Thinking of selling my business

[cull24]

I am thinking of selling my business and just looking for other peoples thought or suggestions that may have been through a similar situation.
My business was established in 1864 and is one of the only businesses of its kind in my city. I have worked in the business for 16 years and owned the business for 10 years after buying the last owner out who was a family friend. I am 38 and have always loved my job but since covid it has got a lot more stressful due to late and unknown delivery times of stock which then means my jobs are delayed then having to pass that news on to the customer just causes me sleepless nights and anxiety. I also have started to suffer badly with sciatica which impacts my job too.
My worries are if I keep trying to run the business but my health deteriorates over the next couple of years my turnover and profit will reduce and the business will not be worth as much in the long run. I have had the business valued and it is worth a good figure at the moment. So should I jump ship now?

 

[hikiwari]

Congratulations on making a success of your business.
It sounds as though you've already answered your question yourself.

 

[IanSuth]

if you do decide to jump - plan what to do next - that money will soon disappear if you don't and then you will have no seed capital

 

[YasmeenLondon]

It would be helpful to know a bit more about the niche and type of business, but from the limited details that you provided, mainly your health concerns, your fear that your job is affecting your health negatively and your fear that you might be unable to do what you do in the future, I think you should sell, with that said, if your only concern was the delay in receiving your stocks and the knock-on effect it has on your clients, then I would recommend investing in warehousing.

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

Very difficult to offer other ideas/opinions without really knowing what the business is and what you do. Aside from your health, the main issue being late deliveries seems odd and surely something that can be addressed?

As for having the business valued - search on here for various threads regarding "selling my business" or "valuing my business". What a business broker that wants you listed on their site tells you could be a long way away from what the business is worth...

 

[pentel]

What a business broker that wants you listed on their site tells you could be a long way away from what the business is worth...

This


And if you do find a buyer expect a long and expensive process to complete the sale.

 

[cjd]

How about getting in a manager?

 

[KeithGreen]

Please get in touch. I am a business sale adviser (or broker), but will listen, give you sound advice and provide a realistic valuation. I'll even tell you if I think you'd be better off using another service.

I've been doing this for 26 years now, so not really interested in b---s--- , just providing a quality service and getting the job done.

I've just had this from a prospective client
"Whilst this evaluation is very much lower than those of the two other companies I have approached, I do feel that it is more realistic and more in the ball park of what I expected."

 

[WaveJumper]

Stress can be a terrible thing and bring on all sorts of health issues if you're not careful. Whatever route you decide to take, selling the business etc etc please make sure you keep things in perspective if possible talk over all the business issues with friends local contacts etc. It will take time to sell and possible more stress if you're not careful.

Many many business's have been facing huge issues with deliveries so your not alone my own son had the very same issue during covid and part of his business was drop shipping for clients, so much grief came from this he totally dropped that part of the business. I remember one particular client who was giving him a lot of grief over delivery times, he pointed out the issues the world was having and it was rather out of his hands but was welcome to go else where. Following up with what actual line of business was this guy into, turned out he supplied photocopiers, how's that going he asked, oh its terrible ive not been able to get a machine into the country for six months, Brought a smile to my sons face.

So you're not alone, take care of that health.