Advice on Niche Market Exit Planning
Selling a Trenching Contractors Business
You've heard the naysayers - now isn't the time to sell a trenching contractors business. But what they don't know is that many entrepreneurs see trenching contractors businesses as a smart business investment.
You need to get a good price for your trenching contractors business. To get there, you'll need to set realistic expectations and follow a deliberate selling strategy.
Fortunately for sellers, forward-thinking entrepreneurs continue to be attracted to trenching contractors businesses that exhibit strong financials and potential for future growth.
Buyer Concessions
Sellers aren't the only ones who can make concessions in a business sale. In many instances, sellers can request buyer concessions. Although this scenario frequently plays out around seller financed deals, it's possible to push for a higher sales price or other form of compensation if you agree to mentor the buyer for a specified period of time. Asset exclusions, retained ownership shares and long-term contracts with another of the seller's companies can also be leveraged to extract concessions from buyers.
How Much Does It Cost to Sell a trenching contractors business?
You'll need to incorporate the cost of the sale into the calculation the minimum price you are willing to receive for your trenching contractors business. Good brokerage takes a 10% success fee off the top of the final sale price. Attorneys, accountants and appraisers work for a flat fee that can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Furthermore, your time has value, so you may need to include a personal compensation consideration in your expense estimates.
Selling Time
From the day they decide to sell their company, the question that plagues many owners is how long it will take to sell their trenching contractors business. Although asking price and other factors contribute to sale time, it's difficult to predict how long your business will be on the market before you locate the right buyer. Before you can list your trenching contractors business, you'll need to invest as much as a year in preparing it for prospective buyers. Even though it's conceivable that an attractive opportunity could sell in weeks, an immediate flood of offers could indicate that the business is underpriced.
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