There’s a little more to selling a business than meets the eye. We take you behind the scenes and show you the techniques and approaches that maximise your chances of selling, that improve the price you command in the market and that speed up the whole process to completion.
How to combat the sneaky tricks used by dodgy buyers / investors
Continue readingSome background checks on companies & individuals who claim to be “investors” buying businesses. If you’ve been approached by someone who wants to buy your business, you cannot afford to ignore this page. Read it in its entirety …and then read it again!Beware! The person who approached you to buy your business is possibly a […]
Continue readingLoan Book Valuation: Getting the Best Price For Your Debt Selling a business usually involves selling the business assets as well as liabilities. The new owner takes ownership of the debt book – the accounts receivable, the debtors who owe you money – as that is an asset. He can sell that debt or raise […]
Continue readingProfit Boosting: before and after the sale of your business This is a guest post by Dave Simon of Double Your Profits Consultancy Selling A Business Is Different!While owner-managers may be very familiar with selling their products and services, selling the business as a whole is often a first experience.This sale may result in the […]
Continue readingThe Business Broker10 Facts Every Business Owner Must Know Before Engaging Business Brokers Selling a business is a significant event. Getting the business broker choice wrong, as most business owners do, is an expensive mistake. Background: We manage the UK’s largest database of business brokers. We track their expertise, sector specialisation, fees, contractual terms, awards […]
Continue readingGot A Business Valuation? Throw It Away. You Can Sell For A Lot More Than That Valuation! Had a professional valuation done for your business? Ignore it. Here’s how you can get the maximum price for your business … and it could be a lot higher than the valuation. Introduction Whatever your formal valuation, it […]
Continue readingMastering The Ad Copy That Will Sell Your Business Tip: This article contains the best ad copy writing tips that’ll get your business-for-sale advert maximum visibility and compel buyers & investors to respond. Part I: The bad examples or what not to doPart II: Our top tips to writing a killer advertisement to sell your […]
Continue readingNegotiating Price & Terms When Selling A Business or Merging / Acquiring One Business owners often underestimate what’s involved in the negotiating of these deals. Many think it’s just about finding a price that works for both parties. Or worse – they think the negotiator is going in there to get them the “highest possible […]
Continue readingFAQ: Real Life Questions (And Answers) On Selling Businesses Questions & AnswersThe below are questions received from business owners in relation to selling businesses, and the answers we provided. Note that no confidential information is disclosed below and numbers and names have been modified to anonymise the sender. Questions and Answers: 1 | 2 | […]
Continue readingWhy Selling A Small Business Is So Difficult: The “Small” Is The Problem Summary: A business needs to be a certain size before it makes sense to try selling it. It needs to be generating a decent sized net profit of at least several tens of thousands of pounds (after paying the owner a fair […]
Continue readingThe Truth About Selling Businesses That They Don’t Tell You Selling a small business is a lot more difficult than most people realise. Business brokers (and business-for-sale listing platforms) give the impression that selling is a breeze. Brokers often make out that they have a very high success rate. Business-for-sale listing platforms give the impression […]
Continue readingHow Best To Respond To An Offer To Buy Your Business?I Had An Offer To Buy My Business: How To Respond, Mistakes To Avoid An offer to buy your business could be very exciting, and is your chance to cash out. This article covers how best to protect your position. If you’re looking for advice […]
Continue readingHow To Successfully Sell An Insolvent Business The latest figures released by the Insolvency Service for the first quarter of the year show that corporate insolvencies rose 4.5% compared with the final quarter of 2016, and were 5.3% higher than the same quarter last year. The official figures also indicate that Q1 2017 was the […]
Continue readingAsset Sale Vs Share Sale: Does Selling Assets Get A Better Price Than Selling Shares? If a business is a Ltd company, the sale can be structured in one of two ways – by selling the shares or selling the assets. (This doesn’t apply to sole proprietorships or partnerships as these businesses don’t have shares.)While […]
Continue readingA Detailed Guide To Selling A Business By Yourself & Doing A Better Job Than A Business Broker WouldEverything you need to know about selling a business but which no business broker will tell you. By Clinton Lee (LinkedIn profile) There are two ways to go about the sale of a business: 1. The Easy […]
Continue readingHow To Impress Investors To Buy Your Business (Or Finance It) How to get an investor to invest in your business? I present some uncomfortable truths.This has been written mainly for business owners attempting to sell their businesses themselves (without a business broker). But most of it is also applicable to those business owners seeking […]
Continue reading30 Of The Best Marketplaces To List Your Business For Sale How do you sell a small business and which multi-listing sites (MLS) or portals accept advertisements of companies for sale? We’ve assembled a comprehensive list of the main venues for both individual sellers and business brokers! Compare venue prices & coverage below.Warning: Selling a […]
Continue readingAvoiding Trips and Traps in ValuationBy Chris Thorne There are many reasons why a business owner needs a valuation ranging from wanting to sell whole or a part, negotiating a merger, creating new shares through to calculating capital tax liabilities. For a typical small business, the events that trigger the need for a valuation will […]
Continue readingHow To Vet Business Buyers – Tell The Real Players From The Time Wasters!Note: Only part of this article is available to non-subscribers When buyers approach you to buy your business, all may not be what it seems.The DangerThere are several “internet courses” being heavily marketed purporting to teach people how to buy established and […]
Continue reading10 Things You Really Must KnowAbout Business Valuation There are many myths surrounding valuation as it relates to small and micro businesses. This post attempts to dispel the more common ones.Businesses are not worth a “multiple of turnover”Business are not worth a “multiple of profit”There is no such thing as an “accurate valuation” for a […]
Continue readingSave thousands of pounds – motivate business brokers to do a better job at a lower price It’s not cheap to hire a competent business broker (business transfer agent) to sell your business. In fact, it’ll cost you between 5% – 10% of your selling price (read more about business broker costs & fees). Yes, […]
Continue readingThe Myth: A business is worth only what someone will pay for it The first question raised by business owners looking to sell their business usually revolves around valuation: “What is my business worth?”And the most common answer they get is that a business is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. […]
Continue readingIs your business broker charging you for “research” that he’s not really doing?Note: Only part of this article is available to non-subscribers Subscribers to my newsletter know I advocate avoiding business brokers who take businesses on, email their details to a database, post them for sale online … and sit back. That’s not how you find […]
Continue readingWhat you need to be cautious about when hiring a business brokerNote: Subscription may be required to read some parts of this article. Subscription is free. 4. Business brokers’ claims of eager buyers / large database of buyers<< This is a continuation of our article from hereWho can resist this? Business brokers often go to […]
Continue readingTop broker sharp practises that business sellers need to watch out forNote: Subscription may be required to read some parts of this article. Subscription is free. If you’re selling a business and intend using a broker, you need to know that not all you see in the press about brokers & Business Transfer Agents is […]
Continue readingThe one secret that gets 300% more buyers for your businessNote: Only part of this article is available to non-subscribers There is one simple mistake that almost every seller makes and it’s losing them valuable enquiries. In fact, over a third of the investors who ARE interested in buying your business are slipping through your […]
Continue readingKeeping confidential the impending sale of your business Part 3 of 3: << Part 2 THE CONFIDENTIALITY RISK (Part III of III) The Immediate Risk For YouBusinesses that provide vendors with exit related services stand to gain from knowing, before other firms do, that you’re in need of their services.They can then get in there […]
Continue readingKeeping confidential the impending sale of your business Part 2 of 3: << Part 1 THE CONFIDENTIALITY RISK (Part II of III) Precautions That Technology Has Forced On UsHitherto cutting edge advice on, for example, picking up answerphone messages before staff do and moving the fax machine into our private office are hopelessly outdated.To protect […]
Continue readingYou’ve told nobody about the impending sale of your business, not even your partner / spouse. You think nobody knows? You’re probably wrong. What’s worse is that these people who’ve been spying on you are extremely dangerous and can severely damage the value you’ve built in your business. THE CONFIDENTIALITY RISK (Part I of III) […]
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