Help selling a business?

[Oggy]

Hi everyone,

If you have experience working through a small business sale process I'd love to hear from you.

This is our tenth year in business this year and we have made the decision to sell. We are a small business based in London with T/O around £180-200,000 per annum.

I'd prefer to sell through a business consultant as I'm now based overseas. I'm not sure if business consultants would help with such a small company?

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has been through the process and has any tips, can make any recommendations, or point out things to be aware of.

Thank you!

 

[Hitman Negative PR Agency]

It could be a long shot, but how about capital market?

 

[Oggy]

Thanks for the reply- I haven't heard of them but will take a look!

 

[Rhodes100]

What you will need is a business transfer agent not a business consultant.

I would be quite willing to give you an indication of how much you might expect from a sale.

 

[stonepost]

firstly you should try to sell your business through your own. there are so many methods of doing so. you can sell it through online process and other processes as well. if you are unable to selling it through your own then you can give this task to consultant.

 

[Rhodes100]

...thats right try to sell it yourself and when you have spent loads of time and money messing up the sale bring in the specialists!

 

[JamieM]

What kind of business is it?

 

[Hitman Negative PR Agency]

...thats right try to sell it yourself and when you have spent loads of time and money messing up the sale bring in the specialists!

...and specialists work for free, huh?

 

[Talay]

...thats right try to sell it yourself and when you have spent loads of time and money messing up the sale bring in the specialists!

Using the word "specialists" and business transfer agents in the same breath is a bit of a misnomer.

 

[jim_gold]

It does not sound as though Oggy is inclined to sell the business himself, which is why he posted on the forum, asking for guidance, recommendations and tips.

Here we go again, people slamming all business brokers as charlatans. Which of course is poppycock. For sure there are a few to watch out for, but many I know work bloody hard to earn their fees. If you widen the definition to include all 'business advisers', I guarantee the proportion of rogues is much higher!

What a trustworthy business broker will do is to give you a solid appraisal of the business and an estimate of its market value that is backed up by calculations, facts and examples of similar sales in the industry.

They will be upfront with their costs, and tell you what any fees will be spent on. You can expect help preparing the memorandum of sale, a marketing / advertising plan and assistance in screening prospects. Depending on the broker and the extent to which you want to be involved in the process, they can sometimes help in negotiation stages and also bring in tax and legal bods to advise if required. Being offshore based, you will want to ensure that you pay minimal capital gains tax on your disposal, so specialist tax advice is highly recommended.

You or the broker can also list the business for sale in the online marketplaces including Bizsale and Business Sale Report, which are free for vendors. Many do market their own businesses, but I say in all honesty, and I am not a broker, that small business owners have a higher chance of success in selling their business working with a business broker. You can often strike a deal with the broker to allow you to market the business yourself as well, with reduced or nil fees should you end up selling to your own prospect.