Business In Trouble: You Can Still Sell It

15/05/2009 by info.

Business owners wanting to sell their business sometimes approach me but try to hide the real reason why they want to sell. Being that is that their business is not doing well.

They are evasive about providing recent financial figures, and do not mention the fact that their sales have reduced. Sometimes want unrealistic amounts for that business on the basis that they need a certain figure to pay off their debts.

It is always better to be honest, and to inform your agent that the business is in financial trouble, allowing your agent to present your business in a different way. As certain people are always looking for businesses they can turn around. Just look at the number of businesses in administration that find new owners and survive in some form or another.

Okay, so your business is not doing well and you don’t have the working capital to run it anymore. That does not necessarily mean that it is not of substantial value to someone else though!

You may have a particularly skilled workforce, access to a difficult to penetrate market, valuable patents, a good and respected brand name, perhaps an excellent location for retail premises. These factors or any combination of others could make the purchase of your business a very attractive proposition to someone, if you could find the right person.

The important issue here is to be honest with your agent and proposed buyer, as then you may have a great chance of selling your business. Rather than to try to market it as a strong business opportunity only to be found out later to be hiding the truth an experienced agent will still be able to identify some strength in you business and also to be upfront about the negatives.

You cannot deceive buyers about the true state of your businesses finances, but there is no reason whatsoever why you cannot emphasize the better aspects of your business, and what is more important show how these aspects could be of benefit to a potential purchaser, which is the main thing that he or she will be interested in.

This point is worth repeating over and over again do not try and hide the truth from the market, there may still be a buyer for your business, but if you are not honest to your agent you have no chance of finding the right buyer.

Posted in Selling Your Business | No Comments »