Conversations with brokers and buyers can be a gold mine of information when getting ready to sell your e-commerce business: Four qualities Glam Brands seeks in a brand before they consider to acquire
Whenever I talk to Entrepreneurs, they frequently ask me when is the right time sell their online business.
It’s an excellent question. You have invested a lot of time, effort, money, blood, sweat and tears in developing your brand and product range. When you’re finally ready to sell, you want to be sure you’re doing so at the best possible time to get the best price.
I always advise people to sell their e-commerce firm while it is growing. Therefore, regardless of what the market is doing, your best course of action is to start building your brand upward and to the right.
I recommend that you look at the patterns in your top and bottom-line for the last 12 months and look for trends. What narrative does the numbers speak? Is your business growing or contracting? Is it a roller coaster ride with very little predictability?
Any potential acquirer, including Glam Brands, will look for evidence of sound operational underpinnings, positive growth, and wise decision-making. To assist you in achieving these objectives, we produced the book Getting Your Ecommerce Business Ready for Sale. The book is packed with practical suggestions on how to set up your company so that it can run even when you’re ready to exit.
Here are the 4 Questions to Ask Buyers and Brokers When Selling Your Ecommerce Business. If you ask these questions correctly, it will bring more value to you and your buyers in future.
Start having conversations with business brokers, intermediaries, potential purchasers, and your trusted advisors once your story is in the correct place. Even if you don’t plan on selling anytime soon, we recommend that it’s better to research the market now than later.
Why? Because you may learn a great deal from such talks about what buyers will expect from a company. You can then use that information to pinpoint potential growth opportunity and highlight any critical area for your business that you have neglected so far. Since it is in their best interest to develop relationships with business owners like you, the majority of DTC aggregators or FBA business buyers will happy to speak with you.
Before you sell your online business, consider asking the following 4 questions:
1. What can I do to make my business more attractive to you?
If you speak with several potential buyers and brokers, you’ll undoubtedly notice that they frequently probe you about particular aspects of your company. Pay attention; these are often your greatest assets and liabilities. Avoid becoming defensive about how you do things at the moment. Consider that discussion to be a consultation. The information you’re hearing is important and could assist you in creating a list of tasks you should do before leaving your company.
2. Who would be operating my brand? Can I speak with them?
Ask to talk with the members of the buyer’s team who will be handling your brand if you want to ensure that it is in excellent hands. You should be able to ask a buyer questions to find out more about their background and expertise.
3. How would your team handle this complicated part of my business?
Selling your business is very similar to dating or a courtship process. You both are evaluating each other on important aspects of selling your business. Don’t be afraid to ask potential buyers how they plan to handle your company’s most complex issues. A good buyer should be confident in his or her ability to respond to your inquiries because they have seen and heard practically everything. Boost your belief in their competence by going deep into the complex operational issues of running your business and get their answer