Andrew Sherman – Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Business

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewjsherman/ (Andrew Sherman) is a partner in the corporate department of Seyfarth Shaw LLP, and serves as the corporate office chair for the Washington DC team. He focuses his practice on issues affecting business growth for companies at all stages, including developing strategies for licensing and leveraging intellectual property and technology assets, intellectual asset management and harvesting, and international corporate transactional and franchising matters. He has served as a legal and strategic advisor to dozens of Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of emerging growth companies. He has represented US and inter-national clients from early stage, rapidly growing start-ups, to closely held franchisors and middle-market companies, to multibillion-dollar international conglomerates. He also counsels on issues such as franchising, licensing, joint ventures, strategic alliances, capital formation, distribution channels, technology development, and mergers and acquisitions. Andrew has written nearly 30 books on the legal and strategic aspects of business growth, franchising, capital formation, and the leveraging of intellectual property, most of which can be found via his author page at Amazon. He also has published many articles on similar topics and is a frequent keynote speaker at business conferences, seminars, and webinars. He has appeared as a guest commentator on CNN, NPR, and https://www.cbsnews.com/radio/ (CBS News Radio), among others, and has been interviewed on legal topics by The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, US News & World Report, and other publications. Andrew serves as an adjunct professor in the MBA programs at the University of Maryland and https://www.georgetown.edu/ (Georgetown University) law school and is a multiple recipient of the University of Maryland at College Park’s Allen J. Krowe Award for Teaching Excellence.   “Things happen when people sell their business, closely held companies, entrepreneurial companies – they run around and make a series of business decisions. Some of those decisions are actually diminutive of value or dilute of a value and accretive of value. But because you have chosen to surround yourself only with people that are like the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes ( Emperor’s) village, and no one’s telling you, ‘Hey! This is a bad decision’ or ‘Hey! This decision could really affect the enterprise value if you were to go sell you are the Emperor’.” Andrew Sherman     Support our sponsor   Today’s episode is sponsored by the Women Building Wealth membership group, the complete proven step-by-step course to guide women from novice to competent investor. To learn more, visit: WomenBuildingWealth.net.     Worst investment ever This episode features a slightly different format  As Andrew Sherman has so much experience in the space of businesses, selling businesses and intellectual property and other types of property rights, our host thought it would be a great opportunity for his guest to go through some of the mistakes people have made in this arena that he has seen over the years. Enjoy! ‘Don’t call my baby ugly!’ or ‘DCMBU’ Andrew Sherman compares being in the park and seeing a mother with a baby in stroller and the social necessity of always having to say “Oh my God, what a beautiful baby”, with being the owner of a business and trying to sell it. Perhaps your “baby” is not attractive. Which doesn’t mean it may not be attractive in future or in the buyer’s arms but the first big mistake (1) a seller can make is to be overly defensive about their business. For many sellers, the business is their child, and they can have put more time into building that business than they have in raising their own family. Be ready for Spanish-inquisition-type scrutiny So if people are going to be selling their business, failing to be ready for the exposure and criticism that comes with putting...