Niche Exit Planning Tactics
Selling a Wedding Flowers Business
You've learned a lot during your tenure as a wedding flowers business owner. Before you walk away, you have one more challenge to overcome: A successful and profitable business sale.
The wedding flowers business-for-sale marketplace is a nuanced environment, full of pitfalls for sellers who aren't prepared for its demands.
However, serious buyers also understand the value of a good wedding flowers business. So for wedding flowers business sellers, today's market is all about convincing buyers that the numbers make their companies worth the asking price.
Pre-Sale Checklist
There is a lot of work that needs to be done before you're ready to sell your wedding flowers business. The first item on your checklist should be a reality check -- if you plan to sell your business for top dollar in just a few short months, you need to adjust your expectations%However, your first priority should be to set realistic expectations for the selling process and its eventual outcome. After you have consulted with a business broker to right size your expectations, you'll need to add several items to your checklist, including financial statement preparation, pre-sale appraisals, financial planning, market positioning and other tasks designed to communicate value to prospective buyers.
Sale Documents
We run into a lot of wedding flowers business sellers who intend to wait until the final contract to negotiate details. Big mistake. With few exceptions, sale structure is hammered out early, in the Letter of Intent . If you are seeking buyer concessions, the time to address them is before the Letter of Intent is drafted. For sellers, that makes a close review of the Letter of Intent more than a formality - it's a critical juncture on the path to closing.
Why Confidentiality Matters
Highly publicized wedding flowers business sales are risky wedding flowers businesssales. A low-key selling strategy is a low risk activity because you can control who does (and doesn't) know that your business is on the market. Eventually, word will leak out. When that happens, it can damage your standing with customers and vendors. Although it can be difficult, it's important to strike a balance between confidentiality and sale promotion. Brokers and consultants can mitigate the risk by implementing confidential sale techniques.
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs