Every entrepreneur wants to be able to sell his or her company one day for a profit – if they ever plan to sell at all. What are the ingredients to achieve this?

Firstly, it is vital that you time the sale correctly and have the right reason for selling in the first place. You need to be in a strong position so that a buyer does not use your personal situation against you. The best time to sell is when your business is successful, when you are still in good health, and when you are not being forced to sell; ideally, your reason for sale should be because you are thinking of retirement or planning to follow a different opportunity.

Be clear on what exactly you are selling. Create an inventory of your physical assets and other aspects, such as client lists, trademarks and goodwill. This will help you to decide on the value of your company. Different methods for doing this exist and it makes sense to have a professional valuation for it to be viewed favourably by potential customers.

Get everything in order so that you can demonstrate all necessary paperwork and records, including evidence that aspects such as insurance, maintenance and inventory levels have been maintained. Remember that a buyer will want to invest in a business that is well-run and thriving. Reduce any liabilities, such as outstanding invoices or tax payments.

It can be well worth hiring a professional to help you sell your business successfully. The process can be complex, and an objective professional can provide the impartial advice and steer that many entrepreneurs need to get to a successful sale point.

For most entrepreneurs, of course, the prospect of selling their business is many years away and the focus is on building a successful and thriving enterprise and asset base, a large and loyal customer base, a great operation, and plenty of goodwill and brand equity.

This means constantly investing in the business according to a good strategy. At Century Business Finance we provide attractive business loans to help entrepreneurs do just this.

Our loan offer

Our customers can borrow from £25k to £500k for an unsecured business loan or from £20k to £1m for a secured asset finance loan. Our finance packages offer the following benefits:

– Designed purely for businesses, as we don’t deal with individual customers.
– Excellent interest rates that start from 4.8 per cent.
– Business loans available for all purposes.
– Flexible loan terms of six months to five years.
– The ability to repay your loan early if you wish without penalty.
– No upfront fees or hidden charges.
– The help and support of an expert lending team.
– A quick process. Simply apply online in five minutes and we will make an instant lending decision so that the funds can be in your bank account the next working day.

Ready to lend

We accept nine out of ten business loan applications, making us one of the readiest business finance lenders on the market today. Contact us to find out more or to discuss your own situation, or simply apply quickly online for an instant business loan decision.