8 Ways to Boost Your Business Value Before Selling

by Vanessa Lovie 10th of March, 2025

8 Ways to Boost Your Business Value Before Selling

As a business owner, you’ve worked hard to build a profitable business, and when it’s time to sell, you want to make sure you get the best possible price.

The biggest mistake you can make as a business owner is rushing the sale, or getting the wrong advice.

The biggest tip to getting the best price - is being prepared!

Preparing your business in advance can make a huge difference in how your business is presented and how much buyers are willing to pay.

If you're in the early stages of thinking about selling your business, there are things you can do now to get ready.

1. Get Your Financials in Order and Improve Net Profit

Buyers want a business with clean and organised financial records. Ensure profit and loss statements, tax returns, and balance sheets are up to date.

You need to understand what EBITA is and why it may be used when valuing your business. Once you understand this number and how it is used to derive a value for your business, you can than have a starting point on how to drive this number higher.

A business that is showing an increase in profitability year-on-year will always be more sellable than a business that is in a decline. So how can you make your net profit go on an upward trajectory?

If financials are messy, buyers may walk away. Work with your accountant to minimise unnecessary expenses, separate personal costs from the business, and show consistent revenue trends.

Take a look at some of the current businesses for sale and see how yours compares.

2. Lock in Those Customers

A business that knows how to bring in new customers and keep them coming back will always sell for a better price.

You need to know exactly where your customers are coming from, how you're attracting them, and what it costs to get each new client.

Get clear on your cost per acquisition and return on ad spend (ROAS). Study it, refine it, and lock it down. A solid marketing strategy that delivers a good ROAS will make your business more valuable. You want to have it like a dial you can turn up and down.

Next, think about retention. Do you have contracts in place? If not, now’s the time to sort them out. If your business runs on repeat customers, subscriptions, or forward bookings, securing those agreements gives buyers confidence that revenue will keep flowing after the sale.

If your business relies on just a few major clients - this can be seen as a risk to the buyer. How can you diversify and get more clients?

Finally, look at your customer retention strategy. Why do people stay with your business? What’s their repeat spend? Whether it’s contracts, loyalty programs, or exclusive offers, having a clear plan to keep customers engaged adds value when it’s time to sell.

3. Get Your Systems in Place So You Can Walk Away

Gone are the days of paper manuals.

Its now the time of videos, intranets, digital guides, AI and everything being found with ease, from anywhere!

A business that operates efficiently without the owner is worth more. So take a holiday from your business for 3 weeks. See what is missing and how your team struggled, create systems, try to leave no gaps.

We have put together an entire article on ways to systems your business to sell.

4. Improve Your Online Presence So It Looks Good

Due diligence wont be just looking at your business. It will be looking around it.

Buyers will review everything! So get ahead of the investigations and start looking at what people are saying. Collect more Google Reviews it will not only help you look good, but will improve your SEO rankings.

A strong digital presence adds value. Especially if you have an engaged audience on social media.

Do an SEO audit and ensure your website is updated, ranks well on Google, and provides clear information. It can take months to increase rankings, so if Google rankings are important to your business, take the time to get this in order.

5. Secure Supplier and Lease Contracts

If your business has suppliers - get those contracts organised.

This also applies to your lease agreement - you need to understand what it includes, its limits, if its transferable, the terms.

Anything that is key to your operations, you need to review the contracts and see what is the best rate you can get.

Having contracts in place gives buyers confidence that supply will continue at the same rate after the sale.

6. Lock in your Staff Contracts

One of the biggest concerns of buyers is if staff will stay.

What strategies do you have in place for employee retention? Review their contracts and incentives.

A business that depends entirely on the owner is harder to sell. Buyers want a reliable team that can manage operations. Of course, this depends on the type and size of business you are selling.

Retain key employees by offering incentives and ensure they are trained to take over responsibilities. If you handle most of the sales, start transitioning some responsibilities to staff. The Australian Public Service provides advice on how to attract and retain employees.

7. Plan Your Exit Strategy Early

Do you know it takes time to sell? Are you ready for the emotional process?

Here are some of the most common reasons people give for selling their business. Selling a business takes time. Ideally, preparation should begin 12-24 months before listing. So you need to be ready for the time it takes to sell, then the transition and handover period.

It may be 9 months plus, before you will actually exit your business.

8. Get Professional Advice

Dont waste too much time trying to figure all these things out yourself!

Talk to professionals who can help you identify areas that your business needs to focus on. Start with a chat to your accountant who can help tidy your accounts and identify strategies to increase that net profit.

Then line up some professionals who can help you set an asking price, like business brokers. Then a laywer who can help tidy up your contracts and help prepare your sale documents.

So are You Ready to Sell?

If you want to get the best value out of your business, you need to look at it as an asset.

An asset you can let go of. You cant be working 40-60 hour weeks, and expect to sell for the best value. You need to be able to walk away now, to sell for the most value.

A business owner that is heavily tied to their business is impacting its sale price. Investors and buyers want a business that can 'work on' not necessarily 'work in'. Again, this depends on the type and size of business that you are selling. A dentist may want to work, in the business.

Tags: selling a business exit strategy