Nearly one out of two managers plans to sell
According to an ELABE survey conducted for the organizers of Transfair, 40% of business owners admit that they are considering transferring or selling their business.
On the occasion of the “Transfair: les rencontres de la transmission d’entreprise” day on November 23, 2015 at the Palais Brongniart, experts in business support answer questions from managers on the transfer-transmission. Business leaders, positive on this issue of transmission/transmission, show concerns about taxation, financing but above all a concern for the sustainability of their company. The ideal buyer is more likely to have expertise and a desire to succeed than a good financial situation. Moreover, they express a strong desire to be advised by the same interprofessional team (71%).
How do business leaders view the transfer/transmission?
For company managers, the sale-transfer operation has a good image. 74% of the managers questioned say they have a positive view of it (a result that rises to 82% among shopkeepers).
One out of three managers explains that they have taken over a company (including 10% who say they have acquired several companies). Among business leaders aged 40 and over, 16% have already passed on a company.
When you talk to them about the future,
40% of business owners admit that they are considering transferring or selling their business
This figure is logically higher for older managers (60% for those aged 40 and over).
When questioned about their level of information concerning transfer operations, more than one out of two managers believe they are well or even very well informed. This result varies according to the structure of the companies. Thus, 69% of managers of companies between 100 and 249 say they are well informed, as do 60% of those who have already sold a company.
The future of the company: priority for the seller well before the prospect of financial gain
While 66% of managers who are considering transferring their company link this decision to retirement, 28% want to create a new activity. More surprisingly, nearly one out of ten managers confess to wanting to turn to salaried employment.
The respondents consider that the ideal age to prepare for a transfer in the context of a transfer for retirement is between 50 and 59 (64%). However, 27% believe that preparing for a transfer is ideal at age 60 and over.
For 85% of the business leaders surveyed, the priority when selling a company is the future of the company and the sustainability of the business (up to 91% for women leaders), far ahead of any expectation of profit.
The absence of a buyer is not the main obstacle to the sale
Among the main obstacles raised by the respondents to the survey, the first remains the uncertainty of the economic context (48%), a result reinforced for managers of companies with 20 to 49 employees (up to 54%). The weight of taxation remains a key obstacle for 41% of respondents, and even 46% for managers of large SMEs. This is despite the fact that France appears to be one of the tax havens for business transfers! Finally, complexity is the third biggest obstacle for 36% of respondents and even 45% of managers of large SMEs. The lack of a buyer appears to be a minor problem. Only 23% identified it as a main obstacle, except for managers of companies with 50 to 99 employees (32%) for whom it remains a real obstacle.
The desire for joint intervention rather than separate support
The leaders agree on one point: the need to be helped (91%) and even more to benefit from joint support from their usual advisors who would form a “team”.
Beyond the objectives, the obstacles or the needs of business owners regarding the transfer of their business, the organizers of the “Transfair: the business transfer meetings” wanted to draw a portrait of the “ideal buyer”. For a large majority (56%), he or she could be between 40 and 49 years old and be either a man or a woman. Rather than a financial situation and financial guarantees, he would bring his professional experience, his sectorial expertise but also a vision for the future of the company (87%).
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