By Forbes Finance Council, Forbes featuring By JC Abusaid, CEO/President
Ensuring a smooth and secure transition is crucial during the selling process. Safeguarding yourself against potential pitfalls can make all the difference in protecting your interests and assets.
Below, 15 Forbes Finance Council members explore several effective ways to protect yourself while navigating the intricacies of selling off your business to a new proprietor. Whether you’re a first-time seller or an experienced entrepreneur, these insights will help you navigate the process with confidence and safeguard your interests.
1. Seek Guidance
Don’t navigate this journey alone. It’s critical to enlist the support of experts. Whether it’s hiring an attorney to tailor the agreement to your interests or engaging a tax expert to understand your company’s true value in the current market, seek professional advice before you decide to sell your business and surround yourself with advisors that will protect your rights throughout the process. – Puai Wichman, Ora Partners
9. Structure Transactions
Structure the deal as a stock sale, not an asset sale so the buyer takes on both the liabilities of the business and its assets, protecting the seller. Work with an attorney specializing in corporate transactions and familiar with your industry to help safeguard the structure and ensure reasonable earnout targets with no surprises. View this expense as an investment and hire someone you can trust. – John Abusaid, Halbert Hargrove
