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Selling your Business
during the COVID-19 Crisis

"We Help You Sell Your Business"

 

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• 0. Selling your Business during the COVID-19 Crisis.  
 
• 1. Should I sell my business ?   Take this Quiz ....
 
• 2. Get Ready to Sell Your Business.  
 
• 3. 3 Key Considerations to Create an Effective Business-for-Sale Ad.  
 
• 4. The importance of photos in effective advertising.  
 
• 5. The Ad Title that Sells the Business.  
 
• 6. How to Choose Effective Categories for your Listing.  
 
• 7. Selling your business: ASSET sale or SHARE sale ?  
 
• 8. Some Hints for you When Selling your Business.  
 
• 9. How to Respond to Buyer Inquiries .  
 
• 10. Qualifying Buyers: Separating the sharks from the keepers.  
 
• 11. Ten things I should know when negotiating !  
 
• 12. Will I Get Top Dollar When I Sell My Business ?  
 
• 13. Prepare your Business for your Ultimate Customer.  
 
• 14. Is Your Business a Pain, or a Pleasure ?  
 
• 15. What Drives Owners to Sell & Buyers to Buy ?  
 
• 16. Frequently Asked Questions - by Jim Clark  
 
• 17. An Overview of the Business Selling Process.  
 
• 18. Recasting - a key to building value to the seller.  
 
• 19. What the Profit & Loss Statement Doesn't Tell You.  
 
• 20. How Do Buyers Determine Value when Considering a Business Purchase ?  
 
• 21. Why does Confidentiality Matter when Buying or Selling a Business ?  
 
• 22. Should You Buy an Existing Franchise?  5 Questions to Ask  
 
• 23. Succession Planning is central to selling success  
 

 
 DISCLAIMER 
 
These articles are for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal, accounting or other professional advice.  Important financial and legal decisions should be made only after seeking appropriate professional advice based on your specific situation.
 Selling your Business during the COVID-19 Crisis

by Mike Merritt
Business Sell Canada

Business Meeting
 

How to sell your business during the COVID-19 crisis ...


1. Be Enthusiastic   Be Enthusiastic

As always, "Be Enthusiastic"; be honest about the current situation but be enthusiastic too.  This COVID-19 Pandemic won't last forever.  At some point in time it will all be over and things will return to normal - that is: to the "New Normal".
 
If your business was operating successfully before the Crisis; then, in most cases, it can be successful again; albeit with some re-structuring and perhaps modifications to its operating procedures.  These facts are what you will have to get across to the Buyer (the new owner) in your Business-For-Sale listing.  Enterprising people are still looking to change their lifestyles during this period of waiting and reflection.  They want to start their own "New Normal" in a different direction with a different business for them to operate and to grow.  However, they do recognize that at this time, some businesses are currently shut-down or operating under government-imposed restrictions; and they are OK with that - but they are still interested in exploring new opportunities.
 
What you, the Seller, need to do in your Business-For-Sale listing is to be enthusiastic and to emphasize the good and successful and profitable parts of your business as it ran before the Crisis, and to describe how well it will operate again once the government-imposed restrictions are lifted.
 
The descriptions that you use in your ad should "sell" your business.  Attractive businesses say things like: "This established business has been running for 5 years and will continue to increase in its income/profit once this Crisis has passed."
 
Think of the Buyer when you write your listing.  What would he/she want to know?  What would motivate a Buyer to contact you and to want to investigate your business further?  Write your ad from the Buyer's standpoint!  She's not buying just a list of your "used" equipment - she's buying an opportunity to make a lot of money for herself, and to feel good about the services/products that she's providing to the community, and to be proud of what she's doing.
 
You want to fulfill those desires with your ad descriptions !!!
 
 
2. What's it Worth ?   What's it Worth

The biggest problem that Sellers have in preparing to sell their business, is trying to set their asking price.  This is doubly difficult right now because some businesses are still closed or they are operating under reduced capacity or are only partially functioning (like: take-out only, no seated dining or reduced seating capacity).
 
In this case, the Seller has to refer to their previous (pre COVID-19) sales/income/profit figures.  Present those to the potential Buyer and describe how the business will flourish again once the restrictions are lifted and operations can return to normal.  Of course, you don't need to actually state financial figures in the Listing - you can use a more generalized statement, like: "This business has supported my spouse and 3 children over the previous 6 years of its operation."
 
You should also mention any Government Relief programs that you have signed up for; and the current employees that are being financially supported even while they are not fully productive.  Experienced, trained employees will be especially important in the post-pandemic times.
 
When setting your Asking Price, you should consider your ongoing operating costs and losses; and that the Buyer will be taking over these costs from you for an undetermined length of time before she even starts to make a profit.  It's not a pretty fact, but it's today's reality.
 
 
3. Why Should Someone Buy THIS Business ?   Buy THIS Business

Ask yourself the question: "Why would I want to buy this business?"; then put your answers into the listing descriptions.
 

Enter your own FOR-SALE Listing - Now

To enter a NEW Canadian "Business-for-Sale" Listing, you can start at: www.BusinessSellCanada.com/sale/selnew.htm
-or- if your Listing has already been entered on the site, then you can start to edit it at: www.BusinessSellCanada.com/sale/selserv.htm
 
There are lists and descriptive paragraphs for: "Included", "Excluded" and "Optional/Extra".  There are paragraphs for "Features", "Financial"" and "Market/Competition".  A good and effective Listing says something appropriate in each of these text entry locations.
 
........ All the best with the sale of your business ........

This Article is copyright © 2020 by Mike Merritt
Business Sell Canada (https://www.BusinessSellCanada.com)

DISCLAIMER: I am not a licensed business broker so I cannot legally give you advice on your sale.  What's written above is based on my personal experiences ... which you're welcome to consider in preparing for the sale of your business - but you should not take it as professional or legal advice.

 
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