First impressions are critical when selling a business - ask any potential business buyer. Peter Siegel, Founder Of BizBen explains why all potential small business sellers need to make sure that first impression is a good one.
Most owners know that when choosing a broker to help sell your business, it's good to find out about his or her background and maybe get some references of people who've worked with the professional. Before signing a listing agreement, it helps to know these extra things about the business broker.
Determining the right time to sell a private business is as much an art as a science, because there are so many factors at play and each business is unique. The timing of a business sale is critical. Christina Lazuric, CBI, Orange County Business Broker discusses this topic on this BizBen Blog post.
Avoiding the obvious mistakes when selling a small business is important if you want to sell your business. Peter Siegel, Director of BizBen and the BizBen ProSell Program discusses what fatal mistakes business owners should avoid when selling their small to mid-sized California business.
Despite challenges in the business for sale marketplace, some of the brokers who make a living by facilitating a deal between buyer and seller are known to stand in the way of a completed transaction because of some outdated ideas. Too bad they put greed ahead of the needs of their clients.
The quickest way to sell a gas station is to first do preparatory tasks before even looking for a buyer. Owners often make the mistake of getting transaction experts to help sell their gas station without even collecting the right information and doing an internal analysis of their own.
In my opinion and experience, an LOI may very well be appropriate for lower middle market transactions of $5,000,000 or more; but, for deals less than that an Asset Purchase Agreement ("APA") with contingencies on the actions of the buyer (and seller) is much more efficient and effective.
The coin laundry is an all-cash, necessity of life service business. What could be better? Yet, understanding how the business justifies such a high purchase price is baffling. In fact, many times the value is so misunderstood that it results in investors over-paying. Sometimes grossly over-paying.
There are several things to consider when placing a value on a preschool. Businesses that are regarded as leading preschools in their area can go for premium prices so know what you have so a potential buyer can't take advantage of your lack of knowledge. Peter Siegel with BizBen.com explains.
Unlike a traditional brick and mortar business, selling a home business requires more finesse on the part of the seller. You really need to do your due diligence and prepare the business to be sold in order to make it attractive to a buyer. Here are my tips to achieving a successful sale.
Many business owners fail to maximize their business' value because they don't have a proper strategy in place to do so. Failure to maximize your businesses value will make it harder to attract the most qualified buyers. Have a plan that ensures your business is as attractive & valuable as possible.
Would you like to know what your business is worth? What's more, what it could be worth with a small amount of effort and investment? Business brokers have a variety of methods to determine value. Tim Cunha, JD a SF Bay Area Business Broker discusses his answers to this question about valuation.
Owners often ask agents to sell business offerings for them. It's usually more difficult than selling houses when working to find a buyer for a business, to satisfy contingencies and close escrow. Business sales intermediaries either agents or brokers may want large fees, but often are worth it.
Selling a business online, while often effective for finding the right buyer, is a strategy sellers need to execute correctly in order to be successful. That means avoiding the six common mistakes made by sellers. Peter Siegel, BizBen Founder talks about what it takes to effectively sell a business.
With the multitude of factors that come into play when deciding the appropriate time to inform your employees that your business is for sale, I do not offer a standard or general answer. When sellers consult me as to my opinion on when it is the right time, I like to review the major issues that...
Utility rates are on the rise. I am getting calls from laundry owners complaining of the costs, asking for ideas. So what is the answer? What is the best approach in combating these costs? Chuck Post, laundry consultant discusses strategies for keeping coin laundry utility costs under control.
When selling and buying a business, it is almost always necessary to allocate the purchase price to various categories of assets for tax and accounting purposes, whether this is a transfer of all the assets of the business or an actual stock sale of the business entity. Broker Tim Cunha explains.
When selling a California business, owners should use our salability checklist to determine whether the effort will be successful. Ten factors must be considered to properly prepare a business for sale. Three of the factors account for more than 50% probability of achieving success in selling!
When selling your small business, you'll be bombarded with questions - from the brilliant to the ridiculous. You need to be prepared. Here are some of the key questions you can expect to be asked. Tim Cunha (SF Bay Area Business Broker) reviews many of these possible questions from potential buyers.
To receive the fullest exposure for selling their business, small business owner/sellers should make sure their listing broker or agent is co-operating with other business brokers and agents on their deal. Christina Lazuric a Orange County business broker discusses this topic with BizBen Users.
When selling your small business, offering seller financing is a great way to help your business standout from others on the market and it is also a good strategy to consider that can help you close a sale. If you plan to offer seller financing there are a number of things you need to know.
A problem owners encounter when offering a California business for sale is that not all so-called buyers are qualified to make the purchase. It's frustrating and costly to waste time showing non-qualified buyers the business. Here are ways to identify time wasters so the focus is on real buyers.
Should owners who offer a business for sale reveal to prospective buyers any income that is not recorded in the books? This is a controversial topic with arguments both for and against. Most business sales intermediaries believe if you don't pay tax on it, you can't claim it. Some sellers disagree.
Often business buyers actions cause a deal to tank but they never know why. Peter Siegel with the BizBen ProBuy Program discusses what mistakes business buyers make in the search process to buy a business with some of the best business brokers and recent sellers on BizBen about this topic.
An often overlooked aspect of selling (or buying) a small business is taking back-up offers during the entire process of selling (or buying) a business. Most sellers (or buyers) don't realize that over fifty percent of all deals/contracts fall out escrow or contract for one reason or another.
Lee Petsas, a Southern California business broker addresses how he handles potential business buyers when they request information on a business for sale listing. He gives his strategies and tips for handling and directing business buyer inquiries.
In dealing with business sales, often times the Seller or the Buyer will ask about the use of an escrow company. The seller may say, Why can't the buyer just pay me cash or give me a cashier's check? This blog post covers why utilizing an escrow service is so important in selling a small business.
Lee Petsas (Southern California Business Broker) shares his concerns regarding some questionable business practices by some California Business Brokers lately. Other Business Brokers and Advisors weigh in as well on this BizBen Blog post with other "dirty tricks" they have observed and heard about.