Seven Ways To Increase Your Business’s Value Before Selling

The price a legitimate buyer is willing to pay for your business when you decide to sell directly reflects perceptions of your company’s stability, risk, and potential for sustained growth. 

If you take deliberate, meaningful steps to increase your business’s value before selling, you can expect to achieve significantly higher multiples than if you list without preparation. Business Brokers of America shares some of the most impactful improvements you can realistically achieve in the months before you go to market.

How Professional Business Brokers in Utah Help You Sell Smarter

Working with experienced business brokers in Utah gives sellers a concrete advantage from the very first stage of the process. Professionals understand how buyers in the local market assess deals and the documentation they expect. 

Expert brokers let their clients focus on running their businesses during the transition process while they handle the critical details, including:

• Confidential marketing
• Vetting and qualifying buyers
• High-stakes negotiation
• Structuring deals

Utah’s diverse economy presents distinct opportunities that a broker with regional knowledge can leverage directly. Whether you are selling for the first time or executing a planned exit, the guidance of professionals who know the Utah market can go a long way in shortening timelines and improving outcomes.  

1. Clean Up and Normalize Your Financials

Buyers base offers on verifiable, recast earnings, not on your internal sense of profitability. Preparing a business for sale starts with presenting three to five years of clean financials that separate personal expenses from business operations, normalize owner compensation to market rate, and document every add-back clearly.

Inconsistent or cash-basis accounting creates uncertainty, and buyers price uncertainty as risk. A clean set of books is the single highest-return preparation activity available to most sellers.

2. Reduce Owner Dependence

If your business cannot function without you, buyers will heavily discount it. Effective strategies for improving company valuation almost always include:

• Transitioning key relationships
• Installing a capable operations lead
• Documenting workflows and pricing logic

The goal is to shift your role from daily operator to strategic oversight. In many markets, removing owner dependence alone can add a meaningful multiple to a business’s final valuation.

3. Diversify Your Revenue

Buyer risk tolerance drops sharply when a single customer accounts for 20% to 25% of revenue. Maximizing business resale value requires broadening your customer base and building recurring revenue where the business model allows. 

Concentrated revenue sources, whether that means a single client or referral partner, are an open invitation to negotiate a lower price. 

4. Improve Margin Quality

Revenue growth impresses buyers less than predictable, disciplined margins. Reliable business valuation depends on margins that buyers can count on. Before listing, consider: 

• Eliminating low-margin services or customers
• Demonstrating proven pricing power
• Tightening labor efficiency

A business that shows margin discipline over multiple years gives buyers confidence that earnings will hold post-acquisition. 

5. Resolve Legal and Structural Issues Early

Legal exposure uncovered during due diligence delays closings and erodes buyer confidence, especially in the form of: 

• Unresolved litigation or other disputes
• Unclear intellectual property ownership
• Improperly assigned contracts
• Licensing gaps 

Conducting a thorough review of operating agreements, employee non-competes, and vendor contracts before going to market prevents these issues from surfacing at the worst possible time.

6. Time Your Exit Strategically

The condition of the business at the moment you list matters enormously. Effective steps to boost a business’s value before exiting include timing the sale when financial performance is stable or improving and when you have the bandwidth to manage both the sale process and daily operations. 

Buyers sense urgency and discount accordingly, so entering the market from a position of strength produces better terms.

7. Build and Present a Credible Growth Story

Buyers purchase a future, not just a history. Your offering materials should clearly explain:

• Why your customers stay with you
• Why cash flow is sustainable
• Why the transition presents manageable risk

The sales narrative must align precisely with your financial documentation. A compelling story supported by clean numbers increases perceived value and attracts more competitive offers.

Ready To Sell? Get Expert Guidance Before You List

The steps we’ve laid out represent the core of what separates high-value exits from disappointing ones. However, proper execution takes the planning and timing that come with professional support. 

Business Brokers of America specializes in helping Utah business owners prepare and position their companies for maximum value, including finding the right buyer for each seller’s specific goals. 

If you are considering a sale in the next one to three years, the earlier you start, the more you’ll be able to increase your business’s value before selling. Call Business Brokers of America at (801) 935-8919.