There's a very good article over on The Intuitive Business Blog about "How you know when your business is ready for sale".
Although it's obviously written by a US lawyer for US businesses (Joyce Colson, a partner at Colson Quinn) precisely the same points could apply to any UK-based business. She highlights - and I'll paraphrase a bit:
1. Customers: Do you have enough of them?
2. Corporate House Cleaning: We are not suggesting getting rid
of management. Rather, do you have your memorandum and articles of association up to date. Are you company books including any corporate minutes up to date and have you filed everything you need to at Companies House?
3. Employees: Have you got employment contracts in place? Are your stock options all clear?
4. Contracts. Do you have them? Where are they? Are they signed?
5. Assets, IP and otherwise: Do you have them? Trade marks, patents etc. Where are they? Do you own them?
6. Finances and Accounting: Have you clarified things with your accoutant and are they ready to act on the sale of the company?
7. Founders. Key Stockholders. Is everyone on board for the sale
of the company? What do your corporate documents require for the sale
of the business, e.g. simple majority, approval of
preferred shareholders? Do you have a shareholders agreement? If not, as Joyce says, " get one pronto".
She goes on:
"There is nothing like the potential of a sale to get people fighting over what may or not occur because of their failure to allocate who owns what in the company."
The whole article is well worth a read.
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