People who buy businesses are looking for certain attributes including:

• Depth of management
• Diversified revenue streams
• Systems and processes
• Strong relationships with customers

If you’re planning to sell your business, it’s best to try to work yourself out of a job and here are a few suggestions:

• Look at your client base.  More than likely, the 80 / 20 rule applies.  Twenty percent of your clients are producing eighty percent of the revenues.  Determine the demographics of your ideal client and develop a marketing plan to obtain more of those high value customers.  Conversely, twenty percent of your clients may be soaking up eighty percent of your time and efforts without contributing much to revenue.
• Document your processes so you can train a replacement.  Consider creating a mentorship program to involve some of your more capable employees in management decision making.
• Diversify your client base within your field.  If you supply specialty medical products, perhaps you can market the same or a similar product to the veterinary industry (without changing your core competency).  If you sell manufactured equipment, consider creating a used equipment or service department to diversify the revenue sources.