Business Exit Planning
Selling a Motorcycle Dealers Business
You've learned a lot during your tenure as a motorcycle dealers business owner. Before you walk away, you have one more challenge to overcome: A successful and profitable business sale.
Personal and professional concerns surround the sale of a motorcycle dealers business. In our experience, a common owner concern is how the sale will affect customers and employees.
Start a business selling motorcycles and you will be in for a fun ride!
The business-for-sale market is extremely dynamic. Knowledgeable entrepreneurs understand that market timing isn't nearly as important as other factors in a motorcycle dealers business sale. To improve sale outcomes, you will simply need to tailor your motorcycle dealers business to today's buyers.
When the Sale Goes Off-Course
Many motorcycle dealers business are tempted to save brokerage fees by selling their businesses on their own. Although there are exceptions, solo sales typically take longer and are less productive than brokered sales. As a rule, no business should sit on the market for more than six months without attracting the interest of at least a handful of qualified buyers. Lack of buyer enthusiasm or persistence indicates that something is wrong. The remedy is professional brokerage or a consultation with more experienced sellers.
Workforce Concerns
As a business owner, you want to keep you employees informed about your plans; as a seller it's in your best interest to keep your employees in the dark for as long as possible. On the one hand, confidentiality is critical for a successful motorcycle dealers business sale. However, the longer the selling process drags on, the more likely it is that rumors will begin to circulate throughout your workforce. Consider informing your key employees first, followed by the rest of your workforce later in the process. Your employees will undoubtedly have many questions about their future with the company. Try to answer their questions to the best of your ability, but avoid making any promises that you are not authorized to make.
Average Preparation Time
There are no effective shortcuts for selling a motorcycle dealers business. Buyers want to see growth trends, healthy profits and other variables that increase the likelihood of long-term success. You'll also need to create financial reports, operations manuals, and other documents to create the perception of a turnkey motorcycle dealers business operation. Since all of this takes time and effort, a motorcycle dealers 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.
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