Kerb appeal: Last-minute ways to get a good price for your business

While many advisers are fully prepared for the upcoming RDR regime and optimistic about the opportunities it presents, there are a number of individuals who do not share this enthusiasm and are looking to part company with the firms they founded and the client bases they have established.

Broadly speaking, these vendors can be divided into two camps and the differences between the types will dictate what kind of organisations will be looking to acquire them and the figures involved.

Firstly, we have the vendors that do not have, or do not plan to have, their exams completed before 1 January 2013 and are essentially forced to sell this year. I am afraid those among this number, who are not already in advanced negotiations, have left it too late and stand little chance of obtaining optimal value now.

It's too late to get optimal price for your business, writes David Hesketh, but there are a couple of things you can do

Not to be rushed

Our advice to practice owners in this situation would be to get on with meeting potentially interested parties as soon as possible.

On the other hand, there are vendors who are looking to offload their firms in the long-term, but are not in any particular hurry to do so now. They are most likely RDR-ready with qualified advisers and are already dealing with clients in an RDR-compliant manner. To this end, R-Day will have little impact on the timing or worth of their business sale.

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