How to Sell a Business with the Right Advertising
Why you need a marketing program to target the right buyer for your Business for sale
It makes it difficult to find the right buyer for your business if you don’t widely promote and advertise. The wider the net is cast, the more potential buyers you will have look at your business.
More buyers equals more demand. And more demand equals more value for you. You simply have to expose the business to the widest possible market to sell the business for the best possible price. That’s a fact.
Why you need an advertising budget
When selling large commercial property or up-market residential property, it’s common for successful marketing agents to allocate a marketing budget of 1% of the selling price. As businesses are more specialised than property and it’s often more difficult to find the perfect buyer, a larger advertising budget will often be required to achieve a sale.
Many people think that advertising means placing an ad on the internet or in the newspaper. This is not the case. That may have been the preferred method of advertising a business years ago. But not now.
Four basic marketing methods
Today there are better, more sophisticated and proven methods available to expose your business for sale to the most suitable prospects. Successful business brokers know that there are at least four basic methods of maximising exposure of the business to a wide target audience.
These are:
- Database marketing
- Acquisition letters (direct mail)
- Optimised website advertising and
- Press advertising.
Each of these four categories contains sub sections to optimise market exposure.
Create more attention with larger ads in a shorter period of time
Don’t fall into the trap of trying to save a few dollars on advertising. It always pays to do it properly. Allocate an appropriate budget towards marketing your business. Often business owners will spend a small amount each week on advertising their business when just a few larger-sized ads will create more response and more qualified buyers. And in a shorter period of time. In most small business sectors, there are more sellers than buyers. Therefore, it is essential that you stand out from the crowd with intriguing and obvious marketing of your business for sale.
Without exception, every successful business broker will tell you that a proper marketing campaign will expedite the sales process significantly and is critical in producing a successful sale for maximum value.
Value for any asset is determined through supply and demand. We can create demand for your business by developing a marketing program that will get lots of potential buyers wanting to know more, in confidence. In fact, the right kind of marketing will give you control. Rather than you feeling like you’re inviting the buyer to acquire your business, you’ll have them asking you to sell them your business.
However it’s achieved, it’s essential that potential buyers are alerted to the fact that your business is for sale.
After all, you can’t sell a secret.
When it comes to selling your business, you have to think about how to advertise your business on the market to find the right buyer and reach the right audience.
Written by Bruce Coudrey
Principal Benchmark Business Sales and Valuations
Bruce Coudrey has been Principal of Benchmark Business Sales & Valuations, since 1999. Benchmark is one of Australia’s largest national business brokerages. Bruce is a Registered Business Valuer and has acted as a court-appointed expert witness.
