Mike Finger on Turning Your Dreams to Dollars

Dreams to Dollars: A Simple Approach

Does it Have to be Complicated?

Why is it that every story we hear about exiting is just the big businesses? This can be discouraging for small business owners who feel that their businesses are way too small.

But for small business owners, the good news is that there is a way to sell your business. 

In this segment of Own Your Future, we hear from Mike Finger, who has successfully sold 4 businesses and works with other small business owners who are interested in preparing to exit their business. 

According to Mike, In order to ensure that a business is in the best position for sale, there are a few simple rules to follow. 

Let go of your unicorn dream and unrealistic expectations. It’s important to understand that small business exits are completely different from big business exits. 

Set Aside the Complexity. Most small businesses that fail to sell are because of some small element of the business. Our ability to sell isn’t about some “mystical” number, but it’s about a simple approach  

To sell your small business you must have a buyer. The buyer is most likely an individual. It’s important to think about yourself as the one buying the business and that the buyer wants a long list of wants when buying a business. 

There are two primary needs that are going to dominate a buyer’s decision:

• They need to make a living and be compensated for their time. 
• They’re going to have to make loan payments and service the debt from the loan they took out to purchase your business. 

If you can do both of these things, you have increased your chances of successfully selling your business. 

There are three key questions to ask yourself when selling your business. We like to call it “The Three Ds of Selling”.

1. Are my results desirable? Look at your seller’s discretionary earnings and the financial benefit you receive from owning your business. The higher your seller’s discretionary earnings, the higher your purchase price for the business. 
2. Can a buyer duplicate my results? You should be able to transfer a business with the understanding that it does not need to depend on the owner to grow. Your results should exist elsewhere besides the original business owner. If you create a team and systems, it’s easier d’or someone to duplicate. 
3. Can I document my results? Is the traffic what you said it was? Do you have the necessary documentation? It’s important to keep clean records to ensure that your business is staying whole throughout the entire process.

If you can answer yes to all those three questions, you are much closer to a place where a small business exit can be successfully exited.

More of Mike’s sound and steady advice can be found on exitoasis.com.

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