Say Bye-Bye to Burnout: 5 Tips for Sellers

Selling a business isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon – one with a lot of hills and valleys.

It will most likely be six to twelve months from the initial evaluation and marketing of your business until you sign the final sale contract. Along the way, you’re bound to run into snags and disputes. Keeping a level head in these situations is key to your success.

Before you start the sale process, you need to reevaluate the way you respond to stress. If you react to every hangup along the way, you can sabotage your own sale. Let’s take a look at five of the best ways to bite burnout in the bum.

1. Set Your Boundaries and Stick to Them

Selling your business is a huge financial transaction. It makes sense that you want to be available all of the time to communicate about issues with the sale. But if you don’t set boundaries at the beginning of a transaction, you will feel like you’re on call for catastrophes every day.

Instead of waiting for the other shoe to drop, set up a schedule for when you will communicate with your business sale team, how often you expect updates, and what to do in the case of an emergency. Let them know what kind of issues to contact you about and which you trust them to handle on their own.

2. Delegate Tasks

Many business owners like to have control over every aspect of their day-to-day operations. And when it comes to selling their business, they’re no different.

But getting too involved in the sale process can complicate the transaction and cause unnecessary holdups. If you want to sell quickly and efficiently, then you need to trust your team.

Know that everyone working on the sale of your business has the same incentive as you do to close the deal. Learn to delegate tasks to the people that are qualified to perform them and trust their judgment.

3. Check-in Periodically, Not Constantly

Once you have delegated a task to someone else, you need to give them time to complete it. Checking in too often is one way to transfer tension from your shoulders to theirs.

Don’t create a supply chain of stress. Give the people working on the sale of your business the time and space they need to work effectively.

4. Communicate Your Expectations

Just like when you came up with a business plan when you started your company, you should also have a plan for selling it. By writing out what the sale process will look like and being clear about what you will and won’t accept, you can stop a lot of issues before they begin.

5. Reassure Your Employees

Many business owners wait to tell their employees that they are selling the business until the deal is completely made. They believe that it’s the only way to ensure they still have employees, fearing that they will get scared that they will lose their job and quit.

By reassuring your loyal and qualified employees that the transfer will run smoothly and letting them know what to expect once it’s complete, you can prevent disruptions in your business.

For Help Selling Your Business

Avoiding seller burnout is easier when you have the right team behind you. In order to be able to confidently delegate and not feel like you need to check in all of the time, you have to know that you can trust the people working on the sale of your business.

At Dolan Sales, we have been helping business owners just like you navigate the waters of ownership transfers. We are confident in our ability to create solid and beneficial contracts that close. If you’re considering listing your business for sale, contact us today.