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Unlocking a Million Dollar Exit

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Hey you tycoons,

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Welcome to the Better Business Brief, where I share takeaways from:

• running a business I’m building to sell for millions
• my consulting with business owners building to sell for millions
• tips and tricks you can use to do the same

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While I am building my business, I am also serving as an associate business broker for one of the top brokers in the country. Because of this, I get to see in real time, every week, what businesses that are selling for millions of dollars look like. I get to speak to the owners of them. I get to review their valuations and financials. And I get to talk them through the logistics of their sale and plan with them. I have learned what separates the ones that do and do not sell for millions of dollars.

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Selling your business for millions might seem like a distant dream, but with the right strategy and execution, it’s entirely within reach.

From my experience selling businesses and working on high-stakes deals, the key to success lies in a well-planned approach. Here's how you can do it in 12 steps:

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1. Maximize Your Business Value: Understand what drives value in your business. Think about yourself from the perspective of someone who might buy your business. What are the things you’re not thinking of that they might find value in. For example, maybe they could sell more services to your customer list and make more than you do in your business with the list. Maybe they haven’t cracked the marketing channel you have and could do big things with your strategies in their business. These things give you leverage in a sale.
2. Adopt the Right Mindset: Success in selling your business starts with thinking strategically—like a general planning a war campaign. To really maximize the sale of your business, usually you need to sell at peak momentum and growth. This means you must mentally prepare ahead of time to be willing to pull the trigger when that time comes. That’s when people will pay the most.
3. Build Robust Systems: To make your business valuable without you staying in it, you need strong Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and streamlined operations to ensure your business runs smoothly under new ownership. If someone can buy your business and make money with it without having to figure things out on their own, they will pay more to be able to more effectively use their time.
4. Retain Key Talent: Everyone knows your employees are the backbone of your business. Keep them engaged and motivated going into preparations to sell your business, or else you might shake up the entire process. The moment you lose a key employee, a lot of the value of your business goes out the door with them.
5. Effective Delegation: I have a rule I like to share with anyone struggling to delegate. The 1-3-1 rule… Train your people to do this: whenever they have a problem, come to you with 1 clearly defined problem (not a bunch of ones that haven’t been thought through), 3 potential solutions, and 1 recommendation of the 3. This trains them to think and problem solve on their own. Someone will pay more for a business with this culture - I guarantee it.
6. Navigate Challenges with Flexibility: Be ready to adapt to unexpected challenges during the sale process. Understanding the buyer’s perspective and exploring different deal structures, like seller financing, can make the process smoother. There’s a higher likelihood you can get more money out of your sale if you open yourself up to alternative structures. This is because it gives the buyer more flexibility and ease of mind in the process.
7. Attract Multiple Buyers: The biggest mistake I see in business sales (and one I’ve made personally) is not talking to and entertaining enough buyers. Simply put, the more the merrier. Think of it like being at an auction. The more people bidding on your business, the more likely you are to get the price you want and the terms you want.
8. Control Your Narrative: The story you tell about your business is crucial. Present it in the best light while maintaining a healthy level of transparency to engage buyers without compromising your position. You don’t want to throw around skeletons in the closet, but you also want to create trust. It’s all about creating a balance here.
9. Choose the Right Advisors: The right advisor can make all the difference. Whether you choose a business broker, M&A firm, or exit planning partner, ensure they align with your goals. Ask about their background, their connections, potential buyers, and how they get paid. Make sure it makes sense for your situation.
10. Understand the Sale Process: From crafting marketing materials to finalizing the purchase agreement, knowing each step in the sale process will prepare you for a smooth transaction. There are a lot of intricacies and acronyms to learn. Whenever you hear things getting thrown around, look them up and make sure you understand what part of the process you are in and what’s expected of you and your counterparts.
11. Valuation Fundamentals: Valuing your business involves more than just numbers. Educate yourself on how profit, multiples, and other assets contribute to your business’s worth. I recommend getting a third party valuation done on your business to really position yourself well.
12. Plan for Life After the Sale: Selling your business is a major milestone, but it’s also the beginning of a new chapter. Do not let yourself get caught without a plan for after the sale, because there is a huge gap of purpose on the other side, and you will be in for a tough time mentally if you aren’t prepared with something to occupy yourself when your business is out of your hands. You may be ready to get out, but you will miss the work in a weird way. Trust me, I’ve been through it myself.

There is a lot more to a sale than this, but those are some of the key steps and things to know to be prepared. I also made a free video guide on all of this where I go much more in depth. If you want to really dive in and learn the process, find it here by clicking here.

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If reading this sparked ideas about how you might be able to better manage your upcoming sale or position yourself, or if you still have questions about all of this, I’d love to talk about it: Grab some time here and we can talk about how I might be able to help.

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Be great. Keeping growing and aspiring. And as always: I hope you got something from this.

If you did, share it with a friend who may too, as this is the best way for me to grow it and make this better.

They can even sign up here :)

Happy value-building to all of you!

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See you next time for Better Business Brief,

-Brody