Procrastination can cost you a lot!

I have found that many business owners want "X" for their business. But once valued, they discover that what they were hoping for was not a reality. They are advised on what to do to position themselves to garner what they hoped for. I suggested a step by step road map to increase sales, minimize taxes and protect existing value from loss. The owners agree to do so but then many years later, now in 2010, I find they are still pretty much doing the same thing and nothing new has been implemented.

The economic downturn has caused their cash flow to decrease, which means the companies value decreased as well. Now the seller still remains 5 years away from his exit due to the lack of taking action. Why does this happen?

Rationalizing Delay
I have found in my many years working with business owners, the most put off planning exists because they just can't get their arms around the scope of the project. Owners are just not sure they can complete the project or task at hand and others decide to wait to make a decision to exit when they feel the market is stronger.

If delay has been your choice, ask yourself the following:

*Will your company be ready for sale when that yet-to-be-decided day dawns?
*Will your company stand out from the thousands of others on the market?
*Will you be able to attract a buyer willing to pay a premium price for your company?
*If you believe the business is as ready as it will ever be, but it doesn't fetch an offer sufficient to provide you with financial security, what then?

Remember, even in active M&A years, the reality is that many businesses on the market do not sell. The main reason for this, I strongly believe is that most businesses are not ready to be sold when the owner is ready to sell. But, businesses do sell and some owners, even during difficult economic times, figure out how to get their companies ready to sell.

So....will you procrastinate?