Any company owner who plans to sell – whether in one year or five – can yield a larger payday by driving value into the business before the sale, according to Jim Miller, a principal and founder at Supply Chain Equity Partners, in M&A in Distribution, Part 2: Navigating the M&A Landscape.

While companies looking to sell quickly should be focused on cleaning up financials, inventory and receivables, Miller says, delaying the sale might make better financial sense in order to have more time to strategically invest in the company and improve its worth when an offer emerges.

Miller suggests that companies with a longer timeline – for example, five years – should invest in people, training, IT systems, infrastructure and product lines. "Build your business as if you’re never going to sell it,” he says.

Read more about the importance of investing to grow your company's value in M&A in Distribution, Part 2: Navigating the M&A Landscape.