Selling as business isn’t something that happens overnight, it take a long time and if you run low on patience, it could cost you in the long run. While you may not want to spend a lot of time or wait to get paid, you need to have a lot of patience before you can successfully sell a business for the proper amount. Here are just a few reasons why having patience is a must when you are putting your business on the market.
Rushing Will Only Result In A Bad Sale
A bad business sale could mean a number of things. Selling the business for a lot less than it’s worth, not having the proper paperwork ready,the right valuation (which there are many valuation benefits) which extends the whole process, spending a lot of time with a buyer that eventually backs out of the deal, and plenty more. The main reason these things happen is consciously or subconsciously people rush the process.In turn, they forget to organize their paperwork, or just stick to the first buyer that approaches them in hopes of just selling it and being done with the situation.
If you were to take your time, you could reduce the risk of a bad sale and have a much more efficient process. In fact, taking time initially to provide the potential buyers with whatever they could need to make an informed decision could actually reduce the amount of time the sale takes and save you time in the long run.
Finding The Right Buyer
Finding a buyer that is serious and is willing to spend the money you are asking for can take a long time. You might run into people that offer you a low amount, are just “window shopping”, or are ultimately just wasting your time. In times like that, it is easy to run out of patience; but it’s important that you don’t. Just take a step back and understand that finding the right buyer can take an extended amount of time. This is especially true if there are other similar businesses on the market as well. Buying a business is a commitment, after all. The buyers will need to research all options prior to becoming serious about buying, so just give them time.
Coming Up With The Right Strategies
Taking extra time to figure out the best sales strategy could be the whole reason you actually sell your business, so don’t rush it. Use all the information and resources you have available to you to ensure that your strategy will attract potential buyers and keep their attention to help your chances of getting offers. A lot of new entrepreneurs don’t even try to come up with a strategy and just hope that their business sells. While that could work at some point, it’s much better to come up with a strategy that fits your business type to get the offers you want.
Negotiations
Negotiating a price can be a very long, drawn-out process, especially if you are using a third party to communicate for you. You have to wait for a response, then respond, then engage in a back-and-forth for as long as it takes before you and the buyer decide on a fair price. This is when you have to have patience to make sure you don’t just let go of the company for less money just because you don’t want to deal with the negotiations any more. It is understandable that you may see a figure and settle for it, but why leave money behind when all it would take is a little more patience and time? You worked very hard to build a successful business that is now sellable, so you deserve to have a bigger payday.
Conclusion
Bottom line: set an expectation for yourself that the whole sales process of your company will take a very long time. If it sells fast, great… but if not, use patience to make the best decisions that will get your business sold for the right amount, to the right buyer. There is no point in making the sale complicated or losing money just because you wanted to make the sale happen faster.