Another important aspect of good sales preparation is to show the values of the company in order to make it even more attractive to potential buyers. Important here is a modern and professional external presentation, an update of the sales materials with a new appealing design and also a clearly visible internet presence.

In combination, this leads to the creation of a real brand for your company. Perceptible and credible activities in social media and in important industry platforms and portals as well as the creation of corporate or entrepreneurial films and appealing shots of the company premises complete the picture. Our experience shows that a very good external image can work wonders in the transaction process.

Therefore, you should not save in the wrong place and work with professionals like our colleagues at mi-marketing. In the financial area, you can show value by working together with your financial and tax advisors to raise the “hidden” reserves of your company and show them in the balance sheet, capitalise R&D expenditure and carry out revaluations of important assets.

Successfully created values that are also visible should also be measured regularly in the next preparation step. This makes the values generated by the sales preparation comprehensible for a potential buyer. In this course, operational and strategic controlling moves into the focus of the preparation measures, which also improve your operational business.

The establishment of KPI dashboards, clear monthly reports with the most important operative and financial key figures (profit, contribution margin, the three most important cost blocks, growth rates, number of orders, hits on the website, conversion rates, etc.) come into focus here. The accounting can also be converted and optimised to reflect profit centres and divisional revenues. In the course of this, a suitable ERP system can also be introduced. Here, too, cooperation with professional consultants like our colleagues from kreITiv is crucial for success.

The protection of the values created by you in your company should also be given sufficient space in the preparation of the sale. As an experienced business broker, we know that buyers are interested in companies with as few risks as possible. Therefore, the focus here is on minimising risks.

The establishment of a second management level credibly reduces the dependence on you as entrepreneur. The registration of patents, utility models and trademarks secures the intangible assets of your company. An analysis and optimisation of your IT infrastructure, also under IT security aspects, reduces the risk of your company falling victim to a hacker attack.

For you and also for many other owners of successful companies, the value created and thus possible sales proceeds are important informations. There are many methods with which a company value can be determined: the expected value based on the economic success, the net asset value based on the existing assets in the balance sheet and the market value through supply and demand.

Of course, in cooperation with our partners, we also carry out a company value assessment according to IDW for our clients (if you wish) or offer you the possibility of obtaining an initial rough indication with the QuickCheck. Unfortunately, all these calculated values are only theoretical, because the true value of a company results from supply and demand on the M&A market. Only a market price valuation will show you where you and your company are located. Therefore, after completing the appropriate preparation, start directly into the sales process!