How Do Business Brokers Enhance Business Sale Success?
The sale of your business is arguably one of the most complex financial transactions you’ll ever negotiate. The process of getting a business valuation and setting your asking price is just the beginning; potential buyers will likely want to negotiate contingencies, financing, timeframes, and almost any other aspect of the sale you could imagine.
If you want to maximize your chances of negotiating a sale that’s favorable to you, working with business brokers is critically important. Here are a few key ways in which they can make a difference:
1. They Can Give You a More Accurate Valuation
Before you sell, you need to know your business’s true value. If you put it on the market without knowing its worth, you might shortchange yourself by thousands. Alternatively, on the opposite extreme, you may even go for months without any offers because you’ve accidentally overvalued the company.
An online business valuation calculator can give you a general idea, but business brokers excel when it comes to giving you precise numbers.
2. They Can Screen (and Connect With) Buyers
As brokers handle business deals for a living, they can quickly tell who’s serious about purchasing your business and who isn’t. Perhaps more importantly, though, is that they also know how to find interested buyers. Brokers usually maintain a network of people interested in purchasing specific businesses, which means they can often expedite the sales process.
3. They’ll Handle Negotiations for You
If you want your business sale to be as successful as possible, you need to be a savvy negotiator. There’s almost always some level of compromise on both sides during a sale, but if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, it’s entirely possible to be taken advantage of.
Business brokers know what elements of the sale can be compromised on and which ones cannot. And because the amount they earn depends on the final sale price, you can be assured that they’ll be just as motivated as you to secure a high sales price.
4. They’ll Save You Time
Some business owners who opt to sell their companies themselves seriously underestimate the sheer investment of time and energy the process requires. If you’re an owner-operator, you might find that the many tasks associated with a sale, such as the ones below, make it difficult to focus on running your business:
Responding to inquiries
Screening potential buyers
Performing due diligence
Negotiating terms of the sale
Ensuring the sale complies with all applicable laws
If you start to have trouble balancing the sales practice with running your business, your business’s value may decrease, which can drive away potential buyers.
Is Working With a Business Broker Right for You?
Some business owners believe they can save money by negotiating the sale of a business themselves. However, unless you already have extensive experience in sales, a business broker’s fee will almost always pay for itself and then some. When you take the time to find a broker with a proven track record of selling businesses in your industry, you’ll be well on your way to a successful sale.
