A viewer sent me a link to this article and asked me
about one of the items in the list.
They wanted to know why the author was a proponent of
telling everyone the business is for sale while I spend so much time telling people
to keep things confidential.
Let’s review the article and I’ll tell you what I
think about each of the points in this video about the common mistakes people
make when selling a retail business: https://youtu.be/zS_wG67FenE
Join the legions of small business buyers who are
learning what they need to know so they can avoid a bad deal. They’re taking my online course at www.BusinessBuyerAdvantage.com Some
are learning how to get ahead of brokers with my Prepare to Buy a Business: The
Next Step. Also on the same site.
Two weeks ago I was in Dartmouth, NS talking with the
commercial loan officers of Atlantic Canada’s credit unions about business
valuation.
At the end, I got a question from the floor about succession
planning. ‘Does it make sense to sell a
business to an employee?,’ asked one of the attendees.
I know you’re going to hate this but, it depends. Watch the full story in this video: https://youtu.be/ODZF3gTeETc
In well organized, maybe larger businesses, managers have
well defined roles and responsibilities.
They manage their own business plan and make decisions about resources
and employees. It’s up to them to
perform and they’re accountable for what happens.
This type of person may be able to transition into
entrepreneurship.
In many smaller businesses which are ‘technician run,’ to
borrow the terminology from Michael Gerber’s E-Myth book, it is not so easy.
These small business operators keep most of the strategic
procedures and policies in their heads and ALL the responsibility. Sometimes a long-time employee who is really
great at handling a long list of complex TASKS is given the title of ‘manager.’ This doesn’t actually make them a manager.
I’ve been involved in two such successions and both buyers
failed after about two years. They were
never the right candidate to weather the stress involved in business
ownership.
Most importantly, however, they didn’t have the drive and
ambition. If they did, why were they
still working in someone else’s shadow for all those years?
Most business owners want to try to find a buyer on their
own. 80% of small businesses are sold in
the private market and mostly because owners don’t want to pay any type of
commission to a broker.
So who do you look for when you need to find a buyer?
Try the ones who got away.
The good employees that you hated to lose because they knew the business
and were really capable. The ones who
left because they wanted more. These are
the people with ambition.
If you want to learn more about how I help business owners
sell their own business and avoid paying a commission, check out www.HowToSellMyOwnBusiness.com
There are plenty of FREE resources there to help you begin
planning your transition out of your business.
Please remember to like and share this article, it’s the
only way the people who run the internet have of knowing if the content is any
good or not. The more you share, the more likely someone who needs this
information will be able to find it.
If you would like to hear from me weekly before anyone else,
you can sign yourself up in the form to the left of this post.
Improve your business each and every day,
download my FREE daily cheat sheet and hang it in your work area to keep
yourself focused. https://gum.co/15Questions/FREE
Do you live in Toronto?
I’ve got three workshops coming up for Toronto in September. Book now to get early ticket pricing. http://davidbarnett.eventbrite.ca
