There are a number of different parties that you’ll need on your team for selling a business. There could be a business broker of if you’re a mid or large cap company there’d be a merger and acquisition firm. There would be an attorney that specializes in transactions. There will be a CPA knowledgeable about the tax side of transactions. There could be other consultants involved too.

That’s a lot of people. Don’t wait until you need them to start looking.

Instead, take your time and dig your well before you’re thirsty. Start to get to know a number of people in each of these particular areas. This offers several advantages.

1. You’ll get an education along the way and be better prepared for when the time comes to sell.

2. Your perspective will change and you’ll also get a better understanding on what types of people you’ll need. In other words, your specifications will change as you become more knowledge in the area.

3. Serendipity can happen. As you start thinking about the particular area, you suddenly become more aware and others become more aware of you. It’s like suddenly first seeing a brand of a car and then in the next week or two noticing that car often on the road. The car was always there it’s just that you weren’t aware of it. The right time and the right buyer might come at a very different time than you expect, but it will never happen if you aren’t tuned in.

There’s another area to develop relationships ahead of time too. That can be with potential buyers. For example, some companies might be attracted to be sold to private equity firms, but they’ll require that certain financial targets are hit ahead of time. You might not be there at that point yet, but when you do hit that point and your income grows to that required level they’re going to be that much more prepared to make an offer for your company. They could be very impressed seeing how you developed over the course of a couple years as opposed to being a flash in the pan.

So, develop relationships before you need them. You’ll stand a better change of actually finding the relationship that will really work for you.