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THINKING ABOUT SELLING?
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    Who doesn't?  But thinking about it and actually taking the right steps to ensure the best price may not be the same thing.  I asked one of the major acquisition players to offer some advice.  Here is advice from Kelly Bond of Alarm Capital Alliance.  Additional articles from her will follow.
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    Whatever your goal – a complete exit from your company or the sale of some of your accounts to take cash out of your business, obtain capital to achieve your company’s growth objectives, or pay down your debt – you want to work with a trusted and experienced buyer, one who will respect the company you’ve built and recognize the true value of the accounts you created. To attract this kind of buyer, you need to operate your business every day in a way that ensures your accounts are attractive, valuable, and ready to sell when you are.
    Here are six ways to do that: plan your growth and ultimate exit strategy and run your business with your end-game in mind; monitor and manage your attrition, keeping it at or below the accepted industry rate; adopt and follow sound standard operating procedures for your subscriber and business records, your central station monitoring, and your billing and collections; make sure all of your accounts have valid subscriber agreements that are assignable and protect both you and any potential buyer; manage installation and monitoring to facilitate the easy transfer of accounts to potential buyers; and mitigate your company’s risk with an appropriate insurance program.
    Taking just a few of these steps will help increase the value of your company and your accounts. Implementing all of them will help you build a high-value business that potential buyers will want to invest in. 

         1. Plan your growth and exit strategy
        2. Monitor and manage attrition
        3. Adopt and follow sound standard operating procedures
        4. Make sure your accounts have valid subscriber agreements in place
        5. Manage installation and monitoring to facilitate account transfer
        6. Mitigate risk with the right type and amount of insurance 

Kelly Bond | SR VP Business Development
Alarm Capital Alliance
Newtown Square, PA 19073
561.308.5199 
kbond@alarmcapital.com
www.alarmcapital.com