by theEmother | Feb 6, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, buy | sell websites, Buy a Mother of a Business, entrepreneurial mothers, Finish Unfinished Business, growth by acquisition, Online Strategy incl. www, SELL your Mother of a Business, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
Pretty much! In one way or another, you will have been exposed to the ongoing increased interest in the property market. You know, where they buy a house that needs renovations, they do the work, and they may or may not sell it once done.
This basically mirrors what can be done with web sites. But, it has way more upside.
You can buy a web site a whole lot cheaper than a house.
You can perform “renovation” exercises without getting your hands dirty.
You can sell it again, once fixed.
You can keep it and keep the benefit.
And if for any reason it’s not as successful as hoped, you’ve not laid out a ton of money. Perfect for those who are somewhat risk averse!
It’s possible to make an investment of a few hundred dollars to start with some time, increase that investment at a rate
of return that’s unheard of.
Like any deal, is about the steps involved in:
- assessing a web site as an investment
- valuing a site
- the negotiation process
Over the ensuing weeks, I’ll spend time investigating each of these points in more detail.
Whether you treat this as a business in its own right or whether you’re looking for a bolt-on, as part the Online Strategy for your existing business, the same principles still apply…
by theEmother | Feb 5, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, Consultant EXIT Options, EXIT execution, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, Online Strategy incl. www, Sell Your Business, SELL your Mother of a Business, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
Starting a business is a BIG deal. Building it to become more than your hobby is even bigger again. In fact, building your business into an asset may result in it being possibly the largest asset you’ll ever own, or second maybe to your home.
If trying to sell it is what you eventually want to do, getting strategic about WHAT it is you’ve got and how it is someone else could do it is key. The Online Strategy question features more and more as part of this discussion.
What is the “story” of your Business?
Each business has its evolutionary history, as well as its current story, which is all-important. More buyers now are also asking about the online history and requesting the statistics to back it up. If you’ve gone down the path of being online, be sure to track all the important information about this channel, as it will be requested. If you have not got online (yet), there needs to be an apparent “why” to satisfy the question.
What does your Business sell?
List everything; not just the features, but the benefits to your consumers as well.
- Why do they buy from you?
- Did your Business always conduct business the way it currently does?
- If not, what has changed? Why the current choice?
- What other options are open in your market that you haven’t done yet?
These questions definitely require an online and offline response.
How can you prove how well your Business Model has been working?
Profit – that’s what a buyer wants to know about.
This scorecard is very important to a prospective buyer because that’s what they will base a lot of their “valuation” decisions on. The records, both offline and online, provide evidence that your Business is the worthy asset you claim it is.
Starting with the end in mind TODAY, regardless of how old your business is, means you can start to, slowly but surely, assemble, lock in and gather the answers to each one of these questions, to be able to convey to a potential buyer WHAT it is they are buying…
by theEmother | Feb 4, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, Consultant EXIT Options, EXIT execution, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, how to sell a business, Sell Your Business, SELL your Mother of a Business, start with the end in mind, the business model
Most contractors would rather live with the frustrations they already have rather than risk enduring new frustrations. Rather than open up to the possibilities Life offers, they prefer to shut their life down to respectable limits. (Gerber)
If you don’t have a clear picture of when you want out, your business is the master of your destiny, not the reverse. In order to do so you have to focus on the point in the future when you will take leave of your business. Once done, reconsider your goals in that context, being very specific.
You’ve got to think of Time with a capital T.
The Big Question, with a capital Q is: How do I wish to spend the rest of my Time?
Your Time, your Life, is the most valuable asset you have.
Until you see Time for what it really is – your Life span – you will always ask the wrong question.
You cannot manage Time; you never could. You can only Live it! (Gerber)
First off is the Strategic Work, which is all about:
- why?
- what?
- who?
- when?
- where?
- what business am I really in?
- why am I in that business?
- who specifically is my business determined to serve?
- when will I sell this business?
- where will this business be doing business when I sell it?
Strategic Work is the work you do to design your business, to design your life.
Tactical Work is the work you do to implement the design created by Strategic Work. (Gerber)
Organise your thoughts first and then your business…
Right Thinking leads to Right Actions
THINK about what you want to do. Having thought it, you must then DO it…
by theEmother | Jan 31, 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…
Spent much of this week working on one particular sale and exploring the sale option with a number of Business Owners keen to chat. Who knows where it may lead…
Also had a great Session One with a Woman Business Owner looking to start a family. We’ve commenced plotting and scheming that transition too. This is of course one close to my heart!
GOT A WEBSITE FOR SALE?
If yes, 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 planned for February.
When it’s a good thing, it pays to act quickly.
BS49 Home Help…
This is an interesting one. Mainly because it is playing in a growth industry but the players looking at it are playing small. The revisit of the presentation certainly worked, had a great meeting this morning with a most eligible buyer which continues!
BS53 Balloons! and all that goes with them…
Such corporate appeal, so untapped. Potential buyers have stalled a little now. It’s waiting for the savvy operator that can see past the retail component. Needs to be thought more of as a warehouse!
BS57 Online Business
Signed good to go. A true online business at that ie all is in place, it’s making money and it dropships! In the process of developing the IM now. Stay tuned.
OR
Are you interested in?
- photographic studio x 2
- skin care range and premise
- a particular event
- event management
If yes, let me know what these are what came in this week…
Exploring the Sale Option?
GET YOUR SCORE…
Onwards and Upwards!
by theEmother | Jan 29, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, Finish Unfinished Business, Online Strategy incl. www, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you will know that I bang on about “start with the end in mind”. And how it’s really hard to do that without knowing what the “end” can look like. Throwing an Online Strategy into the mix may only add to the confusion…
Yes, there are sound universal business practices that should be used at start-up and during growth (Online Strategy included), which would have you in the best shape when the urge to purge takes hold. However, even if you only start getting your ducks in a row now, it will all work out swimmingly.
In a nutshell, to “start with the end in mind” is a mindset thing really, as much as anything else. Closely followed getting a handle on the form your business takes in terms of how a Business Buyer will see and value it… and it can all start today.
Even if you don’t have dreams of exiting your business through a sale (or something similar), what shape is your business in right now? How 21st century is it?
I’m sure you will be familiar with the old “how, what, when, where, why”. Add the “who” and you’ve definitely got the nucleus of your Online Strategy covered.
The most important place to commence with your Online Strategy is the “Why”…
- Why did you go down the path of setting up your business?
- For what purpose does it serve?
With any “why”, there has to be two parts…
a) why the world is a better place as a result of doing business with you? (the external driver of the business)
b) why you set up your business up in a way that suits you? (the internal driver)
Emphasis on the personal only ie “b)” is interesting in terms of your story but it only forms part of it. It’s imperative that there is a larger story at play at the same time, so that the attraction to the business from the external continues whether you are part of the mix or not.
Online, of course, lends itself to this perfectly!
So I ask again, why are you doing what you’re doing? And if wanting to have an asset to sell features somewhere in the answer, be sure to have the two considerations loud and clear in your “why”…
by theEmother | Jan 28, 2014 | build a Mother of a Business, business ideas & thinking, Consultant EXIT Options, EXIT execution, exit strategy, Finish Unfinished Business, how to sell a business, Online Strategy incl. www, Sell Your Business, SELL your Mother of a Business, so you think you're in business, start with the end in mind, the business model
That’s because most service businesses are started by someone with a specific skill and it does not grow beyond that person.
Sound familiar?
Maybe you’ve hired a few people, but the clients still want to deal with the most knowledgeable person in the company – and that’s probably you…
So when the time comes to GET OUT, you may think you’re left with nothing. If you’re one of the luckier ones, you may get approached by another Professional Services group who offers to “buy” your business — but you may not actually get a cheque.
And for some, that might be just fine. It may be more important that their clients will be looked after, especially knowing the transition has been handled personally and they are still in great hands.
I get it!
Over and over I have seen and continue to see Consultants and Freelancers just pack their business away because they don’t really know what options they have and have not structured their thinking nor their business model accordingly.
So how do you escape the independent practitioner | consultant | freelancer services trap? The answer, in my experience, involves “re-making” your business; starting with the end in mind, regardless how old you’ve been in business.
It all depends on how you want to continue to HELP people, like you have always done. This is what I will be exploring over the next few weeks…
