14/06/2010 by info.

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a film that is loosely based on the 1964 Roald Dahl novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The world, learns that the chocolate maker Willy Wonka has hidden five Golden Tickets amongst his Wonka Bars. The finders of these special tickets will be given a full tour of his tightly-guarded sweet factory, as well as a lifetime supply of chocolate.

In fact when Charlie win the prize, Wonka discloses that his actual prize is the factory itself, as the Golden Ticket search was conceived to help Wonka search for an honest and worthy successor to be the heir to his business.

Now I would not suggest if you wanted to sell your business that you should conduct a prize draw for a golden ticket, some have tried it without success!

But this story highlights two aspects in selling your business:

Firstly, that often your customer is a likely buyer. A customer may prefer to take control of their supply chain and grow their business vertically so that they can have more control over that supply. A shop customer also already knows how good your business is, and they do not make bad choices, they may already be sold on your business and could habitually recommend it to other people. Although many business owners are worried about approaching these potential buyers due to confidentiality.

Secondly that Wonka goes through a process of removing unsuitable successors from the process, this is exactly what happens when you sell your business. A number of prospects are either identified or indentify themseleves as buyers, now this process of identifying the one buyer takes time, you can do it yourself or your can instruct an agent to do it for you.

A seller of a business may have their own criteria, Wonda wanted honesty. Buyers can require that a buyer is competent or already have experience.

So when you think about selling your business you need to think about who is likely to buy it and what is your criteria for this buyer? Are you only interested in the money, or would you want more?

Posted in Selling Your Business, Buyers, General | No Comments »

01/06/2010 by info.

What buyers, making a decision to buy a business, do in their mind, is to carry out a SWOT analysis (an analysis of a businesses Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats), and you should be aware that strengths to you might not be so for a buyer. They do not do this on paper however it is done in their mind.

A shop owner for example could quite easily increase his turnover and profits by opening longer hours and working 6.00am to 11.00pm but this can be seen as a weakness to a buyer, especially if they want a life/work balance.

The seller may regard the additional profits as an opportunity, but it may undermine the demand for that business if buyers are not interested in working those long hours.

A very profitable business may indicate a strength to you however if you have made your business too complicated not many people will consider it an opportunity.

You would think that if a business makes greater profits then its value must increase, however it depends on how that profit is achieved.

When you want to sell your business it is important that you understand whether certain decisions and features will increase or decrease its value.

Carry out a SWOT analysis from a buyer’s point of view otherwise you may end up with a profitable business that is not worth the money it should be.

Posted in Selling Your Business, Buyers, General | No Comments »