Changes in legislation, decreased demand in the target market for goods and services, dumping by competitors, or lack of prospects and opportunities for business growth - for many entrepreneurs, such situations become a reason to change their field of activity. By submitting empty reports to regulatory authorities or liquidating an enterprise, you simply nullify all the efforts and resources invested in the company. On the other hand, the sale of existing companies allows you to cope with the issue of impossible financial obligations and even get out of a difficult situation with obtaining financial benefits. By choosing this option of closing a business, such as selling a company, you get the following advantages:

• Save time.
• Preservation and even increase of financial resources.
• No annoying checks or bureaucratic delays.

How to sell your business

So, you have firmly decided: “I want to sell the company and get a fair reward for it.” What next steps should I take? Follow this simple algorithm: 1. Fill out the form via the link.

2. Set the price for your company in the questionnaire or leave the field blank so that the specialists of LLC "UK EXPERT" can fairly evaluate the company.

3. Send the completed form by email, indicating the subject line “Sale of a ready-made company.”

4. After the necessary checks, your company will be in the directory. Now it will become available to entrepreneurs in Moscow and the regions who are interested in purchasing an existing business.

5. Subsequently, you and the buyer meet at the office of UK EXPERT LLC, enter into an agreement, and receive an advance payment.

6. The final stage of the transaction is carried out by a notary, accompanied by a lawyer from our company. After re-issuing the necessary documents, you receive the remaining amount.

Thanks to comprehensive support at all stages of the transaction, the purchase and sale of companies is carried out absolutely transparently and mutually beneficial. We take care of all the tasks involved in preparing your business for sale, as well as the associated costs. Thanks to this approach, clients of UK EXPERT LLC can sell existing companies on attractive terms and receive financial compensation for them instead of the numerous difficulties and losses that the liquidation of a company or submission of empty reports entails.

These days, a lot of talk is devoted to how to build a profitable business, organize your own business, create some kind of income-generating enterprise. In fact, as practice shows, there are a lot of people who want to engage in entrepreneurship. Even those who are far from the world of business would like to try themselves as the head of a company. However, today we will not talk about this.

The article is devoted to a slightly different topic. It will be useful for people who, on the contrary, want to get rid of their enterprise, want to find a way to sell the business and at the same time remain in a fairly favorable economic position. In it we will discuss a number of aspects related to such a sale. This is not only about directly finding a buyer, but also about various measures that should be taken before selling. In general, we will talk more broadly about how to sell a business, offering our advice on this or that issue.

Preparing the reason

First of all, if you decide to get rid of your business, we would recommend that you clearly define what is the reason for the sale and whether it can be called on the buyer. It’s one thing - it’s yours. An example would be a situation when you wanted to change the vector of your activities and, say, start organizing a completely different company. Or, let’s say, you’re basically tired of being an entrepreneur and want to take a little break. Then you can honestly say this to the buyer, who will certainly ask this question.

A completely different situation is when you are looking for information on how to sell a business due to its unprofitability, risk of collapse or difficulties facing the enterprise in the future. Of course, it is undesirable to talk about this, since, depending on the nature of the difficulties, not every person will undertake the management of your enterprise and, accordingly, its purchase. The same applies to profit: it is an obvious fact that the more a company earns, the more expensive it is sold. If your business scheme is unprofitable, they will buy it from you, most likely for next to nothing. In this case, we recommend either agreeing to a reduced price, or going through a difficult period in the life of the enterprise, achieving some kind of profitability, and then preparing to sell it. Then you can earn much more.

Future plans

All of us, including your buyer, are people. And man is a creature who simply must plan his future. We try to make plans, go through possible options for the development of events and do everything to look ahead. In the case of business activities, the situation is absolutely similar. And a buyer who is interested in your offer will also want to know what he can achieve, where he should move in the future, what profits he will receive. All this must be included in a business plan for your project and provided to the future buyer. This way, you will not only be able to quickly find someone willing to pay for your business, but you will also get the maximum benefit from the deal.

If the state of your business is such that it has no future prospects, we advise you to think about selling in parts, that is, getting rid of the assets that make up your company. To do this, you need to carry out a proper assessment in order to understand their market value.

Time

As you seek information on how to sell a business, time is your best friend. After all, the older a particular enterprise is, the more expensive it can be valued by the buyer. This is especially true if your business is successful and pays off.

There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. A person who wants to enter a particular business niche is ready to purchase an already functioning (and perhaps even unprofitable) enterprise operating in this area. And for you personally, this is the best option on how to sell a business quickly. The buyer wants to start work as soon as possible, but you, on the contrary, want to get rid of the rights to your business and receive compensation for it. For anyone looking for information on how to sell a business (it doesn't matter whether it's an individual entrepreneur or any other organizational form), finding people willing to try themselves in your niche is the best strategy for a successful sale and a profitable deal. And using time as a factor to add value to your enterprise is a good tactic.

Documentation and legal support

This advice, although very obvious, is of great importance. Contact professionals when it comes to selling your business. Record all the rights and obligations of the parties, write down every little detail if you want everything to work out in the best possible way. Otherwise, how can you sell a ready-made business (IP) and be sure that you will not be deceived?

Where we are talking about monetary relationships (and especially such large ones, as in the case of the sale of a company, for example), you should not abuse the honesty of other people. It is better to try to use all the tools that will protect you during the sales process. This is the answer to the question of whether it is a business (IP or LLC, it makes no difference).

Look for your buyer, don't wait for him

One interesting tip on how to sell a business quickly is to find someone willing to pay for your business. The mistake of many businessmen can be called personal expectations. They are waiting for a buyer to come to them and pay money. They believe that this will happen very soon. However, this approach cannot be called correct.

If you want to know how to sell an existing business quickly, think about who can actually buy it from you. We are now talking about such a specific product that a simple visitor “from the street” will not be able to pay you for your business. The real buyer can be either someone who is just starting out in this area (unlikely), or someone who already has experience in this business niche and knows what can be squeezed out of it. Most often, such people are the owners of a network of some points of provision of services, sales of goods, and so on.

Let's take a simple example: you own a restaurant, and you are looking for how to sell your business in order to get the maximum amount for it. In this case, it is best to write to the owners of restaurant chains, mainly those similar in theme to your establishment. It is quite possible that a person will seriously think about expanding his business by acquiring yours. So selling your business may not take so much time; the main thing is to look for a buyer, and not passively wait for him.

No, in fact, if you advertise for sale on various business forums and message boards, some people will be interested in you anyway. Nobody knows which of them can actually contribute the entire required amount and who plans to develop your business further. So to understand this, make suggestions. Communicate with potential buyers, offer them your business - and who knows, maybe you will interest someone enough to continue discussing a future transaction.

Hear the buyer

Another tip I would like to give to the seller of a business is to develop the ability to listen to the person who wants to buy your business. You must find out why he wants to buy your business, what he plans to do with it, what plans he has for the enterprise. You need this information to prepare yourself to submit your project correctly. After all, you can do this in different ways, changing approaches to describing and characterizing the business, changing your view of the prospects. This technique will make it possible to meet the expectations of a person who wants to buy your company. Applying it is the best key to how to sell a business profitably. Just convince the buyer that he can achieve the desired results by owning your company (customers, employees, assets). How to do this, you will see after you understand the goals of this person.

Protection

Another crucial point that anyone who wants to know how to sell a business needs to pay attention to is protecting your business. At first glance this is not so obvious, but in practice different situations occur. There are also cases when a person comes in the guise of a buyer, who in the future will simply steal your business. How does this happen? Read carefully so as not to lose your business.

So, this point is addressed, rather, not to any owner of a specific enterprise or institution, but to owners of businesses operating in the service sector. For example, this may concern the owner of a travel agency. After all, as we know, the most valuable tool of such enterprises is not a rented office with office equipment, but also the managers working with it. And there are so many different stories about how employees of a company stole its database and then started their own business! The same applies to the sale of a business.

There are stories when a person came to a company under the guise of a buyer and learned certain facts about it. Subsequently, he contacted the key managers of this company, offering them a substantial fee for starting work with his base in favor of another enterprise. Having lured people, such pseudo-buyers actually destroyed the entire business of the real owner of the base, creating their own structure in return. At one time, this became a real problem in the market: it is quite difficult to protect your database from theft, taking into account the fact that other people must work with it. Plus, the same situation can be repeated in relation to technologies used in production, as well as other not so obvious innovations and solutions operating in your business.

Protection mechanisms exist. Moreover, they are actively used by many companies. The customer base, for example, is tied to the enterprise itself, without giving full access to it to managers and salespeople working on the phone. With technologies and various know-how, the situation is similar: you can tell the buyer that there are certain ways to improve the financial performance of a business, “secrets of production” that you, alas, cannot reveal to the buyer at the acquaintance stage. Thus, the results of your work will be safe.

“Training” on competitors

Not sure if you've covered everything in your business description? Has all the information been published that may be of interest to the buyer and will become the best guide for him? Don't know how the negotiations will go, how to answer some of the questions, and what to do if they call you? The solution to all these and a host of other problems is very simple. It consists of “training” on your competitors. What is meant?

If you want to know how to sell a business with debts or how to get the most for your business, you can simply find competitors selling a similar type of business and write to them as a buyer. Believe me, they will provide you with as much information as possible regarding their company (since the seller will most likely be interested in selling).

This “training” is very useful. You immediately see the buyer’s behavior from the outside, notice the questions that your buyer wants to ask, and note the best answers that should be given.

Intermediaries

Today there are a lot of companies that help you get rid of your business. If you don’t want to do everything yourself, you can turn to one of them for help, describing the essence of the task. There are no difficulties in finding a company that will help sell a business. There is a huge amount of contact information, and you can also easily find reviews about the work of intermediaries. However, you should be prepared for the fact that you will be charged a commission for services provided. On the other hand, professional business sellers may have their own appraiser, who will help you, in turn, earn more for individual resources used in your business.

conclusions

In fact, such an important stage in the life of any entrepreneur and businessman as the sale of a business can be approached differently. For some, this situation can mean a serious loss and carry some kind of negative connotation: they say, they gave away what they tried and worked for so long. On the other hand, this same procedure can be considered as the next stage in your business career, as an opportunity to create a new project and earn more from it.

In any case, you will be able to earn some money for your enterprise, the amount of which will also determine the future mood of the seller. After all, someone understands that their brainchild should be valued much higher, while others, on the contrary, are very pleased with the deal and are glad that they have finally given up on this project. Each business sale story is unique, they happen to people, and there is nothing terrible or reprehensible about it. On the contrary, perhaps in new hands your project will bring more benefits, become more profitable and create new jobs.

If the company is no longer needed, then selling the LLC is the easiest solution to this issue. This procedure will eliminate the need to liquidate the company.

What is the procedure for selling an LLC?

To solve this issue, you can use several methods; we will try to answer in detail the question: how to sell an LLC with a zero balance.

Do everything yourself (this option is suitable for those who have free time, but no financial resources).

Seek help from specialists (an option for those who have financial capabilities, but do not have the time or desire to do this on their own).

How to assess the value of a company.

The cost assessment is carried out after a buyer is found. This verification is carried out by independent experts. A detailed study of the LLC is carried out, all reports and cash receipts are checked.

Choosing a method for selling an LLC

Let's consider the option of selling an LLC with one or more founders to a third party.

Registration takes place in the following sequence and does not require notarization:

The buyer acquires the status of a new community member.

Then the entire share in the LLC is sold to him.

By decision of the participant(s), a new general director is appointed and the address is changed.

The Federal Tax Service must be notified of such changes in order to enter information into the register.

When selling LLCs, they often use notarial registration of transactions. This is one of the fastest options; it does not involve the need to change the constituent documents, but additional expenses arise in connection with the services of a notary.

Documents for registration.

List of documents:

Application from a new participant.

A bank statement, from which it is clear that the new participant has paid for a share in the LLC.

Confirmation of payment of state duty.

A new version of the charter, or an addition listing changes.

Minutes description of the meeting, or the decision of the founder.

Offers from participants.

Agreements for the purchase and sale of shares owned by participants.

Consent from the spouse to the fact of alienation of the share in the presence of notarization or a marriage contract is presented.

LLC Charter.

Information on those who are members of the organization.

Papers indicating the place of payment of the state duty.

Documentary evidence that the share belongs to a particular person.

An extract from the register of legal entities with information about on what grounds and what share belongs to a particular person.

Data on the creation of a company, in the form of an agreement and a separate decision.

Submission process:

After collection, all necessary papers are handed over to representatives of the tax authorities.

The documents must be sent by the general director if the sale is carried out through the participant's entry into the LLC.

If notarization is used, then the notary himself is responsible for this procedure.

Documents are handed over by the General Director personally. Or the order can be entrusted to an official representative, if he has the appropriate authority.

How to sell an LLC with debts?

It is best to contact organizations that specialize in selling LLCs. Business brokers will select the optimal buyer who meets all requirements and conditions.

The sale of ready-made businesses, both large and small and medium-sized, is becoming increasingly common in Russia. At the same time, as in the case of a purchase, you can make many mistakes and end up with a lot of unnecessary hassle. Therefore, it is better to sell a business, even a very successful one, “according to all the rules.”

When selling a business, you can use the following algorithm of actions:

1. Determine the “weight” of the reason

The first step is to try to analyze your own motives: is your desire to sell your business due to “momentary weakness” and fatigue, or did it arise for completely objective reasons? In the first case, it is better to pause, rest, and only then make a decision to sell the business. In the second, of course, the business must be prepared for sale.

Experts identify a number of compelling reasons for selling a business, dividing them into groups:

Economic reasons:

For a long time, a business gives less return than you can get without risking or straining - for example, by depositing the same funds in the bank;
- there is a chronic lack of working capital, as a result the company does not operate at full capacity and is gradually eating itself up;

Organizational reasons:

It is not possible to select a good team, install a decent management system, payment system, stimulating results, etc.;
- it is not possible to find and close loopholes for significant leakage of funds, information, clientele, etc.

Production and commercial reasons:

It is not possible to effectively promote the product, withstand competition, update equipment and product range;
- the sales system is vulnerable and weak;
- the company is on the decline, losing ground and is close to losing its market share;
- significant structural changes have occurred among consumers.

Psychological reasons:

The owner of the business switches to a new business, is busy with other problems that distract him from the business;
- in the owner’s character there is a dislike for routine, for the pedantic monotony of maintaining the functionality of the business.

2. Identify prospects

Consider whether your business is of value to anyone other than you and whether it has future prospects. Analyze whether it makes sense to spend time and resources on selling the company - maybe it’s easier to liquidate it?

Assess the market value of your tangible assets - it may be much more profitable to sell the assets in parts than the entire business at once. Look at the value of similar assets on stock exchanges or stores; if possible and relatively inexpensive, hire a professional appraiser.

Please note: the value of your business may also be non-financial.

3. Decide on a time

Think: is it time to sell your business right now? Is this a good time to sell? How will the business price change tomorrow? What steps can be taken to increase the value of the company? How easily and quickly can you obtain the necessary documents, certificates (for example, an audit report, an expert assessment, etc.) indicating the position and reputation of the company being sold?

Think about what additional measures you can implement that increase the value of your business? For example, reorganization, retraining of personnel, increasing productivity, concluding new long-term contracts, etc. Another interesting advice from experts: update the design of the company’s premises so that they make a pleasant impression on potential buyers.

Please note: the business being sold must have a fairly long history, fame in the market and regular customers. When an enterprise reaches self-sufficiency (in most cases, this is a period of 0.5 to 2 years) is not yet a reason to sell. It is necessary for the company to exist for at least 3-4 years. It is during this period that the business goes through the initial stage and reaches sustainable growth. The only exceptions can be companies operating in those market segments where there is an acute supply shortage. Often they are successfully sold within 4-6 months after creation.

4. Gather the necessary documents

Start collecting the necessary documents. If the size and capabilities of your business allow it, take care of an audit report. The level of such securities and independent assessments by licensed auditors and appraisers can greatly facilitate the buyer’s purchase decision. In addition, the sales time will be significantly reduced - after all, there may be several potential buyers, and each of them will be spared the need to carry out the inspection themselves.

Review all contracts that have value in the sale. If, for example, the rental period for premises expires, try to extend the contract. If you are selling real estate, evaluate it and get fresh certificates. Prepare copies of balance sheets with all attachments. It is very useful to stock up on certificates and recommendations from the bank about the absence of debt, as well as account turnover.

There are many methods for valuing a business. They were described in the article about purchasing a ready-made business on our website.

Please note: depending on the size of the business, the cost of services of professionals with weight, reputation, experience and appropriate licenses can cost from 3 to 13% of the cost of the business. Such expenses when selling a small business are unreasonable. However, this significantly saves effort and money when selling companies worth $100,000 or more.

Important: the business price indicated in the final report is the opinion of an independent appraiser, but nothing more. The buyer has every right to disagree with this opinion and offer his own price during the negotiations. In the West, as a rule, the estimated value of a company differs slightly from the price of the transaction. In Russian reality, this discrepancy is often more than 30%.

6. Determine the circle of buyers and start searching for them

Think: who are your potential customers? The owner can independently outline the circle of potential buyers who may be interested in purchasing the business and begin to contact them. Experts recommend finding at least several possible buyers. After all, a situation very often occurs when the owner of a business begins to think about selling it only when someone approaches him with an offer to buy. A mutually disadvantageous situation arises: one buyer - one seller. It is very difficult to get the maximum price here; the issue of increasing the value of the business can be considered if there are at least two buyers. According to experts, in this case the business can be sold on average 10-15% more expensive.

Please note: the number of buyers who may be interested in companies valued between $1 million and $10 million is quite limited. The main activity of buyers today is observed in two price segments. The first is 300-900 thousand dollars, where private investors are active. The second is more than $10 million, when large financial and industrial groups come into play.

7. Select the most interesting offers and start negotiations

The rules for conducting such negotiations are also described in the article on purchasing an existing business on our website. With the only exception that they must be carried out in the interests of the seller. As a result, you will choose the most interesting offer in terms of price.

8. Take a deposit

A buyer who is seriously interested in buying your business will be willing to make a deposit. After which, it will begin a full-scale verification of all submitted documents and your business. Provide him with full cooperation - any resistance in providing information or access to the site will alert and repel the buyer. And you will have to look for a buyer again!

Please note: the verification process may take several months.

9. Sell your business!