Home topics small-business-resources social-media-strategy-social-media Small Business Strategy Small Business When selling a small business, failing to prepare is the same as preparing to fail Dominic Pellegrino May 15, 2017 If “location, location, location” is everything in real estate, then “preparation, preparation, preparation” is equally important when selling a small business. There are many reasons why a small business owner might decide to sell, but preparation is the one common ingredient that can make the difference between a sale and a fail. The single most important piece of advice I would give to an SME owner is to ensure they are properly prepared when the time comes to sell. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as it sounds. A lack of preparation is a common and growing problem in the Australian SME market. New data published in the latest ValueMyBusiness-RMIT Index of business value multiples shows that the overall value of the SME market has fallen again, continuing an 11-year trend, with businesses of less than $5 million turnover the worst hit. Yet, in the same time period, there has been an 800% increase in the number of businesses entering the market. In simple supply and demand terms, not enough product is moving and that’s a real problem. Why is this happening? A look at the baby boomer generation sheds some light on why an all too common lack of proper preparation is causing the market bottleneck. They may not like to admit it, but baby boomers are collectively approaching retirement age.