“12 Things to Do to Sell Your Business”
The Street.com

The numbers are grim.

AT&T(T Quote - Cramer on T - Stock Picks) wants to shed 12,000 jobs. Credit Suisse(CS Quote - Cramer on CS - Stock Picks) plans to eliminate another 5,300 positions. Sony(SNE Quote - Cramer on SNE - Stock Picks), 8,000. The picture doesn't look like it'll get rosier any time soon.
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David’s guiding principle in talking with Clarinda’s customers should be to disclose nothing beyond what he has to. He’ll have to discuss the layoffs, of course, which will soon be industry knowledge, if they aren’t already. He’ll need to apologize to Red Bones, the Pearson buyer, for not telling him about the cuts earlier and explain that they resulted from the loss of the Reed Elsevier business. Otherwise, all is steady, and serving Pearson remains Clarinda’s most important goal.
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While [you’re consumed with the tasks involved with the sale of your company], you can't lose sight of your day-to-day business. You need to continue to communicate carefully with managers, employees and customers as the deal progresses. But the timing of this communication can make or break the deal, so proceed with caution.
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The NY Times proclaimed on Saturday that the venture capital business is dead, based upon one venture firm going wobbly at the knees. This simply is not true, and other forces are likely at work here.
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Where do you find the best buyer for your company? As in any other business activity, you can work your own networks to track down the perfect buyer, either through your existing network in your industry or through investors and other channels.
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A lot is put into building a business from the ground up. What happens when you're ready to sell it? Make sure your blood, sweat and tears are appreciated in the sale with help from Sell Business Your Way.
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There are literally thousands of investment banking firms. There are international giants like Goldman Sachs and focused boutiques like Legacy Partners. In addition to industry and size, some firms also specialize in selling family-held companies. How do you find "your banker."
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I love lawyers.  I really do.  I don’t always laugh at those “75 lawyers in a bus at the bottom of the ocean” jokes.  At least I try not to.  Some of my best friends are lawyers.  No kidding.  But I’m very concerned that the deal world has become controlled by…lawyers.
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As a corporate leader, this is a time to test your mettle.  Great leaders are not born out of good times—they are born out of severe challenge.  Don’t wilt!  This economy is hammering everyone.  It’s punishing with equal opportunity.  Now is the time to dig deep and lead.
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The recent Al Dunlap episode underscores how badly broken is our system of recruiting and qualifying middle and top managers.  I would argue that the multiple costs of making such poor hiring decisions are the greatest drain on U.S. business resources.
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I used to think the advances in electronics technology was a good thing.  The fact is that all this craziness has made us the most productive group of people in the world running the larges and most robust economy in the world.  But we have to ask, “At what price?”  Is technology controlling us or are we controlling technology?  Do we really have lives anymore?
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Nearly every deal these days will have an investment banker advising one or both parties.  Sometimes there’ll be an investment banker advising another investment banker.  You’re negotiating a deal with them and they seem to be saying four or five different things at once in a language you don’t totally understand.
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A year ago in the midst of the dot-com craze, the leveraged buyout sounded about as cutting-edge as the vacuum tub. Instead, aggressive execs were sprinting for Webvan and Priceline.  Now the tide has turned and equity-oriented managers are looking again at leading good old-fashioned leverage buyouts as a way to create equity value.
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Please, Chairman, forgive me, for I have sinned and I herewith repent.  Please Chairman Greenspan, hear my prayers.  Please give me only one more tech rally and I will forever honor you with the restraint you desire.   I have succumbed to the seven deadly sins of investing and I herewith vow never again to do so, so long as you let the Nasdaq go to 4,000 just one more time.
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As a venture capital and management buyout investor for the past 15 years, my primary goal has been to back great managers.  That’s what the venture capital business is all about: backing exceptional leadership.
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If you’re going to buy your own company, here are key governance issues that you need to get agreement on with your equity partner right at the outset- while you still have some leverage.
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2001 is going to be a fantastic year.
You can take that to the bank, print it, count on it and even trade on the news.
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Everyone wants to do an IPO. 
The guy who does mobile shoes shines in the lobby of my building is a great guy, has excellent top line growth, a fantastic cloth snap, has now renamed his company e shine and wants to go public.  I ask him why he’d want to do that and wreck a good thing.  Public shareholders are a royal pain, I tell him.
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Dot.com fever has struck the region with a vengeance and everyone from the waiters at The Palm to former CEOs are pursuing the next “new new thing.”  As visions of webMethods like IPOs abound, the only thing standing between you and your venture capitalist is your business plan. 
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