As Orlando’s Largest Business Broker we are often asked “How do I sell my business for the best price?” This short article will lay out five focus points for you to laser in on to get the best price for your business when you decide to sell your business.
Step 1 – Maintain Good Books and Records: The single most important factor when buyers analyze a business or a banker looks to finance an acquisition is the quality and orderliness of the books and records. Unreported cash, failure to use automated book keeping software, and frankly shady accounting practices are the primary driver of a business failing to sell. So in short…get your stuff in order and do not play games because the only person you are hurting is yourself.
Step 2 – Price it Right: Year after Year we analyze business sales in the Orlando Florida Market and over and over we see businesses listing at outlandish prices and then “sweating down” into the appropriate price point. If you are smart enough to partner with a broker years in advance and have regular dialogue with them on value and decision making within a business then you can prepare and drive the price up. If you didn’t think ahead and overprice you can get impacted by the market. Things like recessions, interest rate hikes at the Fed, election years, Brexit, political turmoil, and tariffs more and more impact small business sales everyday and nowhere more than in Florida. Price your business right with the correct terms as dictated by the market and the comps.
Step 3 – Market It: Selling your Orlando Florida Business is about Marketing as much as anything. So make sure if you choose a business broker in Orlando they have a network of contacts, that they are savvy marketers and that they leverage all points of consumer attention when selling your business. You as the seller are to blame when you choose a broker who only lists on 2 or 3 sites and a MLS. Social, Voice, Radio, Print, Digital, Listings and email campaigns are just a few of the programs we at Transworld Bring to the Game of Selling Your Business. One easy way to judge the marketing of a broker is to visit their sites and social media and see if they are active and constantly at work and leveraging the tools of the trade to sell their clients businesses.
Step 4 – Co Brokering: Demand it of your broker and insure they have a record of doing it. When you hire them ask to see their sales record in the Business Brokers of Florida website and look to see how many they sell, how long they have been practicing, and what percentage of deals are co brokered.
Step 5 – Books and Records…..if you are not listening to me I will say it again. The one thing you can do to increase your sales probability is solid records. Fail to do this one thing and you will almost certainly doom yourself to failure or a massive discount.
For more on valuation and information on selling your Orlando Florida business please feel free to give me a call at 321-287-0349 or email mike@tworld.com