Being a Business Owner: Have I Created a Job or a Business?

October 17, 2008

If we look at history, true wealth in this country has been created by two sources. The first is buying and selling real estate. The second is being a business owner. It’s not necessarily when you own the business, but when you sell it. The number one question you need to ask yourself is, “if I don’t work, does my income stop?” If you answered yes, you may want to take the steps to create something you can sell at some point. There is a universal truth, at some point you will leave your business. If you have a business and it’s time to sell, what should you do first?

You should define your objectives. Recently at a meeting of WPO, 6 of 7 women business owners whom had sold their business were disappointed. Mostly because they didn’t have any idea what to expect during and mainly afterwards. Some of the objectives include;

• When is my departure date & what will I do after I sell my business;
• What is my business worth, will I achieve financial security with that number, is the number real;
• If I have a sole proprietorship, a C Corp or an LLC is an S Corp. status better;
• Do I have a partner, are our objectives the same, do we have a business will;
• Do you want to leave your business to a child, a key employee or sell to a third party

Next time; “what’s my business worth?”

-Anne Groth, Guest Blogger
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Filed under: Finance, Growing, Managing, Organization, Planning, Uncategorized

Tags: departure date, objectives, selling business, valuation