If you are a small business owner thinking about selling your business, do you need a lawyer?

The answer to that is yes, but not right away. You need to start getting ready to sell before you actually decide that you're going to put your business on the market – the same idea as improving and staging a house before you put it on the market.

If you're thinking about selling your business, then you need to consult with a CPA, business broker, or valuation expert to find out what you need to do to make your business saleable, if it's not yet saleable.

A CPA will assist with making sure that your books and records are accurate and with verifying information that you're putting out to potential buyers. A business broker or valuation expert can give you an opinion of value. (Many CPAs are valuation experts.) You may not need to go out and purchase a full business valuation, because that can be very expensive; you may want to do it at some point, but it may not be needed early on.

The one place where a lawyer can and should assist early on is in making sure your governing documents are in place, accurate and current.

If you have more questions about what it takes to get a business ready to sell or whether you need a lawyer, please feel free to give me a call at any time or email me; my contact information is on the website at www.taylorlegal.com.

KATHERINE L. TAYLOR, ATTORNEY AND CPA

5850 Waterloo Rd

Suite 140

Columbia, MD

21045 443-420-4075

443-420-4075 (fax)