You have decided to sell your Business for 1 or more reasons – it could be because you have decided to relocate or emigrate; you may want to cash in after many years of hard work and retire; or you may have decided to move into a new venture.
Once you have made your decision to sell, you need to decide on the method you will employ to ensure a successful sale.
You only have 2 options to decide on –
1) Employ the services of a Business Broker or
2) Sell your Business yourself.
Having sold my own Businesses privately in the past, and having owned my own Business Brokerage and sold Businesses on behalf of clients, I am qualified to give an overview of the pros and cons of both methods.
Selling through a Business Broker:
– A qualified Broker can assist you with establishing the correct price for your Business in order to ensure a successful sale.
– Allows you the time to concentrate on running your business and preventing the possible decline of turnover and profits.
– A qualified Broker knows the most effective process to use from marketing your business, screening and qualifying leads, and negotiating the sale with an interested buyer.
– The Broker has the necessary documents to qualify potential buyers, and conclude a sale.
– Brokers usually charge a commission of 10% on the sales price of the Business. This could amount to a huge amount of money coming out of your pocket! You need to decide whether you are prepared to give away 10% of the selling price of your business!
– If a Broker in a Brokerage needs to meet his target, or is short of personal funds, he or she may push you to accept a lower offer for your Business to satisfy his/her needs.
