Three to-do’s before selling your business

Three to-do’s before selling your business

You started with an idea, added equal parts of hard work, resilience, persistence, and commitment, and over the years grew it into a viable, profitable, sustainable venture.

Now it’s time to cash out, and everything is about to change.

To ensure you get through the sale of your business with as little anxiety as possible and in position for whatever comes next—anything from starting another enterprise to retiring—here are three things to consider before you sell your business.

1. Put a financial advisor on your transition team.

Lawyers do law. Tax practitioners do taxes. You won’t get very far without that kind of expertise as you make plans to sell your business.

But an independent, entrepreneurial financial planner brings an entirely different—and equally important—set of skills, experience and resources to the table.

Working with you and the other members of the transition team, your financial advisor will structure a custom-designed post-sale financial plan based on the lifestyle you envision, how you intend to use the proceeds of the sale, and contingencies if tradeoffs are necessary.

2. Have a plan for the proceeds before you have them.

You don’t want your money sitting idly by, especially if you’re planning to retire.

Fact: People are living longer, more active lives now. That means the lump-sum pay-out or investments from the sale will have to stretch farther.

What concerns you about that? What strategies can help alleviate those concerns? What lifestyle changes do anticipate in the next five years? The next 10?

These are the types of questions you and your financial planner will discuss so your comprehensive, customized retirement plan can be in place before you close the sale.

3. Consider philanthropy.

Creating a legacy creates positive change in people, institutions and communities. It sustains a multitude of worthwhile organizations. It launches innovative new programs and services.

Plus it makes us feel good and it gives us cause to celebrate.

But even the simple act of giving can get complicated. There are tax implications, and you could lose control of your gift if the charity changes policies.

There is a solution, however.

A Raymond James Charitable Donor Advised Fund, for instance, provides an easy way to make significant charitable gifts with immediate tax benefits and deductions. The benefits include:

• Easy to set up and requires little administrative maintenance
• Assets donated are no longer part of the estate value
• Carries on your legacy