Getset and Go were getting tired of running their business. Theirs was a 5 year old company, started with enthusiasm and a high level of energy. But ... 2009 had been a bad year. Orders had come in... at a very slow pace; money had come in... at an even slower pace.

Things, however, now seemed to be looking up. The market was slowly improving. In fact they even had an offer from the Zing Group, who wanted to invest in their company, perhaps even buy them out over a period of time. It was now decision making time for Getset and Go. Should they consider this offer from Zing?

They both decided to speak with Gyan, the well-known advisor to companies in Bengaluru, to get some of his inputs on this matter.

Here are some of the questions that Gyan asked them to trigger thinking:

• Why do you want to sell the business? Not surface reasons... but really..Why?
• What do you dislike about running your business? What are the negatives you want to get rid off?
• What worries you?
• What do you think can be offloaded by you to another?
• What do you think an investor can bring to the table
  • In financial terms
  • In non-financial terms
• What do you already have in your business that you cherish such as
• • Freedom to run the business the way you want to
  • Organizational culture
  • Ownership of your business
• What do you think can change with the investor who comes in
• Do you think you can deal with this change?
• What changes can you be
  • Happy with
  • Tolerate
  • Dislike

Then Gyan summed up the discussion with the following: "after you have some answers to the above questions, again do go back to the first question.. i.e. Why do you want to sell the business? Really.. Why..? And maybe this time around, you may have some answers which will help you take the next steps.

Watch out for the next in the series  Selling my business - Part II: Yes, I have decided to sell, what could be my next steps....