Many business owners think constantly about a highly anticipated future “liquidity event,” where they sell their business and ride off into the sunset to a life of leisure and financial security.

Building a business and selling it for a hefty premium is a worthwhile goal. And those dreams may be fevered these days, with potential tax code changes looming and lingering economic malaise.

But it is one thing to contemplate selling a business at some distant time and quite another to take the steps for ensuring its house is in order. By doing this, management can increase the odds of closing a deal if and when an interested buyer appears.

The time to do this is well before an anticipated sale, rather than when owners have decided they are ready to begin the sales process. Even if a business appears to be performing very well, one can jeopardize a potential sale by neglecting these issues.

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