My attempt to sell my first company...

The lessons and the emotional ride that brings the selling of your company.

As a young teenager, I remember looking at companies and corporations as these large organizations that were created by wealthy, very smart, and well connected individuals. A lot of them were politicians and/or members of powerful families that owned many other companies and had a lot of clout. I grew up in a traditional Latino family, and although my parents had obtained graduate degrees, they were groomed to get good paying jobs and work until they decided to retire or until they had accumulated enough savings (in the form of retirement accounts and other formal investments) to feel safe to rest. Throughout the years, my mother started to change her thinking and her position towards “earning a living” and decided to create her own personal projects that not only gave her income, but also personal satisfaction and a sense of emotional accomplishment.

By the time i went to college, i still had the mentality of a worker. I wanted to get good grades, graduate on time, and get an internship with a reputable institution with the hopes of getting a decent paying job. But to my fortune, even though back then i did not think so, I was never able to get a great position, and since I left the nest at seventeen years old, i was forced to take on any gig available, odd jobs, and to create my own jobs.

The way i created some of my jobs, was not different to the way many companies are created, but I never took those creations very seriously, nor i had the advice or background to learn how to incorporate like a real company should. I would basically get a client or two, create a simple website, make some flyers, and put ads on craigslist to advertise my services. A few months later, i would usually venture into something different and do it all over again, and in the process I would lose all the work I did creating the prior project. In retrospect, I could have monetized on the website, clients and all efforts i invested in creating every project, but i did not know any better.

Now that I know better (at least i hope so), I am in the process of selling my latest creation, YCOBITCOIN.com and the process has been beyond exhilarating and quite daunting. My crypto company has a network of Bitcoin Teller Machines (BTMs), Over the Counter (OTC) clients, and we are now offering consulting and research services. The company name has my initials, which I now believe is not a good naming strategy if you need to sell your company. I am also quite attached to it due to all the trials and tribulations that i went through building it. On top of that, I am not as organized as I wish I could be which has slowed down the paper work process since potential buyers are asking for a lot of documents, and financial figures and sometimes I cant even find them. Additionally, I am still learning to delegate and work with others that are more talented and smart than me, which has led to the “do it all” stupid and time wasting strategy.

Obviously, all the above mentioned points did not become too problematic to me until now that I am negotiating with potential buyers. But I also never thought that I was gonna be in this position of having to sell the company…

So, i decided to create a list of what I have learned during this process:

• Do not use your name to name your company. It may be harder to sell.

• Be very organized with your paper work and make sure you can easily locate physical and digital copies of all important documents.

• Work with a great accountant. Someone you can call/email anytime of the year for advice.

• Work with as many people as you can, now a days you have platforms like fiverr, upwork, toptal, and many other where you can hire freelancers that can free you of many responsibilities and do the task many times better than you.

• Automate as many things as you can.

• Document as many things as you can as well. A diary/blog could help

• The best way to sell a company, is when you dont have to sell it. If you are urgent to sell due to health issues, divorce, law suits, client problems or other problems, you will make decisions in a rush that may be regrettable.

• Business brokers are great, but not the only way to go and sometimes not the most profitable way to sell. They will take a large cut and many times you may be working with brokers that do not learn your business very well and may not make you a priority.

• Sometimes the higher bidder is the most expensive to sell to. Sometimes these high bidders feel entitled and will take more of your time during and after the sale. They can also become a headache. Sell to someone you feel comfortable talking a negotiating with.

  Im still not over this experience and many things may change as well as more learning lessons may come in the future.. I will definitely keep you posted..

So long…