Nashville is ranked as one of the top five cities in which to open up shop. Because of this, people flock to Nashville’s Music City to buy a business, and many current entrepreneurs are eager to sell for a hefty profit. We recently sat down with Nashville business broker Beacon Exit Advisors to find out if buying and selling are as easy as the city’s growth would lead potential buyers and sellers to believe. What we found out was that there is a lot of work involved and that many people have incorrect notions about both sides of an M&A transaction.

Q: Thank you for answering our call today. We have many readers who want to sell or buy a business in Nashville before the Athens of the South explodes. We would like to talk about the buying and selling process.

Beacon Exit: Absolutely. But the fire has already been lit. Back in January, the Nashville Business Journal reported that not only is Nashville the fastest-growing city in the south, it is also the fourth-best location in the US to open a business.

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Unless you proactively keep up with the latest trends, there is a chance that your business’s technology is a bit behind the times. However, according to one of Nashville’s-based business brokers, Beacon Exit Advisors, a small investment in technology now might make it easier to sell your business when the time comes. In today’s expert Q&A, we discuss a few key ideas that business owners should keep in mind when selling is on the horizon.

Q: Hello, and thank you for sitting in with us today. We recently had a question posed by a reader asking how long it takes to sell a business, and what they could do to ensure a smooth transition. The topic warrants more than a simple answer, so we would like to dive a bit deeper.

Beacon Exit Advisors: Absolutely. That is a very open-ended question. The best first piece of advice if you are looking to sell is to partner with an experienced business broker. It does not matter if you are in Nashville or San Francisco, an entity with multiple experts on hand can guide you through the process and make recommendations on ways to speed it along.

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