When selling a business, there are always uncontrollable outside factors that influence its value. One of these factors is the general state of the national economy.

Landscape company owners, like other business owners, sometimes plan in advance to sell their businesses, often around their desired retirement age. But there are many economic factors that can't be accurately predicted, that can affect the eventual selling price.

For example, business owners whose planned exits coincided with the recent economic downturn were faced with an unenviable choice: try to sell their devalued assets in the planned timeframe, or try to wait out the down cycle.

Tom Fochtman of Ceibass Venture Partners says there are ways to help hedge against taking big losses on a future sale.

Fochtman's company specializes in creating value for green businesses and helping them plan, prepare and execute their sale. According to him, a few of the preparation fundamentals include: creating professional financial statements and having them reviewed regularly, getting a sound management team in place, reviewing and improving policies and procedures, getting costs under control, and restructuring debt effectively.

Fochtman speaks from firsthand experience. He has spent more than 35 years in the green industry. He founded CoCal Landscape, a Denver-based commercial landscape management company. At its peak, the company was valued at $33 million and had 560 employees. In 2011, he sold CoCal Landscape to start Ceibass Venture Partners.

More information about Fochtman and the services his company provides is available here.