Selling a business you’ve owned and operated and loved like a child is rarely easy. Business ownership includes many practical matters such as providing an income, helping customers, paying your bills on time etc but it also includes many emotions. These include being successfully, being honest, going above and beyond to help customers and employees to name a few. If it’s time for you to sell your business, considering the following will help you be successful.

1. Avoid using high-pressure sales tactics.
Buying and selling a business is a unique set of circumstances. No two transactions are the same. You can never “sell” a business; the buyer has to want to “buy” for reasons that make sense to them. The law recognizes this by defining it as a willing buyer and a willing seller with neither party under any compulsion to close the transaction.

2. Letting negative ideas or emotions get in the way.
There are so many variables when buying or selling a business. Each party needs to navigate through their own practical reasons and then marry those reasons to their own emotions. You cannot make the buyer buy because “this is the best business in the world.” They will buy for their own reasons and generally not communicate these to you; especially while you are still in negotiations.

3. Providing incorrect answers to questions.
Trust is a non negotiable item that can kill or allow a deal to continue. Giving incorrect answers to questions will quickly kill a deal or remove any interest the buyer has in continuing discussions.

4. Trying to sell the business to the wrong buyer.
The rule of thumb is that it takes 10 buyer inquiries to lead to one qualified buyer. When that one qualified buyer reveals itself, work hard to make sure the buyer’s needs are met without giving away all the business secrets.

5. Forgetting that buying a business is a stressful situation for the buyerJ
ust as it is for the owner selling an entity they have labored, cherished and worried about over the years, the buyer has no history of the business including its employees, landlord, suppliers, banker and any other parties that currently make the business run.

If you would like more information about selling your business, visit my website; http://www.Andrew-Rogerson.com and order a copy of my book Successfully Sell Your Business: Expert Advice from a Business Broker.