Marketing a business for sale is arguably the most important part of the sale process; if the business is not made visible to prospective buyers in an effective manner, the business will never sell. While analyzing a business, determining a fair market value, and understanding the industry it operates within is extremely important, it is the marketing strategy that ties all of this together and presents it as an ideal investment opportunity for a prospective buyer.
There are several parts of a successful marketing strategy, and it is important to understand the role of each, and how to tie them together to sell the business as fast as possible.
Choosing where to market the business is important as it can have a large impact on how many prospective buyers contact the seller, and most importantly, the quality of these buyers. Placing a business for sale on sites such as Kijiji or Craigslist will likely generate a significant number of leads, but the quality of these leads is often sub-par. However, there are a number of sites that are dedicated to listing businesses for sale. These sites are often frequented by the higher quality buyers that are interested in businesses in specific industries, and as such, these sites are more likely to generate higher quality leads.
However, before marketing the business is possible it is necessary to create a Confidential Summary of the company. This is generally a one-page summary that highlights the notable aspects of the business, and it is “confidential” because it does not reveal any sensitive information about the business (such as the name, address, contact information, etc…). The Confidential Summary is usually used to develop the profiles on the business listing sites.
Additionally, it is helpful to create a longer document that provides a detailed analysis of the business in its entirety, including sensitive details. This document is distributed to motivated buyers so that they can develop a thorough understanding of the investment opportunity. The usual sections that are included in this are an executive summary, industry analysis, human resources, lease or real estate terms, buyer qualifications, revenue stream breakdown, competition analysis, marketing strategy, assets included in the sale, historical, and pro forma financial analysis, and so on. This list is not exhaustive, and depending upon the business or specific industry, other categories could be added or removed.
How Beacon Brokerage Can Help
At Beacon Brokerage, our Agents have extensive experience as professional business intermediaries. They have sold numerous businesses, and as such, have become experts at producing and managing the marketing materials and processes necessary to facilitate the transaction. The typical process to developing the marketing materials at Beacon is to gather all the necessary information, such as historical financials, market research, have the business owner fill out a questionnaire to provide specific details on the business, and so on. After a fair market value for the business is determined two documents are created: a Blind Profile (to create the online profiles on business listings websites), and a Confidential Business Profile (to send motivated buyers that have signed a confidentiality agreement).
Furthermore, the Agents at Beacon Brokerage have a vast network of buyers to confidentially market the business to (in addition to listing it on our own Businesses for Sale page) that small to medium-sized owners typically do not have relationships with (such as Private Equity firms) that will make the sale happen faster than selling the business on their own. Moreover, Beacon’s Agents pre-screen all buyers so that the only buyers that are brought to the table with a business owner are ones that have the necessary financing and are motivated to complete the transaction. This will save countless hours of meeting with low-quality buyers so that time could be better spent on growing the business to make it a more attractive investment opportunity.
“Additionally, marketing a business for sale raises significant confidentiality concerns for most business owners, as they want as few people to know as possible that they are selling the business. At Beacon, we have a number of industry-tested methods to guarantee that the confidentiality of the business is maintained throughout every stage of the sale process.
“An effective marketing strategy is pivotal to make the sale of a business possible. As a business owner, your most important job during the sale process is to continue to grow your company. Marketing and selling a business is an exhaustive process, and as a business owner, the best decision you could make is to let a professional business broker handle this process. If you would like to learn more about the marketing or sale process of selling your business, or you would like Beacon’s assistance in this, please contact us now to speak with an Agent to find out how we can assist you.