10 Things to Consider When Selling Your IT Business

September 4, 20210
  1. NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS
    Make sure you get a signed non-disclosure agreement before any detailed discussions, and before sending over any financial information.

  2. PROFESSIONAL REPRESENTATION
    The individual/company interested in your business should have professional firms (accounting and law) if they are serious about acquiring.

  3. STAFF CONCERNS
    It’s expected that you will have genuine concern for your staff and their livelihoods, an acquisition does not equate to loosing staff, the staff are the backbone of the company and should be treated as such.

  4. POST-ACQUISITION BEST PRACTICE
    If you want, you should be able to maintain visibility of the business and see how it’s being run, post-acquisition.

  5. MODEL FOR SUCCESS
    You should know what “model for success” the buyer will implement for your business.

  6. CLEAR COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
    Make sure there are clear communication channels, and anything discussed worth noting, should be confirmed via email.

  7. GETTING DOCUMENTS IN ORDER
    Provide all requested information (your accountant should be able to help) such as financial statements, current management accounts etc for the buyer to value the business but remember to get your signed NDA (point 1).

  8. REASSURANCES
    Get all the reassurances you need that the business, you have worked tremendously hard for, will be in good hands.

  9. TRANSPARANCY
    If acquisition discussions are progressing do remain transparent with staff, do not leave this to the last minute. You should be able to get a good feel of how your business will be run during the negotiation process, as mentioned in point 4.

  10. SAY WHATS ON YOUR MIND
    Don’t be afraid to mention what is important to you, it’s a people business not numbers, if something doesn’t sit right with you say something sooner rather than later.