How to Sell a Business for What It's Really Worth: No-nonsense secrets from a forensic accountant and CFO

Are you thinking about selling your business? This 90-minute read is filled with practical, step-by-step advice that will help you get the most cash for the blood, sweat, and tears you've invested.

Gerry T. Pandaleon, CPA, CMA, FCPA, brings three decades of experience as a CPA, controller, and CFO to this user-friendly guide to selling your business. Her lively, arm-around-your-shoulder style teaches you how to build equity into your business while preparing it for sale.

Every page weaves actionable advice with from-the-trenches examples so you can avoid stress and make your business more valuable to a buyer.

In How to Sell a Business For What It's Really Worth you will discover:

• The first (and smartest) thing you must do once you decide to sell
• How to steer clear of pitfalls that make buyers walk away
• Why buyers have different hot buttons, and how to react to them
• 17 questions you must answer before you put your business up for sale
• Why the golf course method of business valuation is not enough
• How your financial statements can reveal where to build equity
• Which sticking point can cost the most money and headaches - and how to control it
• Why it's smart to negotiate a consulting fee for yourself
• How to choose who stays and who goes in a merger
• How to keep your employees from running for the hills
• The one simple tactic that moves a dragging deal forward
• 10 red flags that you should not go through with the sell
• Why you should sell a failing business instead of fold it
• 12 interview questions you must ask your advisers
• The Dance of the Deal: what to expect in a typical scenario
• How to exit with grace and dignity

You will also get instant access to interactive, downloadable spreadsheets:

• Business Selling Timeline: list and track your business-selling activities
• Partial-Sell Calculator: translate a buy-in offer into actual dollars

Work through this book and you may find yourself owning a business that is so well-run and profitable that you decide not to sell it.