Exit Planning Techniques By Market
Selling a Furniture Manufacturers' Equipment and Supplies Business
You've learned a lot during your tenure as a furniture manufacturers' equipment and supplies business owner. The next step is to position your business for the demands of the business-for-sale marketplace.
You've invested too much in your furniture manufacturers' equipment and supplies business to let it be sold for less than its worth. But unless you adequately prepare for the sale, some lucky buyer may walk away with a huge discount.
Too often furniture manufacturers' equipment and supplies business owners fail to receive fair market value for their businesses. With the right strategy, your sale doesn't have to end that way.
Advantages of Hiring a Broker
A good broker can offer several benefits to business sellers. Right out of the gate, brokers know how to help their clients properly prepare their businesses for a sale. Even more, the best brokers have a track of record of discreetly identifying likely buyers and contacting them on your behalf. Typical brokerage rates (a.k.a. success fees) run 10% of the final price - an expense that is usually recouped through a higher sales price and less time on the market.
Finding Prospects
Whether you know it or not, prospective buyers for your furniture manufacturers' equipment and supplies business are all around you. In fact, there is a good chance you already know several individuals or companies that might be interested in buying your business for a decent price. We frequently see qualified buyers emerge from the seller's network of business and personal acquaintances. In other cases, sellers take a proactive approach to finding likely buyers and contacting them directly. Competitors may seem like natural prospects and they are. The downside is that they won't pay top dollar and will probably absorb your company into their own.
When to End Negotiations
Negotiations have a way of dragging on forever. But sooner or later, someone needs to bring negotiations to a close. Unfortunately, that responsibility often falls on the seller. It's not unusual for a furniture manufacturers' equipment and supplies business sale negotiation to reach an impasse over price or other concessions. At this point in the process, an awareness of negotiation parameters really pays off. If the buyer is unwilling to accept your minimum demands, it's time to end negotiations and move on to the next prospect.
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