Closing Up Shop: Top 5 Tips When Ending or Exiting a Small Business

Entrepreneurs are optimists. And even those with a long-term view on their startups often don't envision leaving those companies, much less failing or being forced to close. But ending a business is as much a reality as starting one, and planning for the worst is as essential as hoping for the best.

So here are five legal considerations if you're looking to end or exit your small business, from our archives:

1. Is My Business Worth Selling?

Often times, the best case scenario for leaving your business is selling it: you started from scratch, and now someone else sees the value in your venture. But how do you gauge what your small business is worth? And is that enough to convince you to sell?

2. Tips to Liquidate Your Business Assets

If you may not be lucky enough to sell your small business, you may be unlucky enough to be forced to sell off its assets, either as part of a bankruptcy proceeding or in an attempt to avoid bankruptcy altogether. Here's how to liquidate those assets.

3. Can a Small Business Owner File for Unemployment?

You never envisioned going from owner to out of a job, but here you are. So do business owners get the same unemployment benefits as their (former) employees? Find out here.

4. Small Business Owners: Do You Have an Exit Strategy?

Leaving a business isn't always due to failure, and it doesn't have to be painful, so long as you have a plan in place. Studies have shown that even those small business owners planning to leave their business have yet to formulate an actual exit strategy, which could leave them and their businesses in the lurch.

5. Small Business Week: Tips for Selling or Ending Your Startup or Small Biz

If your exit strategy is a sale, there are better and worse ways to execute that sale. Organizing your books, hiring a business broker, and putting together a tight sales contract can ease the ownership transition and get you more bucks for your small business.

Related Resources:

• Find Business & Commercial Lawyers Near You (FindLaw's Lawyer Directory)
• Tips for Leaving the Company You Founded (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)
• What to Include in a Startup Prenup (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)
• How to Close a Business (FindLaw's Learn About the Law)