Selling your Illinois business may allow you to secure your financial future, whether you plan on retiring or simply starting a new chapter in your life. Liquidating your business may also be ideal if you don’t think it has room to grow from a profit or revenue perspective. You’ll need to consider several issues when conducting such a transaction.
Get the company ready for sale
Before putting your company on the market, you’ll want to make sure to have a complete set of books organized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. You will also want a complete list of client names and contact information.
It may also be a good idea to compile a list of vendors or other entities that are essential to your organization. Having this information available will enable a buyer to get a better understanding of your business, which will make it easier to make a deal without the need for possible business law litigation.
Determine your buyer
It’s possible that your ideal buyer already works for the company or that your employees will want to run the company as a cooperative after you’re gone. Alternatively, the right buyer for your business may be another corporation that can make use of your intellectual property.
Determine your asking price
There are several ways to appraise your company such as calculating the retail value of equipment, land or other assets it owns. It may also be acceptable to multiply the company’s revenue by 10, 20 or whatever figure is common in your sector of the economy. Finally, you could look at what other companies have sold for recently and base your sale price off of those numbers.
When a company is sold, the buyer assumes control of all assets and liabilities. However, you may be vulnerable to legal action if you fail to disclose an asset or liability during the sale process. A financial adviser or other outside parties may help you complete the sale process in a timely and proper manner.