OnwardHow do I handle the customers who only want to deal with me?
About a third of our commercial accounts call my cell for everything. They're loyal to me, not the company. How did other owners hand those relationships over without losing them?
Thinking about selling
Timing, readiness, valuation, and telling the people who matter.
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Request early accessWhen did you tell your team you were selling?
I have nine technicians and an office manager, most of them with me over ten years. I don't want anyone to hear it secondhand or start looking for another job before there's even a buyer. When did you tell your people, and how did you say it?
What I usually see work: nobody hears anything until there's a signed LOI. Then the owner tells the one or two people the buyer will depend on, in person, with a stay bonus already agreed. Everyone else hears it from the owner and the buyer…
See all 3 answersIs it worth getting a valuation before I'm ready to sell?
I'm probably three or four years out. A friend paid for a full valuation and said it changed how he ran the business for the last few years. Was it worth it for anyone else, or is it something to do once you're actually selling?
Worth it, if you treat it as a to-do list rather than a number. The value of a valuation three years out is seeing what drags the multiple down: customer concentration, the owner doing all the selling, books that need cleaning up. Those…
See all 2 answersHow the community works
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Members post under their own name and photo. Anyone can tick “Post anonymously” to post under an alias instead, with no name, no photo and no link to a profile or listing.
Experience, not advice
Members share what worked for them and why. For your own situation, the answer still comes from your attorney, accountant or lender.
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