There comes a time in the life of any online entrepreneur when he thinks about how to sell his online business. The reasons for this can be diverse, but the pattern of sale is often the same. Unless, of course, the business has prospects and value.
Besides a good business idea, quality product, and optimal price, many other important things are very easy to overlook, especially if you are new to the business world. If you want to know how to sell a company – read this article.
Finance – know your numbers and put your accounting in order
If you are wondering “how to sell an online business”, you need to start preparing. It is worth starting with finances. Business is money, and money loves an account. That is why your first friend when preparing for the sale is the profit and loss statement. It will show both you and the potential buyer where the company spends money and how it is earned.
It is not enough to prepare a report for the year, the period should be longer so that you can assess the seasonality and dynamics of profits.
If you`re wondering how to sell online business you also need a cash flow report to make it clear when and where the money comes and from, when, and what it is spent on.
How to sell an internet business and get the most out
To successfully sell your business and get the most out of it, you need to prepare it for sale, www.websiteclosers.com will help you with this. To do this, you need to:
1. Management reporting
So, you came to the decision “I want to sell my online business”. But how to properly prepare the company for sale? First of all, the future buyer wants to see the structure of the business. Put things in order in management reporting, summarize profits and expenses for at least a year”.
If necessary, you need to obtain reconciliation acts from counterparties and check the existence of contracts with them – the primary accounting documents must be in order. If there are no debts on mandatory payments, it is advisable to order the relevant certificates in advance.
2. Business plan
The buyer wants to buy the future, and the seller for some reason sells the past. You need to make a plan for a product and reflect on the benefits that it will bring to the buyer.
When advertising your brainchild, it is important not to overdo it: all indicators will be checked at the stage of the preliminary contract.
3. Legal advice
Preventive legal support may be the best way to secure long-term success for your business. Because if you call a lawyer after you have encountered a problem, it may be too late to do anything. And this, in turn, can critically affect the business both in the short and long term.
How much can you sell your online business for?
There are several methods to determine the market value of your business. First, you can calculate the value of all your assets, i.e. equipment, inventory, etc. Alternatively, you can base this on comparing your current revenue and profits with similar sales that have taken place in the past. In other cases, there is a formula that multiplies earnings. In any case, one or more of these can help you determine the value of your business and then you can determine the listing price.
The most important thing to remember is that your price should be competitive but also reasonable. An offer that is significantly below market value looks questionable and most buyers may question its credibility as it may be “too good to be true”. At the same time, set the price too high and most buyers will think you are unreasonable and won’t even make an offer.
Private sale or broker – what to choose?
If you are making a transaction for the first time, it is better to use the services of a broker, who knows how businesses sell. Here an entrepreneur buys a fitness center for $ 2 million. The broker asks for a commission – for example, 6% of the transaction. The buyer decides that he can cope on his own. With a successful set of circumstances, the savings are 120 thousand dollars. If something goes wrong, the entrepreneur risks losing 2 million dollars. From the point of view of common sense, this is an unjustified risk.
When you study the technology of buying and selling a business in practice, such operations can be carried out independently, if necessary, with attractive specialists, which know how to sell your business online – lawyers, appraisers, and accountants.
A few last tips before selling a business
You can sell a ready-made business, but there is a possibility to face certain nuances of the market. Therefore, it will be more efficient and safer to work with expert market representatives, private brokers, or company brokers, subject to careful selection!
To make a transaction safer, you need to follow simple rules and avoid mistakes that 90% of sellers without experience in such transactions make.
Checklist: how to sell my online business
– Study the sale procedure yourself and delve into the main nuances of the transaction.
– Competently carry out the procedure for re-registration of the transaction.
– Officially keep records of business profits and generate documents confirming business profits since its foundation.
– If you wish, you can work with private brokers and companies, but only after a careful selection of candidates!
– Consult with people from your environment who have made similar transactions before and find out what difficulties they faced.
– Do not be afraid to ask any questions to the buyer, because the outcome of the transaction depends on it.
– To enlist the support of an expert in advance and, if possible, to conduct a transaction with an expert business broker, to learn from him all the processes during the transaction.
At first glance, selling a ready-made business is easy. It is a long-distance race. It is important in this process not to concede in price and sell it as profitably as possible. To do this, follow our advice on how to sell an internet business.
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