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The A-Team

"I love it when a plan comes together." - Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, the A-Team

Before you do anything, you should put together an informal group, let’s call them the Advice Team - colleagues, peers or friends - who can lend you their support, wisdom and expertise.  Your Accountant (and Solicitor if you have one) should be part of your A-Team.  You will provide the motivation and the goal, but these are the key people that you can go to for counsel and expertise.

Step 1: The Right Time

“This is the right time

Once in a lifetime” – The Corrs

When is the right time to sell for you?  This section will get you started and turn your attention to a range of environmental and market factors including succession planning, market expectations and taxation.  Do you qualify for the Small Business Retirement Exemption?  This section will tell you.

Step 2: Valuation and Appraisal

"For better or for worse, our company is a reflection of my thinking, my character, my values."   - Keith Rupert Murdoch

What is the business worth?  What price can you afford?  When it comes to determining the appropriate sale price you will need an accurate market appraisal.  This section includes advice on how to calculate your return on investment, the key accounting terminology and the actual sales process.  It also explains how to accurately value the business, including the capitalisation of maintainable earnings.

Step 3: Appointing an Agent

"The devil's agents may be of flesh and blood, may they not?"   - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles

The advantages and disadvantages in using an Agent to help in the sale.  In this section we will tell you where to find an Agent, what to look for and the likely costs and charges.

Step 4: Financial and Legal Arrangements

“Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.” - Mario Puzo

Before your pharmacy is ready to be put on the market, there is a range of important information that you will need to make available.  In this section, we give you advice on what to prepare in your financial statements, dispensary and POS reports, staff summary and lease arrangements.

This information is crucial in making your pharmacy as attractive as possible to potential buyers.

Step 5: Receiving “The Offer!”

“I offer to love’s play

My dark declivities.” - William Butler Yeats 

Your work does not stop when you receive the offer to buy.  This is an often overlooked area of the sale process and can lead to your downfall.  You do not want to receive an offer, only to loose money  - or the sale itself! - through inadequate financing.  In this section you will receive advice on how to manage the terms of sale with the Purchaser, including the process of due diligence and organising your finances.

Step 6: Final Arrangements

The final test of a leader is to leave behind in others the conviction and the will to carry on – Walter Lippmann

How do you de-register a business name?  What is Company Insolvency?  Should you opt for voluntary liquidation?  When is the time to finalise the Trading Entity?  This section reveals the answers.

Step 7:  Financial Statements

“Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons” – Woody Allen

Have you claimed all the tax concessions that are available to you?  Is your Accountant updated with the details of the sale?  A comprehensive checklist of what you need, what to send to whom and what to keep.