Selling your business requires for you to be prepared for the scrutiny and due diligence that buyers will demand. They will want to gain a full understanding of the current status of the business, which will include all things financial, as well as current executed contracts, relationships with key employees and vendors, any liabilities, and your standing in the marketplace. Once they show interest there are additional things you can do to increase their interest and move them toward a sale. Here is a checklist of things to do to make yourself the most attractive to buyers.

Make sure there are no reputation problems with your business

One key area to be examined will be any liabilities your business may have. Along with the traditional types of liabilities which are usually financial, buyers will also look for any negative information about you or the company circulating around the industry and the Internet. This negative information could have a detrimental impact on the business and as a result the value you affix to it. So, a smart thing to do is to hire an online reputation repair company to do in-depth research for any negative information about your business and then to repair or remove whatever is found and finally to monitor the web for any new negative information that may arise while you are selling your business and then suppress it. This should also include negative information about any key employees of the company.

Don’t hide any critical data or other important issues with the business

Many investors turn away from a business purchase when they find the current owner has not been forthcoming about any critical data or existing issues with the business. The focus is toward the newly discovered challenges for sure and how they may impact the attractiveness of the business. But also it causes additional worries to arise in the buyers mind about the ethics of the seller and what else is being kept hidden. If there are issues that may potentially jeopardize a transaction, a seller is not served by hiding his or her head in the sand. These issues will always surface, so it is far better to address them proactively, rather than have to take a defensive posture when they are uncovered. You can count on this type of behavior being a deal killer. So make the buyer aware of any issues and offer solutions or strategies to get them taken care of before the sale.

Present a plan for the growth of the business

Anyone wanting to buy your business will do so with the belief that the company has great prospects for growth. This growth might even be much more than you can currently achieve perhaps because of limited capital or other issues that may not affect the new owners. If you outline for a buyer where this growth can occur, it can easily translate into a greater value for your business. This is why it is a great idea to create a well thought out and realistic growth plan for the business. It should ideally be a road map to expansion opportunities that a new owner could exploit, assuming additional resources including more capital is available. The plan should identify areas where this new capital can be utilized and how it would be deployed to create maximum growth.

These are not the typical tins one would focus on when looking to sell their business, but they can be some of the most important Don’t overlook them and you can find yourself selling your business for more than you thought.