Raising Business Sale Likelihood: Quality Buyers and Price Flex

In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some of the important legal and valuation areas to keep in mind as you look to increase the likelihood that your business for sale ends up selling. These are just a few of several vital themes to be considering if you’re in this position, most of which are relatively simple and can be understood through a brief consultation with a business broker.

At Utah Business Consultants, we’re here to help with any and all avenues as you look to sell your business, including checking every possible box to make the process not only simpler and more convenience, but also more likely to end up with a sale that’s beneficial to both you and the buyer. Here are several other important areas we recommend keeping an eye on with this theme in mind.

Weed Out Window Shoppers

As a seller of a business you’ve worked hard to create and cultivate, you’re looking to deal with serious, prepared buyers – but unfortunately, not everyone on the business market fits this description. There are a number of “window shoppers” or other buyers who may think they have interest, but aren’t truly prepared financially and time-wise for the commitment that will come with purchasing your business.

The top resource at your disposal for weeding out the serious buyers from the unserious ones: A great business broker. Our brokers have years of experience evaluating prospective business buyers and their qualities, plus factors like their history in your industry and others that might play a role. They will also be able to speak with qualified buyers about submitting a Letter of Intent, something a serious buyer should be willing to do once conversations have gone far enough down the road.

Price Flexibility

While it’s obviously prudent to have a final price at which you would not accept a lower offer, you should be building in some flexibility here for your actual asking price. The offers you get will depend on a number of factors, from your management quality and geographics to your client base and more – these are all reasons why, again, working with top business brokers who understand the specific ins and outs of this realm is so important. One major theme we’ll advise you on is how to keep the right level of flexibility in your asking price so that you draw in good buyers, but don’t turn them off with too much rigidity.

Other Tips

A couple other general tips here:

• Increasing visibility: One great way to improve your sale chances is to make your business highly visible. You can do this through online and social media upgrades, attending trade shows, and generally improving your public relations.
• Patience: Selling a business is not an immediate form of gratification. It takes significant time for the entire process to be carried out, from initial due diligence to a sale agreement, documents being drawn up, and eventually the same being executed. Being organized and prepared for each of the steps, plus patient as they’re completed, is the name of the game.

For more on how to raise the chances of your business sale going through, or to learn about any of our business brokerage services, speak to the staff at Utah Business Consultants today.