Selling an owner operator business means convincing someone that they want to buy your job. No matter what type of business you have, there are two main things you need to do when selling an owner operator business.
First, you need to define your job. What is it that you do every day? How much time does it take? Aside from daily tasks, what are the biggest responsibilities associated with your job? You will want to make a list of things you do every day, things you do regularly and things that need to be done less regularly but are important. You will also want to think about the skills that are required vs nice to have. As you prepare to sell your business, you’ll need to be able to communicate to potential buyers what your job is and how the job would be similar or different under a new owner.
Second, you need to define how much you get paid for your job vs how much the business makes. If you pay yourself a salary, this is super easy! You make whatever the salary is and the business makes whatever is leftover. If you do not pay yourself a salary, then you’ll need find a way to quantify the value of your labor.
Once you have defined your job and how much it makes, then you will be able to talk intelligently to potential buyers about what it is you do and how much that is worth. When it comes to meeting potential buyers, they want to know what you do in detail. Providing them a realistic sense of what you do and how you do is the first step in creating a conversation about a business sale.
As always, when you’re consider selling your business, reach out to us for advice.
