Is It Time For A Change?
What To Do When Your Business Isn't Fun Anymore
By Robert Hughes
One day you wake up and think, "That's it. It's time for a change". As a business owner, there comes a time when you must decide if you want to continue coming to work everyday, facing payroll every two weeks, or perhaps, working through another string of holidays.
Just because its time to sell your business does not mean you're throwing in the towel. Many times small business owners are ready to move on to other things; retirement, a new job, a new venture, more time with family, a focus on personal health, or any combination of factors.
Remember, one person's headache can be another person's stepping-stone to success. Anyone looking at a business opportunity always thinks they can do a better job. That's just human nature. And who knows, sometimes it takes a fresh point of view, along with the inevitable fresh influx of capital and elbow grease, to cause a change in direction that will place the business on the fast-charging path to success.
One of the charming advantages a new owner will have is that they don't know the many things that don't work. Entrepreneurs try many things over the life of a business, and many of them will fail at a certain point in the lifetime of that business. One more try, and this time, it just might work.
Selling a small business can be a very difficult thing to do. The primary obstacle can often be as simple as deciding on a price. Obtaining a " comparable" for a business is difficult because, unlike homes or real property, no two businesses are alike. Anything will sell at the right price. Price it too high and you won't get a response. Price it too low and you might unnerve qualified prospects that might be wondering what hidden problems they might encounter, or worse, you'll sell all right-- but you will have sold yourself short. What to do? To help you determine a realistic value of your total investment and its current value in the marketplace, a professional valuation company can be a valuable resource providing you with that experienced, third party point of view. Showing a prospect the professional valuation of your business can be a strong selling point. At this point, you are ready to advertise your business or find a local commercial broker that will set in motion their full marketing efforts to seek out that buyer.
