Exit Planning Advice By Market

Selling an Art School

You've heard the naysayers - now isn't the time to sell a art school. But what they don't know is that many entrepreneurs see art schools as a smart business investment.

Waiting for better economic times to sell your company? That's a common anthem in the small business community.

Art School

If you're ready to move on, now is the right time to sell your art school.

Buyer Concessions

In a tight economy, seller concessions are the name of the game. But that doesn't mean you can't push for buyer concessions to achieve a more favorable outcome in the sale of your art school. 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.

Adjusting Expectations

If you're smart, you entered your art school with a set of assumptions about what it would achieve. Ultimately, many sellers find that the market is unable to deliver their anticipated outcomes. Despite your best efforts, you need to prepare yourself for the possibility of receiving less than you expected from the sale of your art school. If buyers don't seem to be willing to meet your expectations, consult with your broker to modify your strategy and market approach.

Average Timeframes

From the day they decide to sell their company, the question that plagues many owners is how long it will take to sell their art school. 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 art school, 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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