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2019 INDUSTRY RESOURCE DIRECTORY
• Limit, but don't discontinue or substantially decrease, fleet purchases.
• Address environmental issues.
Address issues that may negatively affect your sales price. The existence of
litigation or potential litigation can weigh down a sale price substantially. Even
though a seller may be intimately familiar with a given case, a prospective buyer
will not be, and the "risk of the unknown"—particularly if the claim is large,
irrespective of its legal merit—can create more concern than is justified, which can
stall or kill an acquisition.
"To keep your secret is wisdom; to expect others to keep it is folly."
Never enter into extended discussions with potential buyers who haven't signed
a properly written confidentiality agreement or nondisclosure agreement (NDA),
which prohibits not only further disclosure, but also the prospective buyer's use
of your confidential information, remembering that some buyers may, now or in
the future, be your competitors. It also is generally a good idea to be extremely
discreet about disclosing to customers, vendors and/or employees the fact that
you are considering and/or negotiating a sale of your business. Some will be
threatened, and others will see it as an opportunity to seek raises, promotions,
additional benefits, and/or price increases. Don't ask for trouble. You will be busy
enough with the preparation and due diligence investigation involved in your
potential sale.
Buying or Selling a Portable Sanitation Business
To keep
your secret
is wisdom;
to expect others
to keep it
is folly.
— William Samuel Johnson
Better worksites. Better weekends. Better world.
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