Coming to the decision to sell your business may be a difficult one for you. This is especially true if it has been a family orientated business that perhaps has been ongoing for many years. Often these types of business don’t keep up or can’t keep up with the modern day technology that is needed to operate a business today. Other times, many family owned businesses are pushed into closing by big box companies. Now, they also have to compete against the internet or become part of it.
There are many different reasons why a business owner may decide to close the doors permanently. Often the reason dictates how they go about selling it. If it is because of financial reasons then the owner may want or need to sell quickly and this is where they may go about selling the business the wrong way.
The wrong way is to just throw up a for sale sign and take the first offer that comes along. Or the owner may be tempted to paint a prettier picture of the financial books of the business than what it really is. These types of actions can have their consequences.
The right way is to start with doing some research. The first thing you want to take a look at is all the positives of the business. It may be that you are feeling pretty negative about the business at the moment, but this is not something that you want to portray to a potential buyer.
Chances are there are a lot of good things about your business that you have lost sight up. It may be that it is not generating a good income. Perhaps this could be rectified by a new owner who has the capital to invest in updating it. Don’t assume that because you are being faced with negative aspects of your business that a new owner may as well. Sit down with your small business accountant and go over the strengths and weaknesses of the business. This will give you a much clearer picture of exactly where the business is at financially, and possibly some solutions that a new owner may be able to implement.
The next thing you want to look at is what have similar businesses in your area sold for. This is going to give you some idea as to what to expect financially from a sale.
You may be tempted to go through with the sale on your own. Y ou will probably be far better off to bring in a business real estate agent. Yes, you are going to pay realtor fees, but it will probably be well worth it. They have the resources for potential buyers. They also know how to discern the positive aspects about your business plus the area it is in. You may find that trying to do it on your own will take a much longer time. This time frame could have a negative impact on the business books if it is a downslide for profit making.
