Every business must have a website in the digital age, from a small food truck operation to a multinational corporation. Your website is how people find you, find out about what you do and decide if your business is the right business for their needs.

If you are a small business owner who doesn’t have a website – getting one is priority number one. Not having a web presence is like having a store without a sign out front or anything in the windows to tell those passing by what’s inside. If you do have a website, there are some very basic rules that separate a good website from a terrible one. Where does your current website fall? Here’s how to tell:

What makes for a great business website?

A good hosting plan.

Sure, you can find a litany of free or absurdly cheap web hosting services that will let you toss together a stock-layout website in 5 minutes – but is that what you really want the face of your business to be? Cheap and stock? Probably not. Services that offer more customization and a way to remove ads are essential if you want to look professional, and a good hosting service will also offer more speed for your users. The responsiveness and speed of your website will not only keep users happy, it can help boost your rankings with Google.

A good blog.

Blogs aren’t just for fashionistas or for your teenage kids – blogs are an essential part of any business website. Why? Having a blog ensures you are getting good information about your goods and services out to the people who visit your website. It also is a major factor in your rankings with Google. A well-kept blog means your website is constantly publishing new content – therefore constantly marching it’s way up the search rankings.

White space.

Do you know why newspaper stories have all of the pertinent information in the first paragraph? Very few people ever read the whole article. Online attention spans are even shorter – so if you are writing endless paragraphs that force people to scroll and scroll to find the information they need, you won’t keep their attention long enough to be useful to your business. Keep informative blurbs short and concise. Don’t clutter up your pages with too much information in one place. Your website needs to be aesthetically pleasing (lots of white space) if your want people to stay.

Your contact information.

This one might seem obvious, but you would be shocked at how many small business websites don’t include any contact information. One of the major purposes of your website is to tell people where you are and how to contact you. You should absolutely include your address, phone numbers, email addresses/a contact form and some kind of map.  

A great business website can be the difference between success and failure, so invest the time, money and effort to make the online face of your business as great as your physical one. A well-maintained and beautiful website will also make a great selling point when the time comes to put your business on the market.

Do you own a business but don’t have a website? Would you like to know more about how a great website can help you when the time comes to sell? Please leave any questions or comments here and we would be happy to help.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com
12995 South Cleveland Avenue, Suite 249
Fort Myers, FL 33907

www.InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

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Running a small business can be very challenging. You get pulled in 16 different directions every day and have the fate of your business and your employees on your shoulders. While it might seem like you should be able to be all things at all times for your business, there is one very important part of your business you shouldn’t try to handle all on your own.

Your accounting.

Keeping track of the finances of your business needs a great deal of time and energy – time and energy you as a business owner should really be spending growing your business and your customer base. It may seem like an unnecessary expense, but by handing over the incredibly important task of managing the financial record keeping of your company to someone who specializes in that work – the time that delegating your accounting gives you will pay for itself with the growth you can create.

Your numbers are also critically important when the time comes to sell your business, as your financial records are the only way you can justify your asking price to a potential buyer. You don’t want a box of crumpled receipts to be the face you put on your business when the first buyer wants to see documentation. A properly curated account of your business will not only make your numbers clear, it will show potential buyers that you had the foresight to keep this very important responsibility in the proper hands.

If your business is so small that you can’t afford an accountant yet – there are options like QuickBooks, Xero and Wave, just as examples, that will give you a guided approach to keeping your financial records on track.

The point here? When it comes to the accounting part of your business, don’t try to go it alone. Get the help that will pay off with the growth and the future sale of your business.

Do you own a business and do all of your own accounting? Would you like to know more about how professional accounting help will make your business more desirable to buyers? Ask us! Leave any questions or comments and we would be happy to help.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com
12995 South Cleveland Avenue, Suite 249
Fort Myers, FL 33907

www.InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

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You’re in the final stages of selling your business and are more than ready to start the next phase of your life. You and a buyer have agreed on a sale price and are in the final days of due diligence. As the final sale contract begins to come together one very important part of the agreement needs to be discussed – training.

No one in their right mind is going to take over a new business without having someone show them the ropes, and if you care at all about the future of your business, the jobs of your employees and your financial return from selling – you need to take the training part of your transaction very seriously. This is even more crucial if you have seller financing as part of your deal, because if the business falters after you leave – you won’t get paid.

So, what does a typical training period look like?

For the typical small business sale, the training period is two weeks.

If you and the buyer don’t think two weeks is enough time, there are a litany of options. You can agree to stay on to train in a full-time capacity for one period of time and then a part-time capacity for a period after that. You can also agree to the two full weeks and then agree to be available on a consulting basis for several weeks or months.

You don’t want to stay on any longer than necessary, but you do need to show a new owner EVERYTHING you do – from how you unlock doors to payroll. You need to introduce the new owner to your clients, your vendors and your staff. All of these things take time. 

They don’t, however, take forever. A buyer’s cold feet and nervousness about taking the reins shouldn’t dictate the amount of time you spend training. If you can teach them what they need to know in two weeks, then that’s it.

Here’s a very important caveat that you may not have considered. Once you hand over the keys, even if you are staying on in a training capacity, you are no longer the owner and no longer the boss. The new owner is in charge, and everyone needs to answer to them, not you. This dramatic shift in the power structure at a business you very recently owned can be emotionally difficult for some sellers, especially if the new owner makes changes you don’t agree with – another reason you should keep the training period as brief as possible. 

Talk to your business broker about what they would suggest for a training period in your case. Then remember to keep your cool when dealing with the new owner.

Are you thinking about selling your business and hadn’t considered a training period after the sale? Would you like to know what we would suggest as an acceptable training period for your business? Please feel free to leave any questions or comments here and we would be happy to help.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com
12995 South Cleveland Avenue, Suite 249
Fort Myers, FL 33907

www.InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

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If you are trying to sell your business, you may already realize what a stressful process this can be. You have to assemble all of your records, answer a constant stream of questions, deal with new requests from prospective buyers – all while trying to maintain your business in good working order.

You’ve worked hard at your business – invested time, money and energy. To you, the value is more than money. The business is an extension of your life.

The problem is, to any buyer walking through the door your business is just one of many, and the numbers on the bottom line mean more than anything else.

What happens when these vastly different views of a business collide? In some instances the result is a low-ball offer, where a buyer makes an offer so low a seller won’t even consider it, and oftentimes makes a seller unwilling to even negotiate with that buyer.

The low-ball offer is just a reality of having your business on the market, so if you are trying to sell your business, you’d better be ready to get one – and also be ready to keep your composure if it happens.

Many sellers see a low offer as a personal offense, but you have to remember that the only person who sees your business the way you do – is you.

You really shouldn’t be insulted by low-ball offers. Be happy you got an offer at all. The reality of the business market is your final selling price will be somewhere between your initial listing price and the first offer from a buyer. If you listed your business at the absolute rock-bottom price you are willing to take, that is a mistake, as is demanding that you get a full-asking price or there’s no deal. You need to be realistic and you also need to have thick skin.

Any offer, even a ridiculously low one, can be a starting point for negotiations.

Low-ball offers are typically from two kinds of buyers. The first are tire-kickers who low-ball sellers just to see if they can get a business for a steal. Most of the time this type of buyer never actually buys a business, they just shop around indefinitely. You will know if a low-ball offer is from this kind of buyer if the number is obscenely low, if the reason for the low offer is from way out in left field or if they have no explanation for the low offer at all.

The second type of buyer who makes a very low offer is a buyer who is looking for a deal. They low-balled you on the value of your business because they feel that you need to prove your asking price, but they want to get the deal rolling. For this type of buyer it is important to remember that your listing price is a jumping off point, not a non-negotiable price tag.

No matter what kind of offer comes in, consider it a step in the right direction. You will quickly be able to figure out if a buyer is serious or is just shopping around.

Are you a seller who wants to know how to handle a low-ball offer? Do you have questions about what makes an offer reasonable or how to begin negotiations? Ask us! Please leave us a comment or question here.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com
12995 South Cleveland Avenue, Suite 249
Fort Myers, FL 33907

http://www.InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

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Should I wait?

If you own your own business and have thought about selling in the near future, you are probably watching the markets fluctuate with apprehension – especially if you are a business owner who survived the downturn of 2008. Business is booming right now, and your business is probably doing better than it has in years – but business was booming in 2007 too.

It can be excruciatingly difficult to pull the trigger and sell your business when there’s no real way to know if you’re leaving a bunch of money on the table because you’ve sold too soon. The healthy state of the economy is driving up the sale prices of businesses every quarter, but we all know we’re closing in on the top of that upward trend.

What to do? Sell now while the selling is good. Business owners that didn’t go under after the 2008 slide had to take what they could get from the tiny pool of buyers who still had capital to buy a business. Many scrambled to find buyers in their industry when there were no buyers to be had. If you leave some money on the table because you sold six months or a year before the market reached it’s peak you can comfort yourself by knowing that you didn’t have to sell after the tide turned and prices slid.

Taxes and regulations for business and industry are likely going to change, but only the future knows how those changes will affect small businesses. The economy is booming, and has been for quite a while. Housing prices are at bubble-like levels again, and many investment groups have slowed their rate of investing. A downturn is in the tea leaves – so if your tentative plan is to sell in the next five years – sell now.

Are you a business owner who is on the fence about selling? Would you like to know what businesses like yours are currently selling for? Ask us! Please feel free to leave any questions or comments here and we would be happy to help.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com
12995 South Cleveland Avenue, Suite 249
Fort Myers, FL 33907

www.InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

1 Comment »