The best thing you can do to optimise your sales price is remove yourself from the business. That's right minimise the amount of time you spend in the business, by doing this you demonstrate that you have a sound business that is not reliant on you. Investors are likely to pay more for a business that is under management than an owner operator. An exit plan, exit strategy or succession plan as they are sometimes called should achieve an increased value for your business providing you have the time and desire to achieve this.
Financials:
Ensure that your financial accounts and management reports are in order and are easy to understand. Don't try and sell the business on what it might be doing, sell the business on what you can prove it is capable of achieving. The more detailed the information is the more confidence the buyer will have in wanting to acquire your business. Buyers will walk away if they feel that something is not right so be prepared to validate/prove any questions regarding your statements.
Operations Manual:
A detailed operations manual is a key selling point in any business transaction. An operations manual provides buyers an insight to your success and demonstrates that your business in well operated and worth purchasing. The systems and operations manual should be designed so the business runs with your minimum involvement, delegating tasks and catering for every eventuality.
Balance Sheet:
Stock - do not carry old or unwanted stock, have a clearance sale before you put the business on the market. The lower the stock the better the ROI. This is not to say that you should run your stocks down to a point that the operation looks uninviting.
Plant and Equipment - make sure that all your plant and equipment is in working order. If appropriate have it serviced and keep a record of services to show buyers at a later stage.
Debtors - make sure that you tidy up your accounts. Collect all outstanding, debtors.
Presentation
It is unlikely that you will sell at the highest price if the presentation of your business is not at the highest standard. Make sure that all areas are cleaned and if necessary painted.
The staff should be wearing the proper business uniform with their name tags or badges clearly displayed. Prospective buyers may want to talk to the staff this is fine but should only be allowed when the appropriate contract is in place and certain conditions have been satisfied.
Look at the areas of your business that require attention and if possible fix them. If you can't or don't want to be honest with buyers about any short comings that the business may have, but help them come up with a solution. optimise the sale price of your business but make it a win-win situation for both of you.
In principle there are several factors that will effect your sales price.
