If selling your startup appeals to you, will you make all the right moves to have a seamless sale or will it be an ordeal?
Selling a startup does not have to be like pulling teeth if you do all the right things.
With that in mind; how best to put your startup in position to be sold sooner than later?
Take Time to Get it Right
In hopes of selling your startup soon, here are some tips to help you along the way:
- Be prepared to put the company up for sale – The big key to get right is having your startup ready for sale. This means you’ve done your preparations and can better go about surviving due diligence. Failure to do so can make it more difficult to get a sale to go through. If this occurs, you could be stuck with a startup on your hands while looking to move along in your business world. Make sure all your paperwork is good to go. That is you are prepared to answer all questions buyers may have about your small business.
- Your online reputation – One other roadblock you could face is if you have a bad online reputation. Yes, in today’s social media world, such things do occur from time to time. When they do, it can be tough for a brand to get its footing with consumers. For one reason or another, your brand may be getting some negative press on social media sites. These sites can include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others. Do an online reputation search and see what people are saying about your brand. If there is some negative feedback out there, do your best to address it and put it behind you.
- Will employees be in the transaction? – When planning to sell your startup, will there be employees involved in the sale? If you worked as the only employee in your startup, you do not have to worry about answering such a question. On the flip side, if you have had employees under you all this time, what may happen to them when you look to sell? It would not be fair to them to leave them dangling. Be as upfront with them as you can be. Once you have decided to put your startup on the market for sale, you should notify employees of your plans. This gives them some time to determine what their next course of action will be. If moving on to another business, any chance you will want to offer the employees you have now a chance to go with you? If so, this could be an opportunity for them to not have to worry about finding other work. If this is not in the planning, at least give them as much notice as possible to find other employment options.
As you look to sell a startup, do all you can to make it a seamless transaction so you can move along to your next venture.