How To Prepare A Small Business For Sale

We unpack what makes a business genuinely saleable, and why waiting until you are fed up is a costly time to exit. We share a practical checklist for sale readiness, from clean financials and contracts to systems, leadership, and transferability that keeps value high when the owner steps away. 
• why a saleable business is the real measure of business health 
• the risk of selling from emotion rather than strategy 
• what “turnkey” looks like and why owner dependency destroys value 
• thinking beyond profit to adjacent buyers and acquisition value 
• preparing for due diligence with three years of financial records 
• building transferable systems, documented processes, and clear SOPs 
• strengthening the team through leadership, retention, and succession planning 
• keeping contracts ready so deals do not go stale 
• using AI to speed up process documentation and quality control 
• the sale readiness scorecard and the simple business value formula 

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Disclaimer

The advice contained in this presentation is general in nature only and should not be acted on without first seeking professional advice.

Your personal circumstances have not been taken into account, and you should consider the appropriateness of the advice to your individual needs.

Transcript

Economic Turbulence And Business Fatigue

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hello and welcome back to the podcast My Accounting Advantage. Firstly, thank you everyone for all your feedback, suggestions, and requests of what you would like to have the program navigate you through this very challenging time with the changes in the Australian world of business. And joining us again on her podcast is Mai Harris. Mai, welcome back.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Thank you, Lee. So nice to be back.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Now we haven't recorded for a couple of weeks due to commitments of each other and being in different countries. And there's a lot going on in the world that has been very challenging. And for everyone listening to this, they're trying to cope with the understanding of these changes of regulations. How's it been for you as an accountant?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

It has been a bit of a whirlwind for me. And the past few weeks, you know, like since the announcement of the federal budget and the proposed changes to many of our, you know, taxes has been very challenging for a lot of people. And that's across the board. Doesn't matter if you n mum and dad who wants to invest or um you just going on everyday life being an employee, because you're feeling it. You're feeling that the confidence in the economy has dropped. There's a lot more tax law that you have to navigate. There's a lot of confusions out there as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

This is such an interesting part, and we will be going into our big topic of today, just for all our listeners who are feeling that turbulence. There's two sides to it. There's a lot of people saying to me, my, and all the business owners I know, I've had enough.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Um, I'm not even going to attempt to do it. I I think I'm going to exit. And I'll say to those people, which is part of our topic today, there's a lot in that. You've got to know what you're doing. It's not just putting your property on the market. You're putting the business on the market is totally different. And then there's people that I know a lot of senior management CEOs have just been let go. Yeah. And these are powerful people. They're not easy. It's not easy to just get out and get a job when you're in that level. So the one thing about small business is if your small business is functioning well, you've got a good product and there's a need for your service, you're incredibly protected in this turbulent world because you have control. And then the other side of that, if the business is going through some wobbles and you're having some challenges, you may be better off working within a business or part of a business, but each person's so different.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

But let's get into our topic

Why Exit Planning Really Matters

SPEAKER_01 2:45

today. And today's topic we're going to do in two parts. Part one is getting your business ready for sale. Because a lot of people don't understand the exit strategy no one plans for. And when we look at that, people say, Oh, one day I'm going to sell. And you should. The only reason you start a business is to sell it. And then some people love the business so much, thinking, I'll never sell it. And they think it's like one of their children or something. If a business is saleable, that is a true measure of is your business good? Yeah. Because if nobody wants to buy it, and if we take you out of it, meaning the person who's listening to this, it's not worth anything, well then it's not a business, it's a paid job. What's your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Basically, a saleable business is the business that can produce reliable profitability for its owner. It's not dependent on the business owner. And if that business owner decided that they want to go away for 90 days, the business keeps running. Everyone operates as per usual. So business as per usual, that means your business is ready, you know, and also sellable and also have a lot of value because someone outside of your business can just walk in and operate a turnkey business and still be profitable.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

How do you sell a business that's not profitable?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Well, you need to plan for it and you need to understand what key areas you require to work on in order to build that value and recognize where are the weaknesses within your business and at um what point that you are looking to sell and at what value. So it's all about planning ahead of time rather than looking at it and go, oh, um the there are so many changes to the rules and regulation and taxes, and I just have enough. My heart's not in it anymore. It's just all too hard. I'm going to sell. That is the worst time to sell. It's like anything. You're in a much better position if you don't have to do it. So you have that choice. You have that choice to walk away if it's not the right price, or the buyer is not the right person and they're not going to do your business justice, you can say no. So it's all about choices. But to have the choices in in that case, you must be in a position of power, in a position to negotiate. And how to ha be in that position is to recognize when, who you're going to sell the business to, and at what value. So there's a lot of planning that you need to do beforehand.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

This is so important. And many business owners are just so busy working in the business, they don't give this any thought. And my, just for the record, I've sold my business three times. And I've been very fortunate each time to find the right person or the right need. And sometimes people aren't buying the business because it's a profitable business that they want to rerun themselves. They may be making it part of something bigger. Yes. So I know I had a software service center with 22 girls in it. That's a very unusual business because the reason someone would buy that is trying to recruit 22 people is difficult with those skill sets. So that became a saleable item for a larger software company who instantly needed a service center. But the service center was lucky to break even. It was a service that we did part of something else. But I was able to package that up and do it. So just for our owners out there, it may be your business is sold to be part of something else. I was just mentioning to you off-air that I've got a business owner with 10,000 property managements.

SPEAKER_00 6:45

Yeah. Amazing.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

With 10,000 property managements, you look at the adjacent space. They're now about to buy a solar business to put solar on 10,000 properties. Because that's a lot of risk.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Yeah, it's just a compliment.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

They'll go to a solar business. They don't care if the solar business is profitable or not. They're looking for a good business with good workers. Yeah. Because suddenly, when we look at business, there's lead generation, lead conversion, client fulfillment. And for everyone listening to this podcast, you have those three swim lanes. Now the solar business going tough, maybe going, we just not get enough leads. What if lead generation was never going to be the issue because we have 10,000 roofs?

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

That's so it's just a good changing shape of how to think about it sometimes because I think some people get snookered and they think, I can't sell it. Who would buy it? It's it's in this spot. But there is adjacent space around you that may acquire you to be part of what they are. What's your thoughts on acquisition

Selling Through Acquisition And Adjacency

SPEAKER_01 7:44

like that?

SPEAKER_00 7:45

I think it's brilliant. And I think it's about taking a breath and just sitting down and thinking about what value you can add related, similar businesses. So who can be the potential ideal buyer of your business? I mean, you you've worked really hard building that business. And even though it's not generating, you know, life-changing income, it still could be of value to somebody. You never know. So it's how you market it as well, and um understanding how you can be a value-added service to another one. So I had that experience um a couple of years ago where um I had a business owner who does um tree lopping, and um he thought that no, he no one would actually purchase his business. And I said, Look, you never know. Um the business does a lot of um insurance claim, you know, and um so it has great reputation with insurance companies. So I said, look, just go and present your case to um other tree-lopping businesses, big ones that could take on your your insurance job. And um he said, no, no, well, I can't because I'm not making any money. And I said, it doesn't matter. You've been operating for um quite a while. So you have um intellectual properties that would be worth something and goodwill, like you know, you've got the um the contact details of those, you know, insurance companies and history that you worked with them. So just make a few phone calls.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

This is so good. You never know where the opportunity is. And something we've said on the show before, you can't read the label from inside the jar. And in two of my cases, I was purchased by customers who I was working for them. And for whatever reason, and both of them had different reasons, that they scaled to a bigger level and wanted to acquire us versus pay us. And for me, for both those timings, it worked well. And for those people that are thinking, but what would I do in one of those situations? I had to stay for three years, which I absolutely loved, and then I'm back out doing my own thing again. Yes. So you've got to think outside that box and look at all your customers and you don't know their reasons, and that and they may be thinking, Oh, um, that person wouldn't sell, so it's not a conversation. And maybe today's the day that you start thinking a little bit different. Yeah. And this program, this podcast has been maybe it's found you and designed to help you. So let's get into it. Most donors are too busy working in the business. We get that. Exit planning feels like a future problem when it could be the best thing that's ever happened. And I've had so many people say that best thing I've ever done was sell my business and live a different life. What is it we need to do in the planning stage at the very beginning? And we've just touched on it now of getting your professional thinking right, but what is it you need to do to get ready?

What Buyers Want In Due Diligence

SPEAKER_00 11:06

So to get ready, I think you need to understand what are the um critical sequence that you need to undertake before putting up your um before putting your business out there for sale. So the number one thing is to have um good financial records. So have a look at what you have at the moment. And if you were to purchase someone else's business, would you buy it if they can't even present you with financial statements? And if you don't have that, that's the must-have. Because what we are looking at, because we do um the due diligence um assessment as well at my accounting advantage, we always ask for three years, at least three years of financial records. So we have a look at the um, you know, financial statements um for the past three years, and have a look at the profitability and also the revenue, the consistency of that business's um revenue and potential also that it could generate the same or um increase revenue in the future. What are the potentials? And then um you need to also have really good systems that can be transferable. There is no value to a business where everything is living in the owner's minds because what um once you step away, no one knows what to do. They just, you know, um have to form their own system. Well, that's not what what a potential buyer wants. They want um a well-thought-through business um business with well thought-through systems. So you have to have that system in place. Again, your team, your current team, also need to have leadership. Someone that can lead your team. Your team are a strong team that work together very well and also have the same uh mentality of, you know, and work ethics, that would really um provide the comfort level to the um incoming owner as well. And then so the due diligence information that you also need to provide is your contracts, everything are in place. That will really strengthen your position to be able to put your business up for sale.

Systems And Team That Transfer

SPEAKER_01 13:54

This is so important. If you were putting your car on the market, you would clean it, detail it, polish it, you wouldn't drive it, it's the best it's ever looked because it's about to be inspected. Yeah, and you want that person to say yes. And I know that's a simple scenario, but it it is the same thing. You may need to update your website, get some uniforms because the next person coming in isn't tired. They're excited and they want to take the business further. Well, I just had a great example on the Gold Coast where a very long-established real estate business was very tired, a very old franchise, and the lady wanted to retire, she was ready to exit. But one of my young, pumped, brilliant real estate professional leaders has gone in there, and the whole place, it's like awakening. All the staff are excited again, he's tripled the numbers. Like you wouldn't think this little real estate business could do the numbers it's done, but the leader is the battery, so they're not coming in tired, they're coming in 20 years younger than the person leaving, and it's exciting. But it it could have been presented better. Yes. Uh she was very lucky that this person could just go, Well, I get it all, you you're tired, you're out of here, but let me add it. But when you're bringing your business, you you may not have that opportunity where someone could see through that. So just like detailing the car, get the business ready, do your due diligence. And this would be my tip: the contracts can take too

Present The Business Like A Buyer

SPEAKER_01 15:34

long.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

And I see people excited, and then the lawyers get involved, and it's gone on too long and too long, and then the buyer goes cold because it took so long.

SPEAKER_00 15:45

Yeah, yeah, the excitement's gone. Yeah, the deal's gone stale. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

What's your advice there?

SPEAKER_00 15:52

So basically, it's all about planning. Find the right buyers. Just go out there, have your contracts done, and um well prepare in advance. It's all in the preparation to achieve the price that you want and the um ideal buyer that will buy your business and do it justice. I think it's um a lot of thinking that will go into it and and being prepared is number one key to success, really, to anything. So to me, have a think about, you know, when you would like to exit the business. Make an exit plan well ahead, even though you feel like, no, I don't want to exit. You don't really know when that feeling's going to come. And sometimes it just takes

Contracts, Timing, And Selling On A High

SPEAKER_00 16:42

you by surprise because I have that. Um, all of a sudden, something changes in someone's life and they go, I just want to go. And that's where that's when you shouldn't be selling because emotion just took over. And um, when you want to sell is when you're at your peak. You know, when um top performers in an athlete, they retired when they're actually won the the title. And a lot of people go, but why would you? Well, that's where you want to be. You want to actually exit on a high and realize um the best price for your business. Come out with a trophy at the end, which is, you know, the the the best price for your business at the end of the day. And which means that you need to recognize that, okay, I have had a great five years. And can I see myself being here in the next five years? If the answer is no, start preparing now. Because then you need to go, well, we're at our peak of um profitability level. Perhaps that's when we start looking for the right buyer with um who will pay the right price for the business.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

So powerful. And what I really like about what you just said then is have your business prepared for sale every day.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Because the other thing is someone may knock on your door and say, I I know this is a long shot, but I want to buy your business. And you're thinking, but I can't. I haven't got this ready, this ready, this ready, this ready. Yet if you begin with the end in mind, and I love that thinking of, okay, one day I'm gonna sell my business and I want to get the return on investment that I deserve for all the hidden hours that no one ever knows that comes in from the business owner. Step one, build yourself a brochure about what is for sale. Yeah. Because someone's gonna say, what is it? What am I getting? How does it work? What if you're not here? Where's all the checklists? Who's all the suppliers? What guaranteed contracts have you got coming in? Show me. So gaining visibility of the business is important. And doing the brochure of what someone would read is technically the outline that goes to the lawyer to make all these things a legal contract of sale for the business being sold. Then we've got the financial due diligence where their accountants are going to want to see your accountant's numbers and no dodgy numbers, no PLs with a with a jet ski on it, all these, you know, it's time to clean up all those silly things that ha happen in, oh, but it's tax-deductible land. And then suddenly you've got a clean set of books, you've got a clean description of the business, the checklists of the business. I think people underestimate that because, oh, I know what I'm doing. Yeah, but you're not going to be here. So maybe you've got to sit down with a systems person, and you know, you and I do this all the time. I we'll record something, yeah, and then we'll use AI to create the checklist of that. And that's as simple for our listener as it could be. You may not be using AI, but AI can go over your recorded voice and do

The Brochure, Clean Books, And AI SOPs

SPEAKER_01 19:53

that documentation for you, and there'll be someone you know who's really good at AI, and this could be just a one-week process.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Yeah, it's a game changer. So um now these days you can create business processes in like fraction of the time that you used to that you used to take. So like um often we just record our meetings and then we identify what areas we need to improve, and then um and then the proposed changes. And um, like the other day, I was having a meeting um with my team about changing our processes for efficiencies and um also quality control. And we had like a two-hour meeting with the team. And after the the meeting, I transcribed all the um, you know, the meeting itself and then put it into AI and just said, look, give me a key summaries, and then um provide me with um the to-do list for each team member and also create a checklist um relevant to different key areas. And it just did. And all you have to do is review it, refined it, and then put it into your SOP. AI is the must that you investment that you must have in your business.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Mike, give us your executive summary thoughts. These are always a favorite part of the podcast for me. What have we got for today?

Sale Readiness Scorecard And Value Formula

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Well, today I have the sale readiness scorecard that I would like to give the listeners who are looking at planning their exits. So um there are five key areas. So um one of them is financial strength and operational strength, people's strength, and transferability. What we want to focus on, uh, number one, is your financial strength. It's all about, you know, consistency of your profitability in the business. You have good cash flow and you have reliable reporting in place. And then with the operational strength, it's all about documented system, process efficiency, and strong technology. Like you might have um automation. So that will make all the system run smoother and without it labor intensity. So that's very appealing to whoever it is that want to come in and they can operate the business without a team, for example. So, like a website that generates income, system that is automated, perfect. So that would add a lot of value to your business. People's strength, you have a leadership team, staff retention, succession planning. So if you have a well-structured team with a strong leader, that could create a lot of value for you. So it's worth developing that um within your organization. And, you know, have your team on board, let them have some say in terms of where the business would go next, you know, and what does transition look like in the future for them and for you. So everyone's on board with the potential sale of your business. And um transferability, it just means that your customer will stay because they value your brand, they value your system, and they value the existing team, and they're not depending on you. So where where does the business value come from? The biggest value come from a formula, which is profitability plus systems plus team, plus transferability minus owner dependency. So that's the key to your you know, increased or greater business value.

Next Week Preview And Close

SPEAKER_01 24:06

My a great program. Next week we're gonna be bringing in a business owner, Chef Daniel. Wow. And Chef Daniel has got some great questions as he's a business owner, he wants to sell one day in the future, and he's he's had many businesses. But it'd be interesting from his perspective to ask you those questions live about what does he need to know, especially with all these changes going on with the government. You know, that's not easy to navigate. And my great session today, we look forward to seeing you next week.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

Thank you, Lee, and looking forward to talking to Chef Daniel.