Transitioning After the Sale
Selling your business is bittersweet. It's a new chapter, one filled with mixed emotions. You'll need to effectively navigate changes in involvement, communicate with stakeholders, and resolve conflicts for a smooth transition.
Selling your business is bittersweet. It's a new chapter, one filled with mixed emotions. You'll need to effectively navigate changes in involvement, communicate with stakeholders, and resolve conflicts for a smooth transition.
How to Communicate the News
Announcing deals often unintentionally stokes rumors based on limited information. Be proactive in addressing stakeholder concerns. Carefully consider timing, formats, and frequency for transparency without allowing distraction.
Employees
Explain expected impacts on roles, responsibilities, and futures post-close. Provide retention offers to valued talent.
Customers
Emphasize continuity in product or service quality levels.
Suppliers & Partners
Provide visibility into dependencies like inventory orders and roadmap transparency.
New Reality of Involvement
Post-close roles for owners range from complete departure to ongoing leadership, depending on deal structures. New governance can mean adjusting autonomy expectations for sellers used to unilateral control.
Consulting Role
Project or hourly work providing strategic advice
Employment Role
Salaried position, often with growth incentives
Board Role
Governance seat with influence tied to equity stake
Legacy Role
Ceremonial affiliation maintaining brand continuity
What If You Regret the Sale?
Seller's remorse is quite common. Even if you've done a deal you feel good about, you might find the transition difficult. You'll have less (or likely zero) control over your business. You'll have a lot more money than you did before, but the routine of your life will likely feel totally different. This is normal.
If you do end up feeling this kind of remorse, revisit your original motivations. Remind yourself why you wanted to sell the business, and what your goals were. Remember that the version of you that wanted to sell the business had very good reasons for doing so.
Conclusion: Key Steps to Selling Successfully
Decide when and why to sell
Reflect deeply on motivations, priorities, and ideal timelines for transition. Draft ambitious yet realistic objectives.
Prepare to sell
Methodically prepare relevant historical documentation regarding operations, finances, and ownership. Get your house in order.
Find buyers
Connect with thoughtful, pre-vetted buyers and do a deal on your terms, without forking over a huge portion to a broker.
Negotiate a deal
Scrutinize deal structure aspects like payment timelines, earnouts, and liability exposures as much as headline valuation multiples.
Due diligence & closing
Set reasonable expectations around duration and depth required. Develop structured rhythms for managing inquiries.
Transition post-sale
Over-communicate with employees, customers, and vendors. Assume positive intent when conflicts arise.
Sell Your Business Smoothly with Rejigg
We connect you with thoughtful, pre-vetted buyers and let you do a deal on your terms, without forking over a huge portion of your business to a broker.
Get Started Selling