Sell it Yourself or Hire a Business Supervisor

2misi.com

The biggest issue to consider is that any transaction, no matter how straightforward or simple, will take time and many hours of your actual involvement in meetings, discussions, negotiations, reviewing documents and other time consuming phases of the process. You need to ask yourself if this will distract you from continuing to operate your business. Although your goal is to sell the business, what if it doesn't sell? The last thing you want is to lose focus on your business for an extended period.

Using a Business Supervisor

 

The key benefits to hiring a supervisor are:

1. They allow you to run your business while it is being marketed for sale
2. They can be a good buffer between you and the buyer
3. They can handle the flow of documentation
4. They have done it before and have likely dealt with most challenges that can arise

Selling It on Your Own

Even without a supervisor's involvement, every transaction has intermediaries or at least should such as attorneys, accountants, mentors, advisors and business associates.

Here are a few things to consider before deciding:

• Do you really have the time to do this?
• A business sale involves a lot of preparation. Are you willing to properly package the business and invest in the necessary materials to do so?
• Do you have access to an experienced transactional attorney who can assist you and at what cost? On this note, while every attorney will claim to be a "deal maker" not a "deal breaker", many are in the latter category.
• Are you comfortable making all of the decisions you will face in the process?
• Have you ever sold a business before?
• Will selling it on your own take away from the day to day running of the business?

Summary

Ultimately I believe that the decision should come down to timing. If your business has just a few employees or is the type where you are heavily involved everyday, I would absolutely recommend hiring a business supervisor. If, on the other hand, you have sold a business or two before and have the necessary resources to commit to this project then it may be worth it to first attempt it on your own. However, if you do not generate a lot of activity or have a pending sale within three to four months, be humble and engage someone who does this for a living everyday.

http://www.2misi.com/article/2012/07/sell-it-yourself-or-hire-a-business-supervisor