Congruence

Congruence explains how things correspond or agree with each other and it has EVERYTHING to do with selling your business.

Many buyers mystery visit your business before they make an offer on it. They want to see how your website, collateral materials, products, and staff interact with them as a customer. If you own a tire shop, they'll ask for a quote on a new set of tires and might even buy a set if they're really in the market. If you're a restaurant, they'll come have dinner. While the financials will tell them if it's a good financial investment, the other non-financial items need to be congruent with what you're telling them about your business. They aren't just buying your business, they're buying your reputation and they don't want to be embarrassed to take friends and family to their new business on day one. Bottom line: If your service doesn't match your advertising claims, then you're going to get less at the closing table.

Here are few housekeeping items to think about before you list your business for sale:

* Is your store or office clean and presentable? Dirt and clutter signifies less attention to detail.

* Have you thrown away any equipment that is not in working order? Broken stuff equals broken business.

* Have you gotten rid of any inventory that can't sell? Can't sell equals bad sales.

* Are your website and marketing materials professional and do they paint your business in the best possible light? Looking cheap means you're cheap.

* Are all of your staff fully-trained and are they consistently delivering top notch customer service? Untrained and/or rude staff means you don't value people.

There's loads more to this but you get the picture. You might need to paint some walls, fix a broken sign, throw away some old inventory, or send a few folks to training. It might even be worth it to hire mystery shoppers to help you see what your customer sees...but isn't it worth it to get top dollar when you sell?