Items to Consider When Deciding to Sell on Your Own

2misi.com

In the world of real estate, selling without the assistance of a real estate agent has received a lot of attention. But is it really a good idea to try and sell your business on your own?

Is it possible to sell your business yourself? Absolutely, but it's not for everyone. But in most, the smart move is to hire a professional business supervisor to list your business and locate pool of potential buyers.

Business supervisor can add a lot of value, most importantly by maximizing the selling price of your business. Here are just a few of the things they bring to the table that you may have trouble doing on your own:

• Setting the Selling Price. Anyone can set an selling price for your business. But it takes experience to set an selling price that is neither too high nor too low for the marketplace. Although your business supervisor will work to get the highest possible price for your business, he also understands that the price needs to be at a level that allows buyers to meet income and cash flow requirements right out of the gate.
  
  
  Even more, a good business supervisor will be able to adjust selling price that may arise over the course of negotiations (e.g. cash sale vs. partially financed, finance terms, etc.).
  
  
• Laying the Groundwork for Negotiation. Their experience in business sales gives them invaluable insights into the minds of buyers and the workings of the marketplace itself. Most business supervisors are especially adept at developing a negotiation strategy that drives the sale toward its completion and enables the seller; to achieve your exit goals. But creativity and expertise aren't the only negotiation related benefits you can gain from a business supervisor. Many sellers also find that business supervisor give them a much needed objective perspective throughout the negotiation process.

• Marketing Your business. If you think marketing a business consists of placing an ad in the local classifieds, then it's definitely time to hire a business supervisor. Marketing a business is a highly involved and complex process; and business supervisor are experts at doing it right. A marketing strategy can include a variety of tasks including the preparation of a business plan, the compilation of promotional materials and the analysis of target markets. An additional wrinkle comes into play when the seller needs the sale to remain confidential for business or personal reasons. By limiting marketing efforts to a narrow band of qualified prospects, the business supervisor can maintain a low profile while ensuring that the right people know your business is on the market.

• Pre-Qualifying Buyers. As you might expect, there are a lot of tire kickers out there in the business for sale marketplace. I've seen too many sellers invest time and energy in a prospective buyer, and then find out later that he lacked the capacity and genuine desire to actually purchase the hotel.
  Business supervisor are extremely knowledgeable about which buyers are serious and which aren't, and just as importantly, which buyers possess the financial resources and skills to actually complete the transaction. Business supervisor possess the expertise and processes to quickly cull out the tire kickers and unqualifieds before they sap valuable time and energy from your sales process.

At the end of the day, it's your decision whether to hire a business supervisor or to attempt to sell your business on your own. Just make sure you know what you're getting into; be realistic about your skills and the time commitment it will require.

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