In these unprecedented times, business owners are finding it more difficult than ever to sell their businesses. With the pandemic causing widespread panic and chaos, potential buyers are hesitant to make any big decisions.
Selling a business is no easy task even in “ordinary” conditions, and given the current market situation, this can make it even more challenging for anyone who wants to sell. The current economic climate can make it tough to sell your business, but this doesn’t have to stand in the way of successfully marketing and getting top dollar.
As unfortunate as this may sound, potential buyers are more likely to put their money into safe-haven type investments than purchasing businesses these days. During periods of economic stress buying a new business can be seen as too high-risk an investment as opposed
to buying financial assets such as bonds, and as the saying goes “the likelihood of a company going out of business is much greater than that of a country defaulting on its debt”. What this means for those looking to sell their business is that they need to be more proactive to attract the required attention and ultimately convince someone to purchase their company.
The first thing potential buyers want to hear from a business owner is that they are working on a plan of action for the future and defining the strategies which will help them weather this economic crisis. If you tell them, you do not have a strategy or any plans of how to improve things, then they may very well doubt your ability to be able to turn things around, which leads us on to the second point.
When selling a business, you must show potential buyers that you’re not just engaged in firefighting and crisis management, but that you have a long-term strategy for growth. Business owners need to make the effort of outlining their future plans, communicating these plans to potential buyers and explaining how they intend to take advantage of opportunities in order to secure that prosperous profitable future.
Although the current economic climate can make it a little more challenging to sell your business, that doesn’t have to stand in the way of successfully marketing and getting top dollar.
Here are a few key things you can do to increase your chances of selling your business successfully during the pandemic.
- Delay is Better Than Denial, Denial is Better Than Deceit
It’s very common for people to think that the best time to sell is when everything is going well. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth! One of the best times to sell your business is during a pandemic. With all the uncertainty in the world, especially in today’s global economy where you never know what will happen next week, let alone tomorrow, potential buyers are surprisingly MORE flexible with their demands and will be even more open to negotiating when it comes to price. If you’ve done all the work up to this point, and have developed that long-term strategy for success, then you’re in a great position! - Be Prepared
Yesterday’s’ news no longer applies to today’s’ marketplace; any information that was previously private knowledge can now for the most part be found on the internet, which is a double-edged sword as you want as much as possible out there about your business but at the same time you need the right information to the right people at the right time. Today, buyers will do their own due diligence and comprehensive research about your business before they even walk through your door, so make sure you have a strategy in place to supply the right information to the right person at the right time. Strategies like can add thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars to your businesses appraised value.
Educate and Motivate the Right Buyer by Understanding Their Needs
The best time to sell your business is when you’ve clearly identified your target buyer and why they are motivated to buy. This includes identifying their needs, wants, requirements for success for themselves and their family before they even walk through your door. By understanding what motivates them most in life, this will help you help them better determine if your business is a good fit for their family and will lead to a much stronger opportunity to negotiate on your terms. If you’re not sure what their motivation is and are uncertain as to how to best position your business to them, get curious and ask them why they are considering the purchase of the business. When you line up your prospective buyers’ needs and wants with an exact product (your business) that can exactly meet those needs, you’ve got a recipe for a very successful sale.
3 simple steps that can make all the difference in the successful sale of your business and put you a step ahead of the rest when it comes time to sell your business for the maximum value, in the shortest time.
If you’re a business owner looking for answers to how to sell your company in today’s world and economy, we have the solution for you.
The Business Selling Mastery program is a self-paced selling platform that takes you through the ENTIRE business selling process from beginning to end. It covers everything from increasing the value of your business, to structuring it for the greatest after-tax return, including closing the transaction and everything in between.
It’s the first platform designed to save business owners, 8-12% on brokerage fees, provide immediate and on-demand access to tools, resources and information needed to sell your business and give you the confidence you need to control the outcome of your sale.
So, if you’re planning to sell, thinking about selling or ready to sell your company, now is the time to take advantage of this unique marketing opportunity to sell your company by enrolling in our Business Selling Mastery program today.
Book a FREE demo HERE
