When you want to sell the business in twelve months

But the margins say it's not ready

Do you recognize this situation?

• Vacation rental property manager, significant revenue
• You've decided: sell in twelve months
• But very low margins, chaotic operations
• Too many different tasks, inefficiencies everywhere
• And the question is: who will buy it like this?

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The trap of selling before optimization

You've decided.

12 months to prepare the business for sale.
You want out.
Sell and move on.

But the business isn't sellable.

1M revenue, 50K profit.
5% margins.
2024 performance worse than 2023 (negative trend).
Chaotic operations (too many different tasks, inefficiency, trivial issues occupying you).

And you:
Think that preparing for sale means "putting things in order".
Outsource administration.
Optimize maintenance processes.

But the real problem is something else.

With 5% margins:
The business is worth practically nothing to a buyer.
Or rather: it's worth 1-2 years of profit = 50-100K.
You've built 1M revenue worth as much as a used economy car.

To sell well, you first have to make it work well.

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Why selling now is selling poorly

There's a type of buyer who looks at the numbers.

And sees this:
Significant revenue, very tight margins.
Business that only works if you're inside it.
Declining performance.

Valuation?
Few years of profit.
Like a used car.

Years of work worth a vacation weekend.

And the team:
People who work.
But no system that continues without you.
No manual, no autonomy.

The apartments?
Worse performance than last year.
Owners leaving.
Decreasing inventory.

You want to sell but there's nothing to buy.

Only you working fifty hours a week.

---

Why it happens

You thought preparing for sale was putting things in order.

Outsource administration.
Optimize maintenance.
Better control numbers.

But preparing for sale is something else.

It's transforming something that depends on you
into something that works without you.

And this isn't done with very tight margins.
Not done with chaotic operations.
Not done in twelve months.

With these margins you don't sell.

You give it away.

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The method

Margins first

Bring margins from embarrassing numbers to decent numbers.
Rationalize staff.
Optimize suppliers.
Renegotiate commissions.

Systems that work alone

Write what to do when a guest arrives.
What to do when maintenance is needed.
How to manage an owner.

Not in your head.
On paper.

A manager who decides

Someone who takes your place.
Who solves trivial problems.
Who manages daily operations.

Try disappearing for two weeks.
If everything collapses, you can't sell.

Performance that grows again

Reverse the trend.
Recover lost apartments.
Make owners happy.

Real time

Not twelve months.
Eighteen, maybe twenty-four.

Selling well takes time.
Selling poorly is fast.

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What changes after

You know what it's really worth.

No longer significant revenue with embarrassing margins.
But real profits.
Real valuation.

The team works without you.

They solve trivial issues.
The manager decides.
You watch from outside.

Owners return.

Growing performance.
Apartments that stay.
A trend going in the right direction.

And finally you can sell.

Not at a laughable price.
But at a price that respects years of work.

Twelve months will become eighteen.
Maybe twenty-four.

**But the difference between selling soon poorly
and selling later well
is worth every month of waiting.**

The exit isn't escape.
It's capitalization.