5 Reasons Not to Sell Your Business Yourself
For a business to succeed, you’ve got to invest a lot of time and resources. In the process, you become emotionally attached to the enterprise. Deciding to sell a business is not easy, and most owners try to control the sale. Of course, you know the business better than anyone else and you want to get the best value for your blood, sweat and tears.
However, the biggest mistake you can make is to try to handle this crucial transaction yourself. Despite your success in running the operation, selling the entity requires a new set of skills. It is a long-winding process that can frustrate you and force you to sell short.
In a bid to control the sale, many entrepreneurs miss out on incredible opportunities. They approach it as any day-to-day deal, yet it requires a well-thought-out exit plan. To avoid this eventuality, we’re here to help you design and implement the right exit plan.
Our mission is to ensure you get as much value as possible from this investment. We consult with clients to develop custom exit plans, perfect timing and strategy and advise you on how to value a business. Get in touch today for a less stressful exit plan.
Here are some of the reasons we advise our clients not to sell their businesses on their own.
1. Tedious and Frustrating Undertaking
Some of the reasons entrepreneurs sell their businesses include burnout, big life changes, loss-making, retirement, increasing competition to mention a few. In most of these cases, the investor wants to close the deal quickly and get on with their next phase of life.
Selling a business is a protracted process, and it won’t happen overnight. If you plan to do everything on your own, you might be looking at years of planning, consultations, transactions, evaluations and disappointment. This process will drain you even further, and you might end up selling the entity for a song.
You might end up losing focus on the core business to focus on the sale. There are multiple meetings you have to attend and these demand a lot of your time. In the end, the sale process might frustrate you to the point of despair.
When you work with our team, we remove the hassle from the business sale process by helping draw a clear plan. We work with you to understand your goals and aspirations. How long are you ready to wait? What’s the best value you can take?
After understanding your business, we then draw a custom exit plan which we help you follow. It is a smoother process than taking on everything alone.
2. You might Get a Lower Price
It’s true you know your business very well and hence the urge to represent yourself. After all, you can convince buyers about the viability of the enterprise. But how well do you know about business valuation and factors that might affect the worth of your investment?
A professional business seller might not know about your business, but they can quickly learn and value it for you. They understand market dynamics that can raise or reduce the value of your business. In most cases, entrepreneurs who sell their ventures end up getting a lower price because they’re in a rush.
When you work with a consultant, they have the motivation to sell at a higher price to enjoy a good commission. They will evaluate your enterprise keenly and detail all the strengths they can use during bargaining.
3. Selling Your Business Smacks of Desperation
When a business owner puts up their enterprise for sale, things can go downhill fast. They have no experience in this kind of deal and if they start pursuing interested buyers, it will smack of desperation. The last thing you want when selling a company is to look desperate because the bids will start going down.
Using an experienced consultancy, on the other hand, adds some professionalism to the deal. Only serious buyers will approach the selling agency. The work of the selling agent is to market their clients’ business. From the buyer’s point of view, it doesn’t look like an attempt to offload a non-performing entity.
4. Lack of an Exit Plan is Recipe for Failure
Now that you think selling your company is the best option, how do you even start this process? Have you looked at all the options on the table? Is it easier to merge or diversify your business rather than selling it? All these questions should be answered before you advertise your business for sale.
This is where a selling agent comes in handy. They help design an exit plan that guides the entire sale. An exit strategy includes options such as strategic acquisitions, initial public offerings (IPO), and management buyouts (MBO).
Business valuation is another core component of the exit strategy and ensures you get the best value for your investment. Other critical considerations include succession plan, metrics and reporting, financial performance, marketing and sales strategy, compliance, effective employee management, policies and procedures and much more.
Our team has experience handling all these components of a business exit plan. We work to develop a custom exit plan that suits your goals and aspirations. At every stage, your feedback is critical, and we ensure you own the process. With an exit plan, we empower our clients to maximize the sale and get the best deal.
5. You Won’t Find the Best Buyers
Who are the first people who approach you when you announce the business sale? Most likely, these are close friends, family and competitors. They know your situation and can take advantage to get the best deal. By using an experienced business sale agent, you avoid such buyers looking for a cheap deal.
Your representative will have a better network of potential buyers who might not even be in the industry. It helps close the deal faster and at a better price.
With our streamlined exit solutions, you don’t have to stress yourself over the business sale. We look at every aspect of the sale and detail it in the exit plan. From the exit consultations, business valuation, exit plan, to the timing and strategy, we walk with you. Get in touch with us today and avoid the hassle of a do-it-yourself business sale.
Let’s hop on a quick call to discuss the timing and prospects of an exit based on your goals and the current state of your business. Schedule your free exit consultation today.
You're guaranteed to come away from the call with:
Clarity about your business
Knowledge of the landscape
A high-level exit plan
A rough valuation
Actionable insights
Specific next steps
Testimonials
What our clients say
In my career you get to deal with a lot of service providers. There are the below average, the average the the above average. Then there is one category that no one talks about which is the exception. We engaged Hello Exit to source acquisition targets for us. The communication, personal service, attention to details, availability, interaction with the team has been nothing short of exceptional. If ANYONE wants further in-depth conversation about the exceptional experience please reach out.
I worked with Hello Exit for the sale of a business and everything went smoothly. The team was very hands-on and provided a lot of guidance throughout every part of the process. They took the time to get to know my business well and were able to communicate our operation effectively to potential buyers. The sale was a success and I couldn’t have done it without them.
Hello Exit was great working with me to help sell my software company. They made everything clear, were patient, never over pressured me, but kept a strong sense of urgency. I would recommend Hello Exit to anyone looking to sell their business and plan on working with them again in any capacity that I can.
The team Hello Exit is simply incredible! Their expertise and support throughout the entire process of selling my company were a game changer. Their expertise and guidance throughout the entire process was invaluable. They took the time to truly understand my needs and goals, and helped me navigate every step of the way with ease. Hello Exit is exceptional, and they truly go above and beyond to ensure their clients are not only satisfied, but actually excited about their exit!! I cannot recommend Hello Exit enough! Their professionalism, knowledge, and dedication to their clients are unmatched. If you’re looking for a top-notch company to help you sell your business, look no further than Hello Exit. Thank you guys, for all that you do!
It was a pleasure working with Hello Exit and they have my most sincere recommendation. They bring a sophistication and etiquette that is very hard to find in the lower, lower middle market – outstanding preparation, excellent sell-side coaching, a rationale / unbiased disposition, and so on. In addition, they bring a powerful network to the conversation and can add value well beyond the transaction. I hope to work with Hello Exit on many more deals to come!
Hello Exit added tremendous value for our portfolio of companies. They made a complex sale process easier and significantly more efficient. We received 5 offers (two above ask) and were extremely happy with the outcome. As a serial trouble maker that has acquired 7 companies and sold 4 we will be using Hello Exit for future exits.
Hello Exit has built one of the best online business brokerages out there. As a buyer, the company has continuously provided us with acquisition targets that have been very well qualified. Every opportunity has fit directly into the criteria we’ve been looking for which has saved a ton of time on due diligence. If you want to get a jump start on your acquisition pipeline, it’s easy to recommend Hello Exit.
Hello Exit is one of the most knowledgeable business brokerages out there for tech & web businesses. We used they to buy a significant business operated by 15+ employees. Our work in diligence was substantially reduced given the strong & accurate information package he provided. All questions were proactively answered, all supporting data was there and presented in the right format, and everything was accurately represented. This saved us weeks of work! In discussions & negotiations, they played a fair role & helped resolve issues by understanding the issue from the perspective of both buyer & seller. With their knowledge and experience, they were able to make smart suggestions and helped everyone reach a common ground quickly. I would surely work with Hello Exit again. They are super!
What can I say other than Hello Exit delivered on everything they promised… and then some. At first, I didn’t believe it when they said he would sell my agency in a few months. But they were so passionate about working together, a part of me believed they would deliver. And they did. We had 3 offers in 30 days and went under contract with the highest offer. 3 months later we closed on the sale at the price they evaluated us on. During the entire process, their knowledge and experience helped immensely. Any time there was confusion or a hurdle that myself or the buyer had, the team stepped in and smoothed every over. Selling a business is one of the most invigorating yet stressful experience I’ve ever went through and I’m so grateful that I picked the right broker to help me through it. I’d use Hello Exit again in a heartbeat.
The Hello Exit team was great to work with. They helped increase our deal flow with strategic deals. If someone is looking to increase their targeted deal flow I would definitely recommend working with Hello Exit.
Hello Exit was awesome to work with on the deal. They provided great support and advice all through – from initial interest discussions, negotiations, contract closure to execution. They’re very prompt and proactive which sails the deal making through. They also provided great support and mediation help post transition on some key contract payout clauses, which is highly appreciated. I recommend Hello Exit highly to SaaS business owners and entrepreneurs.
I’ve known Dustin (Hello Exit’s Founder) for over 10 years, and actually acquired a SaaS company he founded. I’ve always found Dustin to be extremely sharp, fair and honest, reasonable to deal with, and the kind of person you would want to do business with again in the future (which is rare these days). I’m currently mentoring and incubating over 150 international startup companies, and have already talked with Dustin about bringing Hello Exit into these businesses to broker the exit once they are profitable and solidly into their momentum phase.
Hello Exit is one of the best and most trustworthy SaaS advisories and brokerages in the industry! If you run a SaaS business, and Hello Exit contacts you, you should definitely talk to them! Even if you decide not to sell, it will be a very worthwhile and fruitful conversation.
