Contributed by the business-owners who have placed ads on www.thebusinessshop.ie and successfully gone through the process of selling a business.
* Ensure that you have good legal and financial advice from someone experienced in the process of selling a business. Your local City or County Enterprise Board, Leader Company or Enterprise Ireland may be able to direct you towards suitable experts.
* Focus your advertising spend bearing in mind your target audience and what they are likely to read. Advertising in national newspapers can be very expensive while advertising in trade media and local media can yield good (if limited) results. Advertising on online portals, such as thebusinessshop.ie, opens up your business opportunity to a national and international audience of serious prospects.
* When advertising online, remember that potential purchasers are looking through long lists of possible business opportunities on screen. The title of your ad and a short description is what they will see first. Make sure you grab their attention and sell the future potential of the business in those few short sentences so that they read your ad in detail. Highlight unique aspects of your product or service and if it is a “lifestyle” business, sell the dream!
* Profile the kind of person who would be most likely to buy your business so that you can make a call on whether or not people who respond to your ad are likely to be serious.
* Filter out time-wasters early. Have a short list of pertinent questions prepared for them at the first interview to see if they are serious about purchasing your business. Ask your accountant and legal advisor for assistance with this. Prepare a process in advance so that if discussions do not progress beyond a certain point you can politely withdraw and concentrate on more serious prospects.
* Be prepared before you place your ad so that you can respond quickly. Put together two Company Information Packs 1) A summary overview with topline information such as company history, mission statement, description of what is special or unique about what you do, list of products/services, percentage growth year on year, key accounts held, patented technology or proprietary processes, awards or other industry recognitions and your assessment of the opportunities for future growth. Do not go into too much detail, this is just a taster document and you don’t want to give away commercially sensitive information at this early stage. 2) Produce a more detailed pack covering all of the above but also including additional information such as customer testimonials, sectors serviced, financial history (independently audited) and financial projections. Pack 1 should be presented to interested parties early on in the process once they have been vetted to ensure that they are bona fide potential purchasers. Pack 2 should be presented to parties who have progressed past the initial enquiry stage and have been thoroughly vetted by you.
* Ensure both parties sign a non-disclosure agreement if discussions are progressing in a serious direction.
* Research the purchaser carefully. If a business, checkout their website and company information and it may be worth while attempting to access their accounts through the Company’s Registration Office in Dublin Castle. If you are progressing discussions, ask for references from trade, accountant and bank sources.
* Be careful with giving out too much commercial information at an early stage in the process.
* Don’t give out your customer list or supplier list until very certain that a deal is imminent.
* Be aware that the process can take quite a long time from initial enquiry to completion of sale.
* You built up this business yourself, selling it can be an emotional roller-coaster. Be prepared for this and try to stay calm and focused on the end game!
For more information contact johnryan@thebusinessshop.ie // johnahern@thebusinessshop.ie
Top Tips For Selling Your Business - To learn more about this author, visit John Ryan's Website.
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