Grow your business using better financial intelligence | Corelytics financial dashboard

Over the last several months I have met a few owners of IT service firms that have told me, in confidence, that they would like to sell their companies because they have concerns in their ability to keep earning revenues to support the growth of the business.

1. Lost a big client and revenues are down significantly – a big hit to revenues makes the most experienced business owners scratch their heads thinking where they might make up that gap
2. Trouble engaging in marketing campaigns that result in business – this is especially true for IT service firms who have not had to market services in an organized way before
3. No clear picture of financial needs for business to grow – having no understanding of the financial requirements to grow a business to the next stage often keeps businesses on a plateau they feel they are unable to move to the next stage
4. Unable to make the transition to managed services revenue model – the entire industry is putting pressure to move to managed services (for great reason) and some IT service providers are having trouble making that transition and getting left behind
5. Worried about the economy and ability to sustain your existing revenues – the economy always fluctuates, everyone is living in this new reality so you are not alone.

Whatever the reason you think you may want to sell, let me encourage you not to sell – why? – because the best time to sell is when you do not need to. This will ensure you do not take less than what your business or revenue is worth. If you are thinking of selling your business, do yourself a favor; spend 90 days to polish it up prior to the sale.

• Evaluate your current client portfolio to determine how much value (in monthly revenues) exists – this is what a buyer will most certainly ask, so you might as well have a clear answer. Read Portfolio Basics: Analyze Your Client Portfolio
• Contact each of your active and inactive clients to let them know you need to put all your clients on a monthly service agreement of some kind – no need to tell them the reason for this, but operating under service agreements is good for both of you. Read What Should My Marketing Be Doing Anyway?
• Transition as many existing and new clients onto a monthly service agreement as possible – the more revenue you have on contract the more you can expect to get for your business. This may require investing in a product like ConnexIT psa software (even if only for a short period of time) Read Selling Made Easier

Some of you reading this may now be thinking that selling your business is a lot of work – it is true, if you want to get a good price. Others reading this may think that if I am going to put that much work into this, why not keep the business – good observation, that too is true and the above steps would help you tremendously in growing your business.

The point is, figure out what you want to do, then spend the right amount of care and effort into going for it. You and your business are worth it.