Selling a business is by no means a simple process. In fact, the price you sell for can be life-changing. Getting the right deal can set you up for life and make you very wealthy. But getting the price wrong can result in a missed opportunity and all your time and effort going up in smoke.
It’s worth pointing out that most people in the market to buy a business are experienced buyers. They have to be. They need to be the sort of people who can pay a fortune for a business and still get it to generate a positive return, even once you’ve left. If they see anything that they consider a red flag, they’ll pass right over your business and invest their money elsewhere.
Expect A Lot Of Questions
The people who want to buy you out will have a lot of questions. But with the growth of online businesses, you’re likely to get a lot of inquiries about a sale. Buyers from all over the planet can express their interest in your company. For the person trying to sell, this can be a significant drain on their time. Sites like CGKBusinessSales.com/dallas recommend, therefore, that you use an intermediary to vet potential buyers so that you’re not spending all day on the phone or answering emails. If you try to sell yourself, you’ll invite a lot of questions which could wind up taking up most of your time.
Don’t Focus On The Past
When a person buys your company, they’re not usually interested in the profits you’ve already made. They’re interested in the money the company is likely to make in the future. This is because it’s future profits that are going to pay them back for the money they spend on the company. The higher the expected future profits, the more you’ll be able to sell the business for.
Buyers usually go off the most recent performance of a company for how well they expect it to do in the future. And so if you’ve just had a stellar twelve months, that might be the perfect time to sell.
It’s a bad idea, however, to say that you’ve had a recent drop off in sales, but you expect the market to pick up. Buyers will usually interpret this as being evidence that a business is no longer relevant or is no longer producing a product that consumers want.
If your business has been growing steadily for many years, show buyers the evidence. Growing revenues provide an incentive for buyers to think about their own future plans for the business. There are ways to put your business in the best light possible and here is where brokers come in. A very experienced one, like these Kansas City business brokers, would have a lot of experience, great ratings, patience and attention to detail. If the whole process feels overwhelming or you’ve been passed by buyers before, it may be time to consider this option.
Buyers Aren’t Interested In A Company’s Potential
Many sellers convince themselves that their company is full of potential and that all they need to do is wait for a time when the market is right to reap huge profits. But buyers, in general, aren’t interested in potential. What they want to see is a proven revenue stream. Remember, buyers are in the market for a business because they want to buy something that is already established. If they wanted to start from scratch, they’d just set up their own business.
