How To Prepare Your Company For An Acquisition
Deciding to sell off your company is a tough one, but sometimes it has to happen to keep the company going. What makes it even more difficult is that you also have to prepare the company to be acquired. You have to make sure the company’s finances are in order, that employees are aware of everything that’s happening, and that your clients have nothing to worry about. It’s a lot, but it’s not impossible. Here are a few ways you can prepare your business for acquisition.
What Are Your Goals In Selling?
Before you start the process of selling your company, you must have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve with this sale. Doing so will allow you to make an informed decision regarding the acquisition. Before you start working on the deal, make sure that you thoroughly understand the impact of the acquisition on your company’s future and brand. You’ll want to think about what the ideal buyer looks like in terms of their company culture and values, and if that aligns with your own company. If you take the time to figure this out in the beginning, you’ll be better prepared to achieve the most desirable outcome.
Get Help From Experts
One of the most important factors that you have to consider when it comes to preparing for an acquisition is having the right experts. These individuals will be able to help you position the company in the best possible way for your exit and are usually made up of attorneys, tax advisors, investment bankers, and other similar professionals. They will also be able to provide you with the necessary expertise to make the most of the opportunity.
Be Transparent With Your Team
Having a rock-solid team is ideal for any company, but this is especially so during an acquisition. The company that’s acquiring you will want to retain the best of the best from your team, and the best way to make sure everybody stays on board is to be open and honest with them. As soon as you’re able to, share with them the details of the acquisition. Let them know that things won’t be changing, that the company acquiring you is run very similarly and wants nothing more than to keep operations going as smoothly as possible. This will help everyone feel more comfortable and be more prepared for what is otherwise a rather major change for their job.
Reassure Your Clients And Partners
Since you’re selling off your company, you must ensure that your major customers won’t stop doing business with you after the sale. To do this, you must keep them in the loop about the acquisition. If the people they work with aren’t changing, let them know that. If your services might be more expensive, let them know things like that as well. This reassurance helps build trust between your company and its clients. Having loyal and happy clients is also good because they can act as references for an acquirer. When a buyer sees that the company their acquiring has happy customers, they try harder to retain those happy customers.
Originally published at http://victornotaro.com.
