TEMpting: how Business Sellers and Buyers have been tempted this week…
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Webinar May 22
How Sellable is your Business?
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If any of the following tickle your fancy,
please contact me by emailing sell@theentrepreneurialmother.com
letting me know which one it is…
BS2 = Online Retailer
Plan B – Due Diligence concluded, to be settled early May
PENDING
*
BS8 Waiting on Seller
Change of plans due to recent events…
ON HOLD
*
BS9 = Specialist Leadership and Talent Management Provider
Completed Sellability Score.
Looking to a 2013-14 kick off, getting all ducks in a row in the meantime.
*
BS10 = Specialist Offline Retailer
Completed Sellability Score.
1st meeting completed, next steps discussed.
Proposal offered, awaiting response.
*
BS13 Specialist Equipment Provider
Completed Sellability Score.
Recommendations being pursued with favourable feedback.
ON HOLD
*
BS14 Leading Book Supplier
Completed Sellability Score
Financials received, more to come. Currently going through refinancing dramas!
*
BS19 Leading Wedding Services Provider
1st meeting had, waiting on Stage 2 financials – due in next week
*
BS22 Business “Consultancy”
Completed Sellability Score
Stage 3 of process in play, Proposal and pricing
*
BS23 Health and Well Being Studio
engagement locked in
FOR SALE
*
Initial meeting to discuss options
TEMpting: how Business Sellers and Buyers have been tempted this week…
BS3 Waiting on the SellerBS6 Waiting on the SellerDecided to hang on to business and keep working at it
BS8 Waiting on SellerLooking to get it moving but waiting out agreement period
BS9 = Specialist Leadership and Talent Management ProviderLooking to a 2013-14 kick off
BS10 = Specialist Offline Retailer
1st meeting completed, next steps discussed.
Promising! Waiting on financials.
BS11 = HairdresserFirst chat to be booked.
Looks like this one will be SOLD!
Heads of Agreement happening already.
Calls to make as a result
Is taking a business to market in December a good idea?
ESTABLISHED ONLINE RETAIL BUSINESS for SALE
I would suggest not!
We have this business listed for sale and first did so in December 2012. Whilst there was certainly interest, the timing made it too hard for anyone to seriously get their head around it. Now that we’ve all had an end-of-year break of some sort and are now well and truly into work mode, that interest is now converting into a number of parties keen to meet the owners.
Note to self: Do lots of parties at Christmas and forget about trying to finish off the year with a sale!
Are you sick of 7 Steps this, and 5 Secrets that?
I know I am!
Especially when there appears to be no substance behind the claims.
No doubt, rolled up in amongst the stuff are nuggets of truth, and even a little real life experience. But across the board, most are guilty of well-intentioned theory at best. As for execution based on actual practice, seems to be sadly lacking.
Succession Planning is a case in point. By virtue of the use of the word “planning”, it is theory based – it has to be. What you need to be really mindful of is:
o Is it actually a plan that can be executed?
o Is it a plan you really want to execute, if push came to shove?
Planning has it’s role, but it is certainly not the be all and end all.
The proof in the pudding will always be when the DOing takes place.
And when you need the DOing to take place, do yourself a favour and instead find 7 Facts in this, and 5 Facts in that….
The 7 reasons why Business Owners sell the business…
Recently, Business Brokerage Press released a study on reasons businesses were sold. They determined, based on the results of that study, that the reason an owner would sell a business had a direct effect on the probability of their business selling at all. Brian Mazar, CEO of American Fortune Mergers and Acquisitions, shares his comments (and issues a challenge) on the released information.
The study listed seven reasons a business owner would state to a potential buyer about why they were selling a business. These reasons (and there probability of sale) were:
- retirement (30-35%)
- health problems or a death (25-30%)
- partnership/family problems or divorce (15-20%)
- burn-out/other business investments (15-20%)
- under-capitalization (10-15%)
- insufficient profits (5-10%)
- profit motivated (0-5%)
In every sale there are two perspectives a buyer considers. The first is their emotional involvement in the deal; how do they “feel” about the business. The second perspective is how successful they think the business will be once they own it. The key, according to Mazar, is to have them feel good about both perspectives. Read on…
“Thinking is the Hardest Work a [Wo]man can Do”
This quote applies as much today as it did when Napoleon Hill originally said it…
Especially during the life-cycle of building a Mother of a Business, it makes perfect sense to ask a number of provoking, asset-protection, risk-minimisation questions to get YOU, the Business Owner, thinking along the lines of Starting with the End in Mind TODAY, regardless of how old the Business is.
Taking such initiative is paramount for ALL Business Owners who seriously wants to successfully transition the Business while YOU are in the best position to do so. In most cases however, Business Owners will not have commenced the all-important discussion about what to do when the time has come to Finish Unfinished Business, to Exit, to essentially not run the Business any more, whether that be by choice or otherwise.
But when to do it? Continue reading at Westpac Bank’s RubyConnection.com.au…
“No Shortage of Business Owners Looking to Exit…”
‘We are seeing no shortage of business owners looking to exit but potential buyers are sitting on their hands.
‘Buyers are either nervous about buying a company whose business might deteriorate as the economy stagnates or they think that if they wait longer prices might fall further.’
The EXIT generation need HELP! indeed…
Don’t you just love it when the Press catch up with what you’ve been saying for some time now… Tony Featherstone has done just that in this fabulous summary on all things WHY you must start considering EXIT strategy and execution right now. Especially if you are as a BusinessOwner coming into the twilight of your care factor… Read on by clicking here
Would you consider this an Opportunity or a Threat to your business and / or that of your clients?
Could early preparation be a Strength? Or a lack of action a Weakness?
Keep reading by clicking here
Fear of the Exit… It subsides the closer you get!
As my ex-Lecturer Tom McKaskill notes in his column for Smart Company…
It is widely acknowledged that a significant portion of private firms will be coming onto the market over the next 10 years as the baby boomer generation nears retirement.
While some have family members to pass the business onto and others will reach an arrangement with employees to buy out their interests, most will be seeking to sell their businesses. With this background, it is hard to understand why so many fail to confront the issue and fail to undertake business and personal planning to provide the best outcome from such an event.
Some founders simply don’t want to let go of their baby. They have often put the best years of their life into building a robust business and the thought that someone else will take control is impossible for them to accept. While they know that a sale is inevitable, they are simply unwilling to spend any time planning for it because it means they are acknowledging they will be selling their business….
Sound familiar? continue reading…
Buyers Showing Interest Across a Range of Businesses; Hurst Partners
Today’s business sales market for small to medium size businesses can best be described in one word – “patchy”. Not all businesses are in demand and buyers are very selective!
Based on current buyer inquiries the following are industries attracting
the most interest:
HIGH…
Accounting, IT services, aged care/personal care
Profitable businesses operating under management
AVERAGE…
Wholesale, niche manufacturing, online businesses
Generally, businesses with a profit BOS* of $100,000 – $150,000
(* Before Owner’s Salary)
LOW…
General retail, health and beauty, home and trade services
Generally, businesses with a profit BOS*of less than $80,000
A positive development is the increasing buyer interest from cashed up professional investors and corporate entities seeking quality businesses delivering a sustainable profit.
This greater level of activity has yet to translate into improved transaction multiples and higher sale prices. However, it should improve overall market confidence if sustained throughout the rest of the year.
In this “patchy” market, advise business owners to start planning ahead if they are contemplating the sale of their business. Putting in the effort to prepare and market the business for sale will increase the chances of locating the ideal buyer; allowing for the owners to exit the business on their terms.
