by theEmother | Feb 28, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, buy | sell websites, BUY a Business, Buy a Mother of a Business, Consultant EXIT Options, EXIT execution, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, growth by acquisition, how to sell a business, Online Strategy incl. www, Sell Your Business, SELL your Mother of a Business, Sellability Score, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, TEMpting, the business model
How Saleable is Your Business in 2014?
How Saleable do you want Your Business 2014?
What are you waiting for? GET YOUR SCORE…
As the one particular sale has got to a major decision time, we’re now playing the waiting game! That said, there’s been plenty to keep me busy with a growing number of Business Owners exploring the sale option.
Again this week, I’ve had discussions about what constitutes an Online Business. Just because a Business Owner calls it so (and there’s many that do!) doesn’t mean others agree.
What’s your definition of an Online Business?
And while you’re at it, what about an Online Strategy?
You’ve only got to read my blog posts over the last weeks to understand what I mean when talking about both…
GOT A WEBSITE FOR SALE?
If you want to do sell a website or you’re looking to buy a website (excellent bolt-on possibilities), please email me at dhall@businessbrokers.com.au
If any of the following tickle your fancy, please email me at dhall@businessbrokers.com.au, letting me know which one it is…
FOR SALE…
BS30 Online Venue Business
Completed Sellability Score
One meeting booked for March and details requested from another. The main focus is on the custom-built technology platform this business runs on.
BS49 Home Help…
One party is very interested. The potential has been well and truly revealed so it’s down to price and the level of comfort required to “pull the trigger”, as they say in the classics! Final questions being flagged now, prior to an offer being made (hopefully!).
BS53 Balloons! and all that goes with them…
Such corporate appeal, so untapped. It’s waiting for the savvy operator that can see past the retail component and tap into it’s possibility as a warehouse servicing the larger players. Completed the database trawl, with a number of calls being made. 4 put their hand up to receive the CA with one requesting the IM. Good work.
BS57 Online Business
Signed good to go. It’s making money! Have received signed authority’s and in the process of developing the IM now. Stay tuned.
Others I’m talking too.. are you interested in?
- a particular event
- project management of large Melbourne events
- specialty educational toys
- “experiential” advertising and events provider
- niche in building trade (via Sellability Score)
- sales and services
- merchandise
- magazine
If yes, let me know as these revealed themselves this week…
Exploring the Sale Option?
GET YOUR SCORE…
Onwards and Upwards!
by theEmother | Feb 27, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, buy | sell websites, Finish Unfinished Business, Online Strategy incl. www, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
OK, so you’ve got a:
- website
- online business
- internet business
and you want to know how to go about selling it?
Like any business sale, one starting point is to list all the “assets” it owns as well as the processes it goes through to deliver the product or service.
Essentially you want to “map” the business, whether that be via a mindmap or a photo of a whiteboard or a note in a journal. Why? because it’s not only imperative that you understand what makes up the thing you’re selling but that it is also easy to explain.
Importantly, you want the potential buyer y to see themselves doing what you do, only better!
Then it’s about pulling together all the proof required to substantiate the excitement.
That’s why a Business Profile is vital in establishing what you’re selling.
Not only does it contain the map and the main details, it also nicely summarises for all to see. AS well as assisting the Business Owner to get really clear on what’s for sale…
by theEmother | Feb 26, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, buy | sell websites, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, Online Strategy incl. www, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
Offline? Online? Or is it a combination?
Do you have a strategy for both? Do you have numbers and statistics for both?
How do they complement each other?
Some businesses lend themselves to being ideal for online commerce. Others are more your traditional bricks and mortar type business. Nearly all try and cover both methods of operation. Whilst there are no right and wrong answers with this, there are definitely right and wrong questions being asked…
For example, for those with a website: “How does my Business website get more traffic?” is not the right question to ask. “What type of customer am I looking for and therefore where do they hang out?” definitely is.
In other words, how well is the website working for you?
If you answer this with a blank, then whilst you may have an online presence for those who already know you, the rollout of your online strategy has a bit of work to do.
If the purchasers of your products and services are to be found in a particular spot, then your Business needs to be there, no doubt. But just because one type of strategy works for one business does not mean it will work for all.
When looking to Exit, what you want is to demonstrate what path you have taken, why you have taken the path you have and the results of doing so, regardless of the path..
If yours in an online business for example, then you want to provide the following information:
o Pages views per month
o Uniques per month
o Gross revenue per month
o Net profit per month
o Google page ranking
o Alexa ranking
If you operate off-line, where is your Business located? Why there? Is it about foot traffic? How successfully does it work? etc
For both strategies…how do your customers find your Business? Do you know how many referrals your Business gets? Is there a formal referral/loyalty program?
If you can’t provide answers to questions like these right now, don’t be alarmed. Start with the end in mind TODAY, regardless of how old your business is, and slowly but surely think through WHERE your Business trades and why, what results you have to back up your reasoning, and with your opportunistic hat on, where else there could be possibilities…
by theEmother | Feb 19, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, Consultant EXIT Options, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, Online Strategy incl. www, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
Regardless of whether you are implementing your Online Strategy as part of your business growth plans or whether it’s part of your EXIT Strategy, the best time to start is NOW!
Not only is the “Best Time” about demonstrating when your Business does what it does and when else it does/might do so (whether you’re directly involved or not). It’s also about forming part of your Finishing Unfinished Business criteria in terms of the timing to actually put your Business on the market.
What I mean by that is, if you maintain sales intensity for a set period of time only, then a buyer is going to be really interested in how she can extend such periods and/or activate them more often, eg: is your Business seasonal? If yes, when is it at its peak, so that a prospective buyer can get a real sense of not only what happens, but also a hint of what the potential is?
Maybe your peak is not seasonal, but driven more by the contracts signed and their term left to run. Say you have multiple contracts that run for 10 years each. It’s going to be more appealing for a buyer if the Business can be bought when there’s a long time left to run on those contracts rather than trying to sell when they have expired and run the risk of not been renewed!
Take my third and largest (7-figure) Business sold in 2011… It had contracts with one of world’s premier petroleum manufacturers for a 5-year term. Knowing that executing an EXIT was in the Business Plan, it made sense to put the Business on the market when the contracts were only two years old, thus giving way for the buyer to not only handle the re-contracting when due, but also to “court” the client, so they got to know and love the new owner before contract due date was nigh.
Same applies when you have got a lease on a premises that the Business can’t really leave easily. If there’s 2 years to run on a lease, that won’t be as appealing as say 20.
Same applies again to the Online Strategy. Is it locked and loaded, producing Google Analytics stats showing the up-trend in traffic. Having identified the key words as part of the initial set up and rollout, are they will relevant and what others need to be added. Is your website and other digital media activities delivering what’s expected?
If yes, then you need to be able to prove it, just like you can with contracts and leases, mentioned above.
Coming back to when your Business does what it does… are there other times when your Business could operate but you have chosen not to? because you do like to sleep some time! This can definitely be an opportunity of interest as a buyer may have ways and means to handle time differences. How can your Online Strategy really make the most of this?
Always keep your Business market trends in the forefront of your mind, know of opportunities and what’s possible, whether you have chosen to capitalise on them or not. Creating and rolling out your Online Strategy is certainly on way of availing of what’s happening in your market.
by theEmother | Feb 14, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, BUY a Business, Buy a Mother of a Business, EXIT execution, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, growth by acquisition, how to sell a business, Online Strategy incl. www, Sell Your Business, SELL your Mother of a Business, Sellability Score, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, TEMpting, the business model
How Saleable is Your Business in 2014?
How Saleable do you want Your Business 2014?
What are you waiting for? GET YOUR SCORE…
Spent much of this week working on one particular sale and continuing to explore the sale option with a number of Business Owners keen to chat.
Speaking of chatting, I caught up with a colleague of mine from the consulting game yesterday and he was saying that a number of consultants he knows are not particularly happy with the consulting path they’ve chosen, mainly because the DIY component is just too much.
But, given most of them are way too young to stop doing something and their job prospects are not looking promising, what else are they to do? BUY A BUSINESS of course!
There is a growing sense that now is the time to buy a business, especially if looking for a capped price. The reason being is that as more quality businesses come on to the market (as they are predicted to do), the prices will rise. So if you want to talk to me about your long held wish of being a business owner, seems like now would be the time to do so…
GOT A WEBSITE FOR SALE?
I was introduced to 2 website owners this week, who are now exploring the sale option. Good sites too. If you want to do same or you’re looking to buy a website (excellent bolt-on possibilities), please email me at dhall@businessbrokers.com.au
And you…what does 2014 bring?
If any of the following tickle your fancy, please email me at dhall@businessbrokers.com.au, letting me know which one it is…
FOR SALE…
BS30 Online Venue Business
Completed Sellability Score
2 new inquiries have come through and waiting to hear back from them
BS43 Tourism
Deposit locked and loaded. Settlement now set for February 17. Mainly due to last minute Legal consultation queries! When it’s a good thing, it pays to act quickly.
BS49 Home Help…
One party is very interested. The potential has been well and truly revealed so it’s down to price and the level of comfort required to “pull the trigger” as they say in the classics!
BS53 Balloons! and all that goes with them…
Such corporate appeal, so untapped. It’s waiting for the savvy operator that can see past the retail component and tap into it’s possibility as a warehouse servicing the larger players. And it probably needs to be a local. Shall do a database trawl and see what that reveals too.
BS57 Online Business
Signed good to go. It’s making money! Have received signed authority’s and in the process of developing the IM now. Stay tuned.
Others I’m talking too.. are you interested in?
- a particular event
- event management
- corporate cleaning offering
- specialty educational toys
- “experiential” advertising and events provider
- niche in building trade (viz Sellability Score)
If yes, let me know as these revealed themselves this week…
Exploring the Sale Option?
GET YOUR SCORE…
Onwards and Upwards!
by theEmother | Feb 13, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, buy | sell websites, BUY a Business, Buy a Mother of a Business, entrepreneur trends (past & present!), Finish Unfinished Business, Online Strategy incl. www, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
Back not so long ago, there were the boom-and-bust years of the WWW when companies paid big bucks for what appeared to be unprofitable online businesses/websites. A sort of gold fever gripped investors: some became almost instant millionaires and others, well many others went the other way, in a big way!
Since the bubble burst, however, the online market has established at a more measured and sustainable pace. Trends show that there are sites that continue to increase in value across the board and the trend remains upward.
This environment presents ample opportunity for successful speculation. Just like the physical property market, the online property market is rightly being regarded by many as a great place to make not just a quick profit, but—potentially—a living.
As with a property, you can buy a web site and have it increase in value over time without having to do anything but maintain it (although the value of physical property depends on the scarcity of real estate, which is unlikely ever to be a problem online!). [“Flipping Websites for Profit“]
As with any business purchase, there are steps to this process:
1. Locating an online business you want to buy
2. Negotiating and completing the sale
3. Adding value to the business
4. Making the decision what to do next – do I keep it? or do i sell it?
5. If part of an existing business’ online strategy, is it doing its job? has it lived up to expectations? is it time to buy another one perhaps?
Lets look at Step 1.
How do you find an online business to buy?
Do you know of one being sold, that you’re interested in?
How do you know what you’re looking at, really? How do you analyse it?
I’ll into more detail about these points next week…
