Do I tell my employees I am selling my business?
A common question I am regularly asked is do I tell my employees I am selling the business? As usual there is no simple answer.
Most business owners I talk with expect the worse, i.e. their key employees will leave as soon as they advise them they are selling the business.
So what should you do?
From experience, businesses that are selling who have told their employees have found they do not leave the business. Reason being it is explained to them that they will play a large part in helping the business sell. Buyers want to buy strong businesses with hard working employees. The new owner is purchasing based on past performance and this performance i.e. profits, have been achieved because of key employees.
However if you have been rewarding your employees through other means you may find these employees will move on if you are selling the business, as they will be concerned the current arrangements will not continue.
So even before you are ready to sell your business. Start making talking with your employees and let them know how important they are to the business. When you make the decision to sell again you need to ensure your employees understand how critical they are to the businesses success and buyers will notice this as well.