There are times when a business owner is desperate to sell his or her business in the market and this may have myriad reasons behind it including financial reasons, personal reasons, health reasons etc. However, what matters at that moment is to get a good deal and to get it fast so that too much time doesn’t pass.
A lot of business brokers are of the consensus that selling businesses is a very slow and dull affair and it usually takes up to 6 to 12 months to complete the deal; however, there are cases where you simply can’t wait that long. Here’s what to do in that case.
Make yourself Redundant
You’ll have to make sure your business is attractive to buyers. Otherwise, you may as well pack up and go home. Usually people go for things that are luminous and attractive rather than sensible and sound. It’s the way of the world. All that glitters aren’t gold, but all that glitters sure is eye catching.
Buyers will want to know if they can run this business easily and whether you’re a critical part of the process or not. If you show that anyone else could do the job and that you are basically a placeholder, they will be more inclined to take the deal.
Prepare Yourself
Due diligence is what prolongs deals; however, it needs to be done in order for the deal to be properly executed. No one wants to come out of the deal thinking that they’ve been ripped off or finding out later that they were served with a bad deal.
This is why being prepared will help. If you have a plan to sell off your business and you’ve gone over all the proper paperwork and considered objective parameters with which you’ve calculated the value of the business, then you may have a clear field to sell off your business.
Always have a Plan B
You should obviously put out want ads and look to newspapers and websites to sell your business. That’s the traditional way to do it and it does have its merits and shouldn’t be ignored. However, the better way to do it would be to supplement that with reaching out to your own contacts in the business.
If you do that, then you’ll have a better chance of getting a good deal and of getting everything over with quickly.
Talk to Professionals
Brokers know what they’re doing and have been trained in the art of selling businesses. It would be unwise not to go to one and rely on your own to do the job. They can give you a realistic overview of what you may be in for, but that’s better than the alternative of having your head up in the clouds and waiting for the right deal to come along. They’re prepped for selling businesses after all, and they’ve been familiarized with various scenarios, they’ll know what to do and the best advice to give you.
Serdar Kabul