, the number of clients, and amounts held under management to our different service propositions, what staff we have, and their various packages. Plus, it incorporated the company’s financial details, PI cover and then the soft facts about what we were looking for.

• What would we like things to look like post-sale?
• Did we want to stay in the business after a handover? (definitely not!)
• What elements of how we work did we want to stay the same?
• Did we want our buyers to retain our staff?
• What about our office?

“It did feel like a lot of data at the time – but having it all together in one place and done upfront helped answer so many questions that were likely to come up during the next stages of the process. Plus, it definitely saved time.

“From all that data, Brian put together what he calls a “confidential profile”, and he gave our sale (now known as a “project”) a name – I hadn’t realised that this name would be used throughout the entire journey – luckily I liked it!

“It was a strange moment reading 20 years of hard labour put down on one A4 sheet of paper – this was really happening! We were putting ourselves out there, and damn we looked good! We hoped someone else would think so too.

“Once we had agreed with the confidential profile, it was over to Brian. He worked his magic and within two days Brian came back to say that five companies were interested in talking to us! By the end of the week, Brian emailed over a list of nine potential buyers who wanted to see us, and I was given the choice of who I wanted to see.

“I only knocked out one – a really big firm who I knew would work so differently with our clients that it just wasn’t even worth a conversation. However, at this point, I wanted to stay open to all possibilities – it really was all getting a bit real.

“In the end, Brian arranged buyer meetings with 11 different companies – but how that went is for next time!”

Get in touch

If you are looking to sell your business and want an organisation that looks after you and every single aspect of the process, speak to Melo. Email hello@melo.co.uk or call 0113 4656 111.