Advice on Niche Market Exit Planning
Selling a Trademark Development and Searching Business
Few entrepreneurs relish the idea of selling a business in a struggling economy. Yet trademark development and searching businesses continue to be sold at a brisk pace, outperforming the sales of many other types of businesses.
Personal and professional concerns surround the sale of a trademark development and searching business. In our experience, a common owner concern is how the sale will affect customers and employees.
Qualified buyers are constantly looking for attractive trademark development and searching businesses. Like always, unprofitable and poorly positioned businesses struggle to find buyers while sellers who have invested time and effort to prepare their sale are being rewarded in the marketplace.
Sale Preparation Timeframes
There are no effective shortcuts for selling a trademark development and searching business. Buyers want to see growth trends, healthy profits and other variables that increase the likelihood of long-term success. 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 trademark development and searching 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.
Family Business Sale Tips
There is no easy way to sell a trademark development and searching business, not even to a family member. Often, a sale to a family member creates fractures within the family. Whether you offer the family member special concessions or not, either the buyer or other family members may take offense. The best advice: if a family sale is a possibility, it needs to be handled objectively, with ample input from third-party advisors.
Working with a Professional Accountant
Accountants lay the financial groundwork for a business sale. Most trademark development and searching business have significant tax consequences requiring the input of a qualified accountant. A professional audit can ease buyer concerns and amp up the value of your financial presentation. With seller financing becoming common, professional accountants are playing a more central role in negotiations and buyer qualification.
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