Business Exits By Industry
Selling a Convention and Trade Show Promotion Business
You've learned a lot during your tenure as a convention and trade show promotion business owner. The next step is to position your business for the demands of the business-for-sale marketplace.
Personal and professional concerns surround the sale of a convention and trade show promotion business. In our experience, a common owner concern is how the sale will affect customers and employees.
Market timing is a constantly moving target. Knowledgeable entrepreneurs understand that market timing isn't nearly as important as other factors in a convention and trade show promotion business sale. To improve sale outcomes, you will simply need to tailor your convention and trade show promotion business to today's buyers.
Average Preparation Time
There are no effective shortcuts for selling a convention and trade show promotion business. Since buyers prefer to see evidence of future cash flow, you'll want to to strategically lock in cash flows and increase profits before you list the business. Next, the business will need to be documented in professional financial statements and manuals that facilitate the ownership transition. Since all of this takes time and effort, a convention and trade show promotion business can rarely be ready for the marketplace in less than six months. A more likely scenario is that it will take more than a year to create the conditions necessary to receive the maximum sale price.
Buyer Identification
Qualified convention and trade show promotion business buyers come from a range of sources and backgrounds. To cover all your bases, you'll need to conduct a broad buyer search process. Although it's helpful to target promotional tactics to likely buyers, allow for some exposure to the broader market. networking may also prove to be a valuable resource for identifying prospective buyers, but only to the extent that it can be done discreetly.
Working with Accountants
Professional accountants lend credibility to the financial preparation of a convention and trade show promotion business sale. From a seller perspective, an accountant can offer personal financial assistance, especially when it comes to handling the disposition of sale proceeds. Brokers often advise their clients to have an accountant perform an audit of the business prior to sale. In certain instances, it may be appropriate to ask your accountant to vet the financials of prospective buyers, run credit checks or even structure the terms of a seller-financed deal.
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