3 Keys to presenting a business-for-sale in the material information buyers are looking for, while also retaining its confidentiality
First, if you’ve come ready to Post a business for sale or to Advertise or Search for a business to buy; … if you know what you want to do and how to do it, just click the Featured Listing number of interest to you, or Search or Register or Login and then just go ahead.
But, if you’re still just thinking about what you might want to do; maybe looking for ideas; not sure where to start; uncertain for any reason at all; or if you just want to find out what business-trader is all about, do take a look below at the Special Introductory Offer applicable to you. Then, particularly if you are a business owner, continue reading to see how you can publicly disclose the confidential information buyers are looking for, while at the same time through 3rdPartyOnLine, fully retain its confidentiality.
Featured Listing(s)
S41001198-2538iec
Small Manufacturer: Annual Sales $8,285,815, ebitda $782,149, Sale Price $5,104,224, includes $2,529,919 Working Capital, 50%VTB payable over 60 months.
- Special Introductory Offer
Broker or Agent
Use Coupon Code
GET20FREE
Throughout the balance of 2019 and throughout all of 2020, post your businesses for sale, for Free.
Owner-Seller
Use Coupon Code
GET12FREE
Post your business-for-sale-by-owner for Free for the next 12 months or until it has SOLD.
Buyer
Use Coupon Code
GET12FREE
Post your business-wanted ad for Free for the next 12 months or until you PULL the ad.
Please Note: These are limited time offers. Each will be discontinued at some time, but such discontinuation will not affect the terms of any current subscribers at such time, but will simply discontinue the offer thereafter to others. Such discontinuation may occur at any time without notice, by deletion or modification of any of the above Offer(s).
Serious Business Buyers measure the value of a business in its earnings; past, present and predictable. In fact, several years of sales and earnings, including current earnings and earnings from past years that are now retained on its balance sheet will be amongst the information of earliest interest to a business buyer, because for most buyers, in that combination resides the value of the business.
But business owners are generally concerned about the confidentiality of that very same information buyers are looking for, and tend to hold it tightly and are generally not prepared to disclose such information online or anywhere else in a public forum.
The fact is, a business broker or other third party agent provides a buffer between buyer and seller and has generally been in better position than has the business owner, to make a good material presentation and at the same time keep it all quiet and confidential, simply by presenting the information without identifying the business or its owner, and in that anonymity, is able to maintain the full confidentiality of that information to the sole benefit of the business and its owner.
Without a third party buffer however, the owner of a business-for-sale-by-owner may feel exposed and may in fact BE exposed while simply taking a call from an interested party. An owner fearing exposure to an unknown caller is almost certainly going to be tentative and uncomfortable when trying to respond to the caller’s questions and or requests, and will often fumble and hesitate and respond in awkward reluctance until early and best opportunities might have passed.
So, I purchased Business-Trader.com with a plan to redesign it for exactly the circumstance of that business owner. We’ve now relaunched business-trader in the newly designed format largely summarized in the 3 Key elements below.
If you have a good profitable business that you’d like to list and sell, and if you want your listing noticed quickly by best buyers, don’t diminish its presentation by withholding the very information those very buyers are looking for, but retain its confidentiality in its anonymity and present your business in its actual sales, earnings and balance sheet.
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Valu4Sale is designed to present the business online in its own real and material information; information; … information that serious buyers are eager to find, while at the same time, holding the identity of the business and of its owner in ANONYMITY, and therein retaining the confidentiality of the information.
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It should be noted, anonymity is available in both Valu4Sale and Ez4Sale formats
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Then, when a buyer inquires into the business advertised for-sale, and as the owner responds to the inquiry, all communication will be auto-mediated through Business-Trader’s 3rdPartyOnLine so that buyer and seller are free to communicate with each other, in questions and answers and in the exchange of information, all done in ANONYMITY and confidentiality as long as the parties shall choose do so; … until, if ever, BOTH PARTIES shall agree to communicate otherwise.
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Feel free to explore the Resources Menu, (upper right corner of the screen), where you will find the selling processes described.
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Working through all the processes described may all be right in your wheelhouse with no help required, but if that is not the case, we have a business broker on call and ready to lend a hand, with as much or as little help as may be the need.
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A serious buyer is almost surely looking for a business that is profitable; probably looking also for a certain type of business, one located within a certain city or region, one priced within a budget range and one able to return the buyer’s investment over a reasonable period of time.
From day-1, an experienced buyer is looking for a business “that fits” in particular, in all the above ways and that same good fit is important to the seller as well, particularly if there is a vendor take back. If a good fit does exist, both parties will want that fit to be recognized as early as possible, but if there is not a fit, that reality should be recognized quickly as well. The Valu4Sale format provides for the “potential fit question” to be answered to a major degree, on day-1.
Illustrated below are two online Ads representing the same business and are here simply to provide a good comparison. If you were a business buyer looking for that good fit, which of these two ads would be most likely to garner your attention?
And, just one more comment with regard to these matters. If your business is not a good profitable business, the Valu4Sale format it is not going to change that reality. In fact, that business is not apt to show well at all in the Valu4Sale format. It would probably be better presented in the Ez4Sale format, where you can highlight the information you think will most effectively represent what that business has to offer. The Ez4Sale format has lots of capacity in which to present whatever information you’d like, in the way you’d like, since Ez4Sale provides an open field.
Posting a Business-Trader Ad is for the most part pretty simple, logical, and easily navigated. If you don’t know the formats, we suggest you take a look at Sample Ads. If you have not already done so, before you can post, you’ll need to Register.
- Then, click on My Dashboard, select the Ad Format you intend to post and begin entering your business information into the entry form.
- Certain of the information is *required information and are so indicated. Other is optional, depending on the Ad Format you may choose to present.
- If you come to an entry that you are uncertain about, click Help in the Menu bar to read about the particular entry.
- If you intend to include financial data in the ad, you will want your financial statements nearby.
- If the narrative will be lengthy, maybe rather than direct entry, you might find it easier to write it elsewhere (in Word maybe), then copy it into appropriate sections of the business-trader narrative forms. Either way is okay.
- With those entries completed, click Next and you’ll be on the payment screen where you can simply enter Promo Code Get12Free or Get20Free if you are a business broker.
Thank you and we would wish you good luck at this point, except, generally it won't be luck that finds a buyer and sells your business.
Valu4Sale Format
Ez4Sale Format
These are examples of our business-for-sale ad formats; here to provide visual comparison.
Ez4Sale ads could be shorter or longer than this example, but this is probably a fair average.
Valu4Sale ads will probably be shorter than this example, typically, but optionally they could also contain more information and be quite a bit longer.
In the grey column to the right of this page, and every page, please notice a list of topics. Some describe options and features, some offer suggestions, and others simply outline how certain processes are apt to unfold. In all, we attempt to provide answers to questions we anticipate buyers and sellers will be wondering about. If you are a first time business seller, these are particularly meant to help you think and work through the entire process of selling a business, which is really quite unlike any other selling process. We trust you’ll find practical value in the how-to and how-not-to suggestions here simply for your information.
In particular, good serious buyers will be looking for and asking for material information, right from the start, much of which will be considered confidential information business owners will be reluctant to disclose at the start. Nevertheless, such is the very information that best represents your business and in the Why So Much Information topic; the first topic on the menu, we describe how to provide such information in anonymity through 3rdPartyOnLine intermediation, in order to at the same time maintain the full confidentiality of that information entirely for yourself.
For business sellers, we offer three different business-for-sale presentation formats, and for business buyers, we offer a new business-wanted presentation format. Once you have reviewed the Why So Much Information topic, the next topic; Sample Ads, will provide you with a visual illustration of each of the ad presentation formats mentioned.
And again, particularly if you are a first time business seller, we encourage you to invest a bit of time to familiarize yourself with the topics, and to think through the entire business selling process. The information, recommendations and suggestions offered throughout the topics come from real experience and are simply meant to help you to consider and navigate issues that you may not have encountered elsewhere. And then, if and when, if ever, you may want additional hands-on assistance, we are available and able to help you develop a plan and to implement it, and we invite you to Contact Us.
Business Valuation: In the Business Valuation topic, we describe and discuss the business valuation processes, balance sheet value, earnings value, multiple of earnings, goodwill valuation, etc., and through our BizBrokerOnCall program, we provide business valuation services; … your option of course.
The Buy/Sell Processes: Under the Buy/Sell topic, we discuss eight separate topics (as listed to the right) for your information and consideration. Click on The Buy/Sell Processes and you will find an introduction to each of the eight buy/sell topics, with each more fully described under each individual topic.
Seven Selling Steps: In our brokerage experiences, we have found a very logical and deliberate process to be beneficial and we describe that beneficial process in Seven Selling Steps. Click on Seven Selling Steps and you will find an introduction to each of the seven topical steps, again with each more completely described inside each of the seven individual topics.
Business for Sale Suggestions: In the business for sale topic, we describe and discuss the material business information buyers will be looking for, with suggestions as to how to provide such information in anonymity, both in the online ad presentation and thereafter. Topics under Business for Sale Suggestions include business-for-sale demo ads and the set of Help Topics for each of the ad formats.
Business Wanted Suggestions: In the business wanted topic, we describe and discuss the buyer’s material information sellers will be looking for, with suggestions as to how to provide such information in anonymity, both in the online ad presentation and thereafter. Topics under Business Wanted Suggestions include business-wanted demo ads and the applicable set of Help Topics