Your Exit Strategy is Your Roadmap to a Successful Sale
Thinking about selling your home staging business? You have been running your business for years and now you are moving onto another phase of your life and want to sell your business for the highest amount possible and you want to do it NOW. Your exit strategy is your roadmap to a successful sale and an avenue to getting more than you ever thought possible when selling your business.
The initial business plan you created prior to beginning your home staging business should have outlined your exit strategy. Even if it was just a rough estimate, you will have continued to update your business plan and fleshed out your exit strategy as the years went by. It’s important that you begin outlining your final exit plan at least a year prior to selling the business.
Prior to marketing your business for sale there are steps you need to take to assure that you are selling to the right person, at the right price, with the right terms that benefit both you and the buyer, and most importantly that you have a strategic tax plan in place prior to signing the sales contract…in essence, an exit strategy. In the general scheme of things, home staging is a fairly new industry and to date very few stagers have successfully sold their entire business. Many have sold off their inventory, but that leaves money on the table.
The first key strategy in the sale of your business is to work with a business broker to learn key factors that are taken into consideration in the sale of a business and begin working on those items immediately. Once you have these key considerations in place the broker will begin marketing the business.
The second key strategy is putting together a plan on how you are going to disseminate news of the sale to key individuals. Long before you close on the sale of your business you need to consider how you will go about notifying your employees, clients and agents, vendors and the media. That said, confidentiality is a key component in the sale of any business, and you want to do everything in your power to assure that information relating to the sale does not begin to leak out to these key players.
The following announcements should take place virtually simultaneously as once the “cat is out of the bag” information will begin flowing throughout the industry.
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ANNOUNCEMENT TO EMPLOYEES
In most cases the new owner will have agreed to retain the company’s employees for at least a specified period. It is important that you initially speak with employees as a group and then schedule individual meetings with each employee. Plan to make this an upbeat, enjoyable get-together with refreshments in a relaxed atmosphere. It’s human nature that employees will be nervous about the change and ultimate transition and your job is to assuage these feelings as much as possible.
Thank your employees for their loyal service. Share your future plans with the group and introduce the new owner espousing the attributes of the new owner and benefits they will bring to the company. At this point the new owner will step up and provide employees with their goals and vision for the company with the main goal of assuring employees that their positions are safe and they are a valuable part of the new team.
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ANNOUNCEMENT TO CUSTOMERS
This works best as a two-step process. Hopefully, everyone involved in the process has adhered to the confidentiality agreement and your current client has not received word of the sale. Once the sale is complete you should immediately begin contacting key clients via phone. During this call you will advise clients of the sale, let them know who has purchased the business, give a brief background of the buyer and assure the clients that the new owner has the client’s best interest at heart and that they will continue to offer the high level of service that you have previously provided.
Prior to the close of this conversation try to set up a time for you to personally introduce the customers to the new owner. I call this the passing of the torch. This allows the new owner to get a feel for your relationship with the clients and makes it much more comfortable for all involved in the process. If you have an extremely large client base you may want to send out a letter of appreciation and provide them with the new contact information.
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ANNOUNCEMENT TO VENDORS
You most likely have a list of service providers and outside contractors that have played a pivotal role in supporting your business. Once you have contacted your customers plan to call each of your vendors. It may seem easier to send out an email, but vendors will appreciate a personal call and they will most likely have questions about continuing to have their services utilized by the new owner. It is a good idea to set up a joint meeting between you, the vendors, and the new owner to make the introductions, answer any questions regarding the relationship and once again, to pass the baton.
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ANNOUNCEMENT TO MEDIA
The business section of most publications is always interested in news stories. Prior to the sale it is a good idea to prepare a press release announcing the sale of the business and to outline the experience, goals, and background of the new owner. If you are starting a new business venture after the sale of your business, you can certainly share it in this same press release. The new owner will then begin to build their own, unique media presence with a follow up and other subsequent press releases.
As with planning for a successful staging project, it takes careful planning to create your exit strategy to assure the successful sale and transition to new ownership. This advance planning is one of the most important aspects to consider as you plan the sale of your staging business.
Read my blog about what I wish I knew before selling my staging business here.
Take these 5 steps if you want to sell your staging business in the future.
- 5 Actions To Take Now If You Want To Sell Your Staging Business - February 18, 2021
- Do You Have An Exit Strategy For Your Staging Business? - February 15, 2021
- What IWish I Knew Before Selling My Staging Business - February 6, 2021
