Lester de Vere & Richard Stevens are probably the Shore’s leading Business Brokers. Born and bred on the Shore they represent ABC Business Brokers in their home patch. They have spent many years in business themselves before taking on the role at ABC. Their passion is to 'help vendors transition through the sales process and creating a win-win for both seller and purchaser' Lester is ABC’s No.1 Auckland Salesperson in 2018 & 2020 and being named ABC’s Trusted Advisor of the Year 2018. Richard awarded the Rising Star of the Year 2020.
If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you really would be doing yourself a favour knowing what the market feels around the “window of worth/value” for your business.
There’s an ocean of difference when speaking to business owners who have actively engaged in working on the business, reviewing all aspects with the likes of:
• Operations.
• Staff – in relation to numbers, the mix of how they interact with each other, remuneration, any bonus schemes, discounts to maintain a loyal and happy crew, recognising who the key staff are... and keeping them happy if you’re contemplating selling.
• Contracts/supplier agreements – are they current and in writing?
• Lease details and what commitments you have coming up. Is the timing right for you to move on and is it best to go month by month for a new owner?
• Marketing. What does your business look like from outside in? Is there room for improvement? Is the website current and does it reflect where the business is at?
• Social media – how active are you? Has it been set up and left? Are the posts regular and consistent?
• Working manuals – do they exist? Are they updated and do they make it easy or relevant for an outsider to understand the processes?
There are plenty of questions to ask in understanding how you run your business. Without doubt, the first and immediate focus is always on the numbers, how the business is doing and what a new owner is likely to earn when taking over.
The cleaner the accounts are the better. There will always be questions - if there is a logical and quickly explained answer, the better the engagement from a potential buyer. Conversely, the more complex the accounts become, the harder to explain or believe, the greater the questioning, and inevitably this creates doubt, which in turn inevitably means communication goes quiet.
We would seriously urge you to give us a call and engage. There is no cost to find out where things are at in your industry and for you to get a very real feel as to where the market sees your business value. We do this through our own internal business sales statistics and supplied industry standards.
Cheers for now Lester & Richard
