By Steve Minucci

Selling a business is one of the most important financial decisions of your life.

If youre planning to sell your transportation business in 10 months or 10 years, there are steps you can take now to make your business more valuable for you and your family.

Being prepared is the best thing you can do to make sure your years of toil will be well rewarded.

We talk to transportation business owners every day and have a good sense of how to position businesses to bring maximum value. And most importantly, create a long-term win-win benefit for the buyer, seller and the industry.

It may seem daunting but, like eating an elephant, just take one bite at a time:

1. Keep and maintain strong financial records. Your credibility for everything you tell buyers depends upon the accuracy and integrity of your records. If your records are not up-to-date or accurate, then everything else you tell a buyer becomes suspect.

2. Sell at the top. This may have more to do with health of your balance sheet than the economy or even your gross sales.

This is widely misunderstood in transportation. If you are not selling your business, you are buying it all over again everyday - parts, people and equipment. Make sure you are on a path that has a well thought out exit strategy.

3. What multiple will buyers use? Every transportation business is valuable to the right buyer. Depending on who the buyer is, the ranges of offers can vary greatly.

Dont get stuck on a specific multiple. Businesses sometimes sell much higher than some "industry multiple" only because the buyer had a strategic need to acquire the business.

4. Extract yourself from the business. Make certain the business is positioned to operate without you making every decision. If youre doing it all, either train a protégé or spread out the decision making to your team.

They will certainly enjoy having a greater say in how the business operates and youll be happier with the value it will bring.

5. Seller financing is vital. It is a proven fact: the asking price can be higher if you carry a note. Youll get more activity, plus banks will be more interested in loaning cash to a buyer.

Every sellers dream is to get a big fat check and walk off into the sunset. Sounds good, but thats not where the market is right now.

6. Confidentiality. Dont start talking about it on the street.

Selling a business is quite different than selling a house, and if customers, employees and competitors find out, youll decrease its value. Find a trusted advisor to counsel you on whats involved -- the timing and expectations.

7. Focus on value drivers specific to transportation. Value is not just about the bottom line.

Several factors can influence how a buyer values your transportation business. Being in a capital-intensive industry has a significant influence on the value of your business. Look to an industry specialist to help you value your business even if you arent thinking about selling in several years.

8. Force strategic buyers to compete for your business. The more you understand how likely buyers for your business approach transactions, the more value youll receive.

Working exclusively with one potential buyer can lead to disappointment. The lone buyer does not want any competition in the selling process since that can only do one thing increase the price he or she will have to pay.

9. Educate yourself about the sale process and buy/sell market. Selling a transportation business is not like selling other businesses. Use the resources of industry specialists.

The Tenney Group will be at booth No. 330 on the Expo show floor.

Steve Minucci is a managing director of The Tenney Group.