Over the last 17 years I have helped a number of my property management clients sell their companies. In addition, other clients often ask me about the tips and techniques for maximizing the future sale of their property management company.
Please know, the sale of your company takes planning and a comprehensive approach over 12 to 24 months. If you are thinking about selling your property management company today or in the future, here are some important questions/areas to consider:
1. Does your property management company have a consistent track record of leasing success, high occupancy and profitability, for the past 12 to 24 months?
2. Do you have clean financial reports that tell a positive story? Do your financial results need any additional clarification/explanation? Will the due diligence process spotlight any surprises? What are you doing today to reduce/eliminate these surprises?
3. During the due diligence process, what will a potential buyer learn about employee turnover?
4. If you were to strengthen the outside marketing being done by those on your team or add a powerful strategic alliance would this add more value to the sale of your property management company?
5. Does your marketing/advertising engine strengthen the brand of your company? Does your website reflect best-practices within the property management industry?
6. How strong are your training/development programs? Can you show measurable and specific results?
7. Do you have a strong coaching/mentoring program…one that grows/grooms future property management SuperStars?
8. How well do those on your team understand and know their competition? Do they know more about their competition than their competition knows about them? Would your competition be interested in buying your company?
9. Are you leveraging the best technology/software available today? Are you maximizing the resources of your property management vendors/partners?
10. How strong are the operational policies/procedures within your property management company? Are they well documented? Remember, part of what you present when you sell your property management company is the value of this intellectual capital.
11. If your property management company were sold today, would you be willing to make a smooth transition with the new buyer/company? How long would you be willing to work during this transition?
12. If you could add an additional 15-30 percent to the sales price of your company, would you be willing to stay for one or two years and earn a larger payout at the end?
13. If you were selling your company to a public company, would you be willing to take some of the sale price in stock? What percent would be comfortable for you?
14. If you were to merge with another company, then sell a combined company…who would you merge with? How does their company culture meld with yours?
15. Have you considering selling your company to your executive team? Is going public an option?
16. What are the industry multiples for the sale of other property management companies? How does this sales price match your expectations?
Tip From The Coach: Are you positively certain you want to sell your company? Many times when I first speak with the President/Owner of a property management company…I ask this question and listen carefully to their reply. It takes lots of time, energy and patience to sell your company at the maximum price. In turn, if you and your company are looking to acquire other property management companies, the questions/areas covered in this article are equally important to consider.
Want to learn more about how to sell your property management company or read an 11-page report on the steps for selling your company? Send an E-mail to ernest@powerhour.com and The Coach will E-mail you a free PowerHour invitation. During this call we will discuss how to implement the steps in this article.
Ernest F. Oriente, a business coach since 1995 [28,930 hours], a property management industry professional since 1988--the author of SmartMatch Alliances--and the founder of PowerHour, has a passion for coaching his clients on executive leadership, hiring and motivating property management SuperStars, traditional and Internet SEO/SEM marketing, competitive sales strategies, and high leverage alliances for property management teams and their leaders. He provides private and group coaching for property management companies around North America, executive recruiting, investment banking, national utility bill auditing national real estate and apartment building insurance, SEO/SEM web strategies, national WiFi solutions and powerful tools for hiring property management SuperStars and building dynamic teams. Ernest worked for Motorola, Primedia and is certified in the Xerox sales methodologies. Recent interviews and articles have appeared more than 6500 times in business and trade publications and in a wide variety of leading magazines and newspapers, including Smart Money, Inc., Business 2.0, The New York Times, Fast Company, The LA Times, Fortune, Business Week, Self Employed America and The Financial Times. Since 1995, Ernest has written 195 articles for the property management industry and created 350+ property management forms, business and marketing checklists, sales letters and presentation tools. To subscribe to his free property management newsletter go to: www.powerhour.com. PowerHour® is based in Olympic-town…Park City, Utah, at 435-615-8486, by E-mail ernest@powerhour.com or visit their website: www.powerhour.com