• Preparation always adds value to the deal.
• The owner will be prepared, knowledgeable and ready in the event that the mythical figure walks in the door and makes an offer.
• The owner of a business is usually human, and unexpected death plays enough havoc with the lives of loved ones without them having to work out how to unlock the value inherent in the business.
• Similarly, business owners who become disabled or suffer some dread disease may require the business value to be released in order to provide treatment for them, or to have their families set up properly.
• Having a business constantly prepared for sale provides the best roadmap for a business owner on the long road to eventual exit and reaping the fruits of that career to maximum advantage.

Many of our clients return to us year after year to have their businesses valued, and they use this annual review as a sort of sound check on performance, make some adjustments, and move forward to the next valuation, a year later, all the time adding value to their businesses and their lives.

Some owners have had some remarkable successes through regular interventions; one memorable example is a business which has escalated in value over the years from 4M to 8M, then 13M and suddenly 38M, at which point it was successfully taken to the market. Another doubled in value over a three year period. These two shared a common conformity with suggested changes as a result of the Suitegum valuation and the Prepare Your Business For Sale™ seminar.

Others have had their businesses valued once, made some changes, added value, and then sold them several years later. That strategy has obviously worked for those sellers, but one could not help but wonder during the selling process if we couldn't be pushing for a higher price, if only more attention had been paid to some issues in the intervening years.

I suppose that we could say that we all need a specialist mentor in areas with which we do not deal as a matter of course. Most people sell one or two businesses in their entire lives. How could they possibly be au fait with all the aspects of selling strategy and tactics?