You’ve spent years trying to create a life you love and a business that supports it, but you can’t shake the feeling that you’ve outgrown your business. 

That’s exactly what happened to me after seven years of running The Contract Shop®. It was a business that I grew from the ground up, nurtured it to success, and it even helped me through some challenging times in my life. So when I signed on the dotted line to complete the sale, yeah…I was pretty sad.

But I knew it was for the best. And as I move forward, I really want to shed some light on what this process is like because there aren’t a lot of resources out there for small online business owners. 

It seems like no one is talking about it in the online business space — and I want to change that. 
So today, I’m going to take the lessons I’ve learned from selling my digital product shop and how those lessons can be applied to prepare your business for sale.

Think about what else you want to do

Selling your business can be the start of a new chapter in your life. While it’s bittersweet, think about all the possibilities that can come from that extra money. Even if you don’t think your business is worth much, you can probably still make a good amount from it.

I mean…even just $50K is enough to change things in anyone’s life. It doesn’t need to be upwards of a million dollars for you to make a profit from it. 

What I’m most looking forward to next are all the other ways I can make money passively. My husband and I are now looking at properties out in Colorado to get into real estate. I’ve spent so much of my career talking about legal terminology and digital products that I got sick of it— and I’m ready to see what happens next. 

Don’t underestimate what getting up every day and being excited about what you do can do for your life. 

Look for ways to make your business more attractive to potential buyers

This is great news: Getting a valuation from a brokerage is free! The worst thing that can happen is they turn you down as a client and tell you to improve on a few things before you go to market. You’re getting free advice at that point and can see what it will take to get your business sold in the future. 

You don’t have to change the business’ values (you built that thing from the ground up — totally understandable you’d want to keep the integrity intact), but those brokers know what they’re talking about when it comes to buying and selling businesses. 

Keep an eye on industry trends

It’s not a bad idea to keep a close eye on your competition or other people in your industry to see what they’re doing. Are they buckling up to sell? Are they having success selling? This could be very telling of how your business will do on the market. 

But at the same time, don’t send yourself into a spiral with comparisonitis. That happened to me, and I had to step away from this process for a few days to recenter myself. It’s easy to get wrapped up in what everyone else is doing that you forget you’ve also got a good thing going. 

Keeping up with the trends here is nothing more than a gauge to see if you’re on the right track. That’s it!

My advice? Selling is better than constant worry about the market

It’s no secret we’re in a recession. And I won’t lie to you, it was a big factor in my decision to sell. I wanted to set myself up to be in a better place financially. 

And I truly think that selling your business (If it’s been something you have thought about, not just a spur-of-the-moment idea) and having that cash in hand is better than constantly worrying about how your business will fare through a recession.  

Make sure you stay true to yourself

You had that plan for a reason. Trust yourself. You knew what you were doing all along and past you had their reasons for wanting to sell. Don’t backtrack out of fear. If it’s really something you want to do, then go for it. Don’t stand in your own way!

Avoid forced sales

Things happen. You get sick. Your dog has an emergency vet visit. You’ve got a shit ton of home repairs due to a natural disaster. I know these sound like things that aren’t very likely in your day-to-day, but they do happen. (Ask me how I know.)

It’s not something to panic about, but it’s better to sell your business before you get into any of those situations. By preparing early, you have more control over the process, the terms of the sale, and the price tag, instead of just taking the first thing that comes your way because you need the money. 

Mistakes were made

Overall, I’m glad things panned out the way they did for my personal journey. I got a great deal for The Contract Shop® and it sold insanely fast. But that doesn’t mean it was perfect!

Looking back, there are some things I wish I had known before putting it up for sale. If you want to avoid the same type of regrets I have with selling my biz, then check out the video below! I’m covering the top 3 things I would have done differently while selling my business.