| |
| |
|
Sales Information |
|
|
|
Selling Your Business - Step by Step Process
So it's finally come time to sell the business. After investing years of your time and uncounted thousands of dollars, it has become successful, providing for your needs and wants, and it's time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Where do you start? A good time to start thinking about selling a business is right after startup, when it shows signs of beginning to succeed and become self-sustaining. Even if you are planning on bequeathing it to your progeny or a partner, it's never too early to think about what will happen afterwards. The first step is to take your time--selling a business is a complex process and you will only do it once. Confidentiality is a necessity at this point, as word of an impending sale can cause repercussions among employees and business partners (suppliers, customers, etc.) alike. Your position in the business is also a point to consider. If you are the sole proprietor, the decision is yours alone. However, if you are a partner or board member, selling your part of the business will involve more considerations. Finding a good broker is worth any amount of time needed to locate one you are comfortable with. Check the Better Business Bureau for any investigation history, and get referrals from fellow business owners or from industry associations like the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA). This is a non-profit "trade association of business brokers providing education, conferences, professional designations and networking opportunities" (IBBA), as well as professional certifications and boasts over 1300 members. Next, a professional appraiser should be consulted, as just like selling a home, a professional appraisal will give a fair value to begin negotiations with. Keep in mind though, an appraisal is an estimate of the fair value of a business' hard assets, and the market value of the business may be higher or lower, as a business is only worth what someone else is willing to pay. Determining major terms and price are issues that you are going to have to work out with your broker, but a few basic factors come into play: what do you want to get out of the sale? Continuing salary? Lump sum? Stock options? This is a step often overlooked until late in the negotiations, often to the detriment of the seller. Financing the sale is usually about 90% left to the seller. If you can't or won't be willing to cover the costs of the sale, it may not be a good time to sell. Once you and your broker have located a buyer and agreed on a price, a Letter of Intent is drafted. This letter outlines the terms and tentative price in a non-binding document and allows the buyer time to thoroughly investigate the business. This process is subject to Due Diligence, as the onus of discovery is placed upon the buyer and buyer's agent. After the discovery process is completed to both parties' satisfaction, the Purchase Agreement is drafted. This set of paperwork creates a formal agreement between buyer and seller regarding purchase price, terms, and other legal details. Once the respective lawyers have finalized the details and complied with state law requirements regarding the sale, the Purchase Agreement is signed, closing documents finalized, and the sale is complete. If everything has gone well, it's time to breathe a sigh of relief and start planning what to do with all that free time! William King is the director of All Wholesale UK: http://www.uk-wholesaler.co.uk, Wholesale Pages: http://www.wholesalepages.co.uk and Wholesale-Canada: http://www.wholesale-canada.com. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers, entrepreneurs and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.
MORE RESOURCES:
Sales - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Forgive All Ebay Sins! Over the years, I have been amazed at the "blinding" greed and reckless approach to commerce that some business owners have employed. Lying to customers, selling inferior merchandise, and not offering refunds, left a firestorm of irate customers in their wake. Business Lessons Learned At The Mall Normally in this column I dispense highly-intelligent small business advice in response to thought-provoking questions submitted by future and fellow entrepreneurs. This week, however, I have a couple of questions for myself, one of which makes me wonder how truly intelligent I really am. Who Takes Your Money Your business is making profits, but where is the cash? It seems that someone has taken away your money. Your bank account is still the same, and your personal wealth is still the same. Two Mistakes That Will Cost You Money You've met a new prospect, accurately assessed their needs and determined that you can provide the product and service she is looking for. You've presented your information in an engaging manner and the prospective customer appears interested. 5 Ways to Encourage Impulse Purchases I just bought six square pieces of spongy fabric for $20 and walked away happy - "victim" of an impulse purchase.I was at one of those big show events and walked past a demonstration booth. Six Steps to Creating Online Presentations for Telephone Selling How much extra money could you make by closing just one or two additional sales a day? You can double, or even triple, the effectiveness of your telephone selling by showing prospects why they should buy from you, instead of just telling them.Clients and prospects are visually oriented. Ten Top Tips for Terminating Telephone Terror 1. Make telephone callsFew things are more terrifying than the unknown. 17 Tips for Bringing Your Event to Life Your job as an event planner doesn't stop with the meeting in the company boardroom. You may be called upon to organize an employee appreciate event, an awards dinner, a product launch, the celebration of a company milestone, a gala recognizing a longtime employee's retirement, an incentive event for company's sales force, a fundraising event, a holiday celebration?the list goes on and on. What Do Mobile Auto Detailers Clean When it Rains? A mobile auto detailer and their profits are tied to the weather perhaps more than any other business. There are ways to make money even on a rainy day if you are smart. Doomed Before You Dial? Several weeks ago, I conducted a "Mastering the Cold Call" seminar for the Printing Industries of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. At the end of the seminar, a participant came up to me and said, "Thank you! I learned so much! I learned 'Don't Take No for an Answer. Hurrican Selling Styles As I prepare this issue of this Newsletter, at 37,000 feet on my way to Greenville South Carolina, the east coast is being battered by a Hurricane.All hurricanes seem to start out as a blip on a distant radar screen. Mindset Over Materials: The Secret Weapon of Sustainable Sales Success Long-term sales success has less to do with skills or knowledge than you might think. Nor are stunning brochures or excellent products guaranteed to make one iota of impact over time. Color Psychology Will Make Or Break Your Sales Success Color psychology is the biggest question I receive on a regular basis. The reason being is it's importance. Sex Sells! An attractive woman has a decided advantage as sales representative over her male counterpart. This "selling edge" is primarily due to the existence of the "glass ceiling" found in most business organizations today. Selling Strategy - 5 Ways To Success Web sites exist for essentially two purposes. The first is to provide information. Is Sales Profession an Oxymoron? If you are in Sales, you have probably heard these before:Q: "How can you tell a sales person is lying?"A: "His lips are moving."Q: "Why do lawyers like sales people?"A: "They give them someone to look down on. The Doors Of Opportunity Alexander Graham Bell once said, "When one door closes another opens; but we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that is opened for us." If you're in sales you gotta remember this one. Breaking the Ice and Winning Over the Client Wherever you turn these days you'll find articles covering every business strategy and tactic available to man from how to make a great presentation to strategies for success all the way to negotiations and prospecting and getting a client to commit. But hardly anyone touches on the subject of breaking the ice with a new client and winning them over. Quotations Tell... Proposals Sell! The traditional "Quotation" was originally devised during the Industrial Revolution of the 1850's and has changed little to the present day. It is a totally Dickensian format and absolutely out of date in a situation where supply so completely outstrips demand. Writing Effective Sales Messages A sales letter is a document designed to generate sales. It is a distinctive type of persuasive letter.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
