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Selling your Business Step by Step Process

  • Posted on February 25, 2011 at 9:26 am

So finally the time has come to sell the business. After investing years of your time and uncounted thousands of pounds, it has become successful, providing for your needs and wants, and it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Where do you start?

A good time to start thinking about selling a business is right after startup, when it shows signs of beginning to succeed and become self-sustaining. Even if you are planning on bequeathing it to your progeny or a partner, it’s never too early to think about what will happen afterwards.

The first step is to take your time–selling a business is a complex process and you will only do it once. Confidentiality is a necessity at this point, as word of an impending sale can cause repercussions among employees and business partners (suppliers, customers, etc.) alike.

Your position in the business is also a point to consider. If you are the sole proprietor, the decision is yours alone. However, if you are a partner or board member, selling your part of the business will involve more considerations.

Finding a good broker is worth any amount of time needed to locate one you are comfortable with. Check the Better Business Bureau for any investigation history, and get referrals from fellow business owners or from industry associations like the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA). This is a non-profit “trade association of business brokers providing education, conferences, professional designations and networking opportunities” (IBBA), as well as professional certifications and boasts over 1300 members.

Next, a professional appraiser should be consulted, as just like selling a home, a professional appraisal will give a fair value to begin negotiations with. Keep in mind though, an appraisal is an estimate of the fair value of a business’ hard assets, and the market value of the business may be higher or lower, as a business is only worth what someone else is willing to pay.

Determining major terms and price are issues that you are going to have to work out with your broker, but a few basic factors come into play: what do you want to get out of the sale? Continuing salary? Lump sum? Stock options? This is a step often overlooked until late in the negotiations, often to the detriment of the seller.

Financing the sale is usually about 90% left to the seller. If you can’t or won’t be willing to cover the costs of the sale, it may not be a good time to sell.

Once you and your broker have located a buyer and agreed on a price, a Letter of Intent is drafted. This letter outlines the terms and tentative price in a non-binding document and allows the buyer time to thoroughly investigate the business. This process is subject to Due Diligence, as the onus of discovery is placed upon the buyer and buyer’s agent.

After the discovery process is completed to both parties’ satisfaction, the Purchase Agreement is drafted. This set of paperwork creates a formal agreement between buyer and seller regarding purchase price, terms, and other legal details. Once the respective lawyers have finalized the details and complied with state law requirements regarding the sale, the Purchase Agreement is signed, closing documents finalized, and the sale is complete. If everything has gone well, it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief and start planning what to do with all that free time!

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Self-Employed? Why a Business Blog May Be Good for

  • Posted on February 18, 2011 at 9:26 am

Business

Blogs are often used to help increased business traffic to business websites. They are also used to create an interactive community in the blogging world.

Self-employed people can really do wonders with their blogs. For instance, these can be used as an inexpensive way to establish an online business presence. In addition, they can offer businesses an alternative way for people to communicate with current and potential clients, as well as employees.

In many cases the use of blogs has increased, and has sometimes either replaced e-mail newsletters or has added to them. Usually notifications of blog entries are sent to a persons e-mail directly or way of an RSS feed. RSS feed readers can also be obtained which can help readers benefit from reading a business blog on a daily basis.

A few challenges need to be over come while generating business blog content, however. One common problem is that visiting traffic for many business blog sites is done on the weekends. This worries many business people who are wondering if those same people will return on Monday.

One idea that business bloggers can incorporate to attract visitors on the weekend is the use of some fun content. For example, a contest during the week may require an answer to a question that was presented on a Saturday or Sunday. Other ideas would be to include Saturday or Sunday Only Sales, or to just simply write some of the best quality posts on these days.

If you are opting to write your best quality posts on the weekends, you may want to consider advertising the content of those posts during the week. If you do this right the anticipation will be so tempting to most people that they will want to take a look.

If your business blog is more of an educational tool, you may want to use video and audio tools on your site. This can be very effective, and many visitors will stop and take notice. If you play streaming audio on your site it is recommended to embed it right into the pages of your blog site. This will help readers enjoy even more great content at a faster rate.

Another aspect to consider when you are making a blog for your home business operation is to make it readable. This means that you need written content that is both to the point and accurate. The average blog site length is usually 300-400 words long. For special presentations and sites that act liken newspapers these articles can be longer, but generally shorter is better.

The reason why blog entries are short is because readers want to view web pages very quickly. However, this does not mean that a business blog site should lack professionalism. Editing for grammar and spelling mistakes as well as any wording problems is a must when posting blog entries on a business site.

If a person wants to perfect a blog entry that person can usually start the entry in Microsoft Word and then copy and paste it into the blog software to be uploaded.

Another aspect of professionalism is to make sure when you make your business site you choose a color scheme and logo that suits your operation. You also need to make sure you choose the design for your blog pages that will attract your primary market target.

Blogging can be excellent for business growth because it encourages interaction. Customers can make comments about products they liked or disliked, and firms can place answers to peoples questions. In addition, reviews can be made for consumers regarding a companys products or services.

When you use a blog correctly, it can drive quite a bit of traffic to your site. The other aspect of creating a blog is that it can encourage communication and interaction within the Internet community.

If you need to learn more about the other aspects of making a blog you can read more articles such as this. These articles will help you learn how to promote your blob site as well as guide you to further information about creating blogs.

You will notice a different in both business production and sales with the use of blogs in many cases. This is not a guarantee that your business will profit, but there is definitely an excellent change that it could profit.

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Save Big Money on Your Business Cards

  • Posted on February 11, 2011 at 9:26 am

Less than one generation ago, if you needed a box of full color business cards you would have contacted your local graphic arts printing company, paid for expensive design and set up costs, and received your ordered cards one or two weeks later. If you wanted your order completed quicker, you paid extra for that service too. Thanks to the internet, ordering business cards has gotten a lot easiera lot cheaper too! You can save money on your next order of business cards; please read on for some tips to help bring big savings to you!

Shop Online. Why go to your local print shop when several of the big online sellers of business cards can do the same job for less and faster too? There are four or five companies who are literally mopping up the business card industry by selling high quality cards right online and at rock bottom prices.

Order Big. The larger your order, the more you save. Customarily, many people only order 250-500 business cards when placing an order. When you order 1000, 2000, or more business cards your cost per card will drop dramatically. An especially smart decision on your part if you regularly attend conventions and are distributing your business cards to everyone.

Use In House Styles. If you arent particular on the graphics, the big business card suppliers have a wide and varying selection of ready made styles for your choosing. Save a bundle on graphic artist charges by incorporating their styles into your new cards.

Shop the Specials. In addition to business cards, many online retailers also sell matching business card magnets, envelopes, letterhead, note paper, and more. Place all of your printing orders with a trusted online retailer to receive the best deals and maximum savings.

Yes, your local printing company now has some stiff competition in the form of several top notch online retailers. Your choices for high quality business cards have never been better, resulting in great savings and a terrific product for you!

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Perpetuate Your Company Name with Marketable Business Gifts

  • Posted on February 4, 2011 at 9:26 am

All companies want their names to be remembered and to live on into perpetuity in the minds of their clients as this helps to encourage repeat business. One of the best ways to do this is to give out marketable business gifts when it is called for. Do not go overboard or get too lavish, as you don’t want to seem showy or overly pretentious but think elegant and simple with a touch of class. The Internet has made it possible to purchase business gifts that say exactly what you wish them to say. Of course sometimes too much selection is not a good thing because it makes it harder and harder to narrow down your choice to just one or a couple.

Always aim for quality in the gift itself as well as the packaging. If you are sending office supplies, for example, or a new electronic gadget, the wrapping and the card speak volumes to the recipient. Buy the best quality wrapping paper, gift bags, boxes, cards, ribbons and bows without going outside of the company’s budget.

Being marketable means standing out from the crowd and this means being unique and innovative in your gift giving. One way to do this is to pay close attention to a client and he or she likes to determine an excellent choice of gift. If you have occasion to visit the office of a client take note of what is in the office. Does the person love vases, knick-knacks or anything that helps to organize their desk? What about plants? Is he or she a plant lover or not? You might want to send your client for example a small Bonsai tree. If the client has a flare for the Oriental, you might want to find something related to Feng Shui to present to him or her as a business gift. Not only will your gift be much appreciated, it is likely to become a conversation piece to whoever drops by your client’s office!

Always bear in mind that whatever gift you choose to send a client reflects back on your company and because you represent your company, it reflects back on you too. Whatever you do, resist the urge to bypass the personal route. In other words do not order something from a catalogue or over the Internet and have it gift wrapped by someone else and then send a form letter version of a card to accompany it. This says impersonal with a capital “I” and is not what you are striving for at all. This is not the way to be marketable and it is not likely to make the best impression. People like it when they receive a gift that another person put thought and effort into and little personal touches are just as important as how aesthetically attractive the outside of the gift looks.

Put yourself in the place of the client and try to envision what his or her personality would enjoy in a gift. If the gift is to be sent to someone who is from a different culture than your own, make sure you are aware of the customs of that culture so you will not offend the recipient. For example, the Chinese do not believe in using white gift-wrap for any occasion because to them it symbolizes death. Death and business gifts do not mix!

Handwritten cards are the way to go and if you have a business greeting card you might want to send just that or include it with the handwritten card. Christmas is an excellent time to send along both. Do not just sign the card but instead write the person’s name on it, say a few carefully chosen words related to the occasion for sending the gift and then sign the card. Nothing could be more marketable then the personal approach to business gift giving!

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