Selling a Business Advice
Selling an Investors Business
In any market, there are sellers and then there are serious sellers. We'll give you the tools you need to be taken seriously when you decide to sell your investors business.
We're seeing a high volume of shadow inventory in the business-for-sale market.
Qualified buyers are constantly looking for attractive investors businesses. And the ones that are commanding the highest price tags are the ones with sellers who are committed to the sale process.
How to Identify Prospective Buyers
Many sellers don't realize how many prospective buyers there are for their businesses. We frequently see qualified buyers emerge from the seller's network of business and personal acquaintances. In other cases, sellers take a proactive approach to finding likely buyers and contacting them directly. If you aren't generating interest in the general marketplace, consider approaching companies that sell complementary products or are closely situated in your supply chain.
When to End Negotiations
The negotiation stage of an investors business can seem never-ending. There are countless details that need to be hammered out before a Letter of Intent can be prepared and the process can move on to the due diligence stage. As the seller, you'll be on the front lines of negotiation and will need to know when it's time to bring negotiations to an end. In an investors business sale, a stalled negotiation can be an indication that the deal is dead. Since it can be difficult to tell whether the buyer is serious or playing games, it's important to know the lower boundaries of your negotiation strategy and be willing to walk away from the negotiation table, if necessary.
Working with Accountants
Accountants lay the financial groundwork for a business sale. Most investors business have significant tax consequences requiring the input of a qualified accountant. Brokers often advise their clients to have an accountant perform an audit of the business prior to sale. With seller financing becoming common, professional accountants are playing a more central role in negotiations and buyer qualification.
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