Tonight I’m sitting here watching Jo decorate another house that she and her husband, Chip, have “fixed up”. On other nights I come home to Love It or List It with Hillary and David or Property Brothers with Drew and Jonathan because my wife loves HGTV.
I have come to realize that a new addition to my business is a fusion of my wife’s favorite HGTV shows. In part of my consulting practice, I serve clients as a “business” stager. I work with properties that have a lot of potential but for some reason need some cleaning up, remodeling, and staging. My goal is true Love It or List It: To make a business so nice that the owner no longer wants to sell it.
Some businesses just need a little touch up, a new P&L, some operational clean up and removal of too many lifestyle expenses. Some businesses need major renovation, a new product line, personnel changes, and/or marketing focus.
And like all the shows, no business exit plan unfolds like you expect. Asking owners to trust you to improve something they view as their baby is always more difficult than the initial agreement. The irony is that usually the result of helping someone stage his business for sale is the kindling of a new love affair with the business. The owner ends up loving it more than wanting to list it.
And of course, that is our goal. When you love what you have, the market offers buyers willing to pay a premium. We all want what we think isn’t for sale.
So when you want to sell your business remember to:
Remove the clutter.
Open it up to lean processes.
Upgrade to current technology features.
Set some goals that would make you a fool to sell your business.
Use professional staging.
A new Fixer Upper episode is coming on. Time to learn a few new tricks!
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