Often overlooked by business owners UNTIL the time of a sale are contracts…and believe me, it significantly impacts the value of your company on whether or not contracts are assignable. You do not want to negotiate assignability at time of sale!
This may open the door for customers/suppliers to highjack your deal. If they know your company is for sale—and that the sale is dependent on their contract—shrewd customers/suppliers will ask for better pricing or more favorable terms, knowing that you’ll be hard pressed to disagree with any reasonable requests. The result: both you and your buyer lose.
Other contracts business owners tend to “forget”—phone, waste management, employee non-competes, etc.—may also lead to problems during your company’s sale.
Work with your attorney, preferably in the years preceding your sale, so you will be able to transition those contracts to a new owner…with minimal impact on the value of your company.