Selling a corporation is like any different risky endeavor:  it needs a contingency plan.  Not withstanding your best planning, execution, and communication before, throughout, and after the transition, some workers inevitably believe they can not work well with the new owner and situation. This represents true risk.  Be humble and realistic.  Don’t assume their ongoing loyalty to the business.   While you have your exit trategy, they could have one, too.

Sadly, when business owners are thinking about the method to sell a business, they seldom appreciate totally the consequences of personnel leaving. Ironically, they impose recovery plans against losing technology, facilities, or equipment, however they don’t take the identical precautions to protect against losing people.  And selling an organization will produce anxiety and uncertainty that will cause a range of your employees to leave.

Therefore, you need to proactively anticipate what crucial operations would be disrupted by losing personnel. If somebody crucial to the operation of your business left throughout the selling process, would it noticeably disrupt your business or maybe the sale?

Document essential processes, together with the activities, personnel, and equipment associated with them.  Within the tumult of every day business activities, plus the strain of selling a company, it is simple to let documentation slip to the lowest priority.  Doing therefore represents a risk at any time, but additionally so after you sell a company.

What to attack first?  The guidelines are easy -: consider:

• processes are vital in generating revenue and which bring greatest worth to clients
• is that activity a core competency or a marketplace differentiator?
• processes consistently have issues and which rely too heavily on too few people to resolve.

Look for congruency of a crucial method with a few irreplaceable resources, and begin contingency designing and documentation there.

We are aware of a promblem inside a small printing company where everybody on the sales floor was cross-training on all presses. A smart move whether being sold, it prevents a problem surfacing and potentially damaging the selling process.

Irrespective of how smoothly selling an organization goes, it represents threatening change and risk which will spur your best and longest term staff to look elsewhere.  Do not underestimate the impact selling a business can have on morale, productivity and employee turnover.  It would be wise to be thoughtful and ready when considering how staff might react.

This is often possibly a once in a lifetime deal for you and your family.  Good business owners wanting to transition out do all that they can to protect and improve the business valuation at each opportunity.  Having a backup plan for key employees and documenting what they are doing needs to be in your project strategy to sell a business.

I invite you to use these ideas throughout your journey to sell a business.

Marian Cook is a highly sought after business transition expert and speaker with over 25 years experience helping business owners design their best-life exit strategy, and improve their business performance and valuation.  She is the co-author of “Selling Your Business For More:  Maximizing Returns For You, Your Family and Your Business” (published by Macmillan).  If you are ready to sell a business and jump-start your business sale process, connect with Marian via her free tips, articles, checklists and blog at Business Transition Experts.

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