Businesses & Websites

  Selling a business, whether bricks & mortar, or virtual (online) is not as straight-forward as you might think.  This is especially so if you are looking to get the best possible price. Typically, if the business was established in a more traditional, formal, and structured manner, it will be more attractive to potential purchasers than one which is run more casually or all built around one key individual.

The best time to implement these more traditional structures and procedures is when the business is initially established.  However, you can always do this and make adjustments and modify=ications along the way as the business develops and grows.  Just know that beginning the way you want to run your business and spending time on this area at the start will often pay huge dividends down the road.

A key issue with many internet businesses is that they are often quite personal or built around an individual.  Usually what this means is that the site owner has developed a business around their experiences, knowledge, likes, and dislikes.  Often their personal traits will be reflected throughout the website.  Being completely candid, I too have been guilty myself of developing my own sites from my own experiences.  This is reflected heavily in the website content that I’ve created or used.

While having a personal website may be initially good for you financially, it could be a bit problematic if you ever decide to sell your business.  Sometimes major site revamps are done to make it less individualized around the initial owner or developer.  If you go this route be aware that a worse case scenario is that results may be negatively impacted thus affecting the sales of the business.

It’s probably best to set up an online business in a more traditional corporate manner.  While we don’t provide legal advice and recommend you seek your own counsel for this, what we mean is that the websites give the impression of it being a company and loses the super personal touch.  However, I’m not sure my sites would have been as successful had I done this from the start.  I believe that many people have purchased from me in the past because they can relate to the situations that I found myself in as they are going through a similar circumstances.  Had my sites been a representation of a faceless corporation, then maybe my customers would never have become customers at all.  Who knows?

Some tips on keeping your business for the short term and selling it are:

• Keep proper financial records
• Open a separate business bank account
• Submit tax returns on time
• Learn about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and stay ahead of competition
• Talk with a broker and implement a plan to maximize your future selling potential
• Don’’t get too attached to your business (otherwise letting it go could be difficult)

How You Sell Your Business and Price