581. Expert Interview: Helping Baby Boomers Sell Their Businesses

When someone creates and builds a business, it becomes very personal, an extension of himself or herself. The decision to sell it demands personal clarity about motivation for selling and a clear idea about what will come next in life. In fact, many sellers experience the classic phases of grief. And the process of selling a company requires many specialized skills which the average person does not possess. It’s very difficult to view one’s own company and its value in the objective, detached way the market demands.

Because the challenge of selling your own business is often beyond your experience, it is helpful to work with professionals who not only have the specialized “hard skills”—accurate valuation, analysis of strengths and weaknesses, sales potential—but who also understand the “soft side”, the human side, because they have personally experienced selling businesses of their own. Baby Boomers who sell their companies still have many years to live. Planning ahead to what comes after the sale can be just as important as the sale itself, yet this is often left unaddressed by the typical consulting firm. Emery tackles this and other challenges in his book, “Turn Your Blood, Sweat and Tears into Cash: A Guide to Sell Your Business”