Hi. I have run my own successful bookkeeping business for 4 years now, bringing the turnover from £0 to £25,000 in fours years, working part time. (Last years profit was £16k) I have a base of around 15 regular clients, and increase when I need to by word of mouth rather than advertising. My question is this - I may be looking to emigrate to Australia with my family in around 18 months time, so wondered if it may be possible to sell on this block of clients to another bookkeeper / accountant looking to expand. Has anyone any knowledge of doing that? I am a sole trader, not a Ltd comp, so wonder if it is possible to sell, and make a little from the business, as opposed to just having to say to all my clients that they need to find a new bookkeeper! Any info on this subject would be greatly received. Thanks, Liz
Whilst I don't have any knowledge of the mechanics of doing it, I don't see why you should not be able to sell your business. It is a profitable business with clients and goodwill just like any other. What area of the uk are you in.
Would say that before the recession started it was easy to sell on business such as a bookkeeping business as a going concern and that it was calculated so many times annual profit. With the recession now many bookkeepers would unlikely to be able to buy all the business from you because it is much harder for businesses to get loans etc, what you may consider doing is finding several different bookkeepers in your area and selling them a couple of clients each that way a lot of bookkeepers would be able to find the sort of cash for a couple of clients from savings (or if not the amount being smaller a bank would more likely loan them) or alternatively finding a larger sized firm who maybe able to buy all the business from you (if they have business premises if they need to borrow have capital to borrow against).
Don't forget that the government is now trying to make it easier for small business owners to borrow money to fund new ventures. The new Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme may be worth looking into. Any bookkeepers looking to purchase a block of fees may be able to make use of it (it may be of interest to some of your clients as well). I've had a client accepted on the scheme enabling them to purchase a business they otherwise would not have had the funds to purchase. It was a fairly straightforward process.
