If you are planning to sell your business, and especially if this is the first time you are thinking of doing so, you must be wondering about what pitfalls to avoid from early on. While there are no hard-and-fast rules, in the course of working closely with thousands of business owners, buyers and investors over the last few years, we have realized that there are a few common mistakes that sellers often make which can be easily avoided.
In this article, we will share these 4 common mistakes of business sellers with you, and our expert advice on how to handle these scenarios instead.
4 Mistakes to Avoid When Selling Your Business
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Waiting for Too Long to Initiate the Sale Process
Believe it or not, most sellers struggle with the decision to sell their business, and even after they decide, they often delay the process. We understand that business owners have an emotional attachment to their business which is one of the primary reasons for this inertia. However, the more you delay the process, the less the situation stays in your control. Once you have decided to sell, tell yourself that there is no looking back and that you will make the best of this opportunity. Start sourcing buyers from dedicated platforms like IndiaBizForSale.com for quick deal discovery, and simultaneously focus on preparing your business for sale – which brings us to the next point.
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Not Taking Sale Preparation Seriously
The common question that sellers ask is – my business is going great, why should I prepare it for sale? Another question that we get asked frequently is – how should I prepare my business for sale?
The important thing to remember here is that irrespective of how well your business is doing, you can maximize the sale value and streamline the sale process by preparing your business for sale. Sale preparation involves identifying areas which need attention and working on those with a fixed timeline in mind – typically between 1 to 3 months. For example, optimizing team structure, sorting out financial records and documentation for due diligence, getting a realistic valuation for your business by an expert, addressing any legal issues, streamlining processes, resolving disparities, etc. are some of the activities that can be undertaken during sale preparation.
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Missing Out on Pre-Qualifying Buyers
Ensuring confidentiality and pre-qualifying buyers before sharing sensitive information is perhaps one of the most critical areas that business sellers often miss out on. Remember, that you should not reveal your own identity or the identity of your business until a buyer has shown adequate interest. Sharing the financial details of your business, business strategy, trade short-cuts, etc. should be done when the discussion has proceeded to an advanced stage – i.e. when the buyer has established explicit and serious interest in buying your business. Sharing any critical information such as trade secrets, client list, or intellectual property such as product formulations, etc. is recommended only when an MoU has been signed. At IndiaBizForSale.com, we help business sellers communicate confidentially and securely with business buyers and investors through our platform.
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Not Marketing Your Business
Can a business sell itself? Not really – and this is where business sellers sometimes get it wrong. To put it simply, no matter how good your business is, you will still have to market it, and no matter how bad you think your business is, marketing can still help you get buyers faster than any other way. In today’s growing digital world, online marketing campaigns are more important than ever, and even trumps print ads in newspapers in terms of results and cost effectiveness. In fact, keeping this in mind, we provide dedicated marketing services especially for business owners who are looking to sell their business urgently and who opt for these services with us. We help market such businesses efficiently and confidentially while maximizing the reach to the target audience.
Wrapping Up
So, what are you waiting for? Jump-start your business sale process today and avoid the most common mistakes that most sellers make. Stay tuned to our blog for more such insightful articles. To know more about what we do and how we can help you, visit www.indiabizforsale.com or write to us at [email protected].