When it comes to selling a small business, timing is an important element that many local business
owners don’t factor into their decision-making.

“Timing isn’t everything, but it is very important,” said Bill Ilgenfritz, head of BEAM’s Educational
Programs. “Furthermore, it’s something that many small business owners don’t frequently factor into
their decisions when they’re considering selling their enterprise.”

Ilgenfritz points to a small company, he dealt with, as an example. It is a century-old firm that had been
handed down through three generations. The grandson who was running the business, was making well
over $1-million a year. By almost any definition it was a successful and thriving business.

When the grandson was considering the possibility of selling the business, Ilgenfritz advised him that he
ought to do so in the next 3-5 years, since the cash flow was good and all the numbers were going up.
“I told him he should at least put it on the market, even if he didn’t want to sell immediately,” said
Ilgenfritz. “But his feeling was that he was pulling down a healthy profit and he didn’t necessarily want
to give that up.”

What the business owner was not doing, was considering the changing global business climate. Cheap
products from China were beginning to flood onto the U.S. market on a much larger scale and that
would soon impact his business in a major way. “On top of that, he didn’t really have systems in place
that would facilitate an easy succession to a new owner, and potential buyers realized that.” Said
Ilgenfritz

When he finally decided he wanted to sell, his revenue was on a downward slope and the numbers were
looking worse for prospective buyers. In the end, Ilgenfritz parted ways with the owner and he’s unsure
if he eventually ended up selling his company.

Ilgenfritz says it may seem counter-intuitive to many small business operators, to sell when things are
going great, but they need to be conscientious about monitoring trends in their market sector and
factoring in their own future.

“It’s sort of a sad story,” said Ilgenfritz. “But it unfortunately plays out all too often.”