Making Your Business Stand Out: Price Edges, Replication, Intangibles

In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some basics on how to help differentiate your business from others in your industry if you're looking to sell. Buyers are always looking for unique qualities that will draw them in, and being able to highlight these well is often a vital part of listing your business for sale.

At Utah Business Consultants, we're happy to assist clients with every part of their prospective business sale, from proper business valuation through numerous techniques that will help you promote your business and get it in view of ideal buyers. In today's part two of our series, we'll go over a few other themes and tips for helping distinguish yourself from others on the market, especially those in your industry.

Price Edges

If your business boasts a price advantage over some or all of your primary competitors on the market, this is a major strength worth leveraging in your marketing and promotion of the business. This edge can be a function of any number of things, such as:

• Lower overhead expenses (rent, utilities, taxes)
• A lower cost-per-unit price to the customer due to more efficient operation
• Higher profit margins than your competitors
• A strong brand image, such as luxury products and services vs. mid-market or bargain brands

Whatever the cause, your business having a price advantage over some or all of its competition is well worth drawing attention to during your sale. This is an important point in countering the general tendency for buyers to assume the market rate in any given area is the most competitive price.

Difficulty of Replication

Another primary feature to highlight, if present, is any products or services you produce that are difficult for competitors to replicate. This can take many forms, but it's usually best if the difficulty of replication is inherent in the product or service itself, rather than a function of something you do that poses an obstacle for other businesses.

Some examples might be:

• A patent or proprietary technology for creating your product or rendering your services
• A customer base that is difficult to target, such as a patent or an unusual demographic
• A location that makes it costly, time-consuming, complicated to enter the market in your area
• A strong brand image and/or name recognition that takes years and millions of dollars in advertising and marketing investment to build and maintain

Other Intangibles

Finally, there are certain other intangibles that will often attract buyers in small ways. A long, business-friendly lease in your building, for instance, may not be the kind of thing that will entice a buyer to make an offer, but it can help push your sale over the top in certain close cases.

Other types of intangibles that might interest buyers are things like customer lists, proprietary software, proven advertising programs, and more.

For more on how to highlight the best attributes of your business to position yourself for a sale, or to learn about any of our exit planning or business sales services, speak to the staff at Utah Business Consultants today.