Let’s face it. St Cloud, Minnesota is a small town of 65,000 people. It is a great place to live and does have the advantage of being in the Minneapolis-St Paul metro area. This college town has the cultural amenities not found in other small towns and can be attractive to a buyer. The challenge, then, is to market your business outside of St Cloud and reach a wider audience of buyers seeking to relocate. Here are three reasons why business brokers are preferable over an owner sales process.
1. The Owner Can Advertise on Craigslist
This is the age of the Internet. Craigslist is a popular, free classified advertising source. The problem is too many unqualified buyers clogging your email box. You would be spending hours and hours of useless correspondence with no hope of gaining a sale. Business brokers understand the need to advertise a business through highly respected websites with built in safeguards to protect the buyer from useless inquiries.
2. The Owner Can Provide Financial Information
Yes, the owner can provide financial information but it may not be in a format that is accepted by buyers. The owner may be drawing a salary, taking tax deductions on health insurance and other expenses that do not accurately show “adjusted net income.” The buyer wants to see profits and will pass if the financials are not clearly understandable. You can prepare a proper document with the help of business brokers. St Cloud MN professionals are available to provide assistance.
3. The Owner Can Negotiate the Deal
Often, owners do not want to offer self-financing, preferring a quick cash sale. Consider that in 2011, 93% of all business sales offer financing. Banks are wary of small business loans and government sources are difficult for the buyer to qualify. Your expert can help you prescreen the buyer, assess the credit risk, structure the loan to benefit the owner and buyer alike. The goal is to ensure that the buyer can service the note and achieve a decent income. This will lower the risk of a default on the loan.
Let’s face it. You are trying to sell a business in a small town. Without proper advice, you will likely make mistakes that will cost you money and lengthy litigation. You need to reach the buyers quickly and offer properly prepared packages of information that will encourage the buyer to make an offer. Seek counsel from a business broker.
The business brokers at Sunbelt Midwest have the resources to ensure a quick, stress free sales process with proper advice on how to solve the roadblocks that will inevitably occur. The commission is minuscule compared with the dangers you are facing when you sell the one asset you own that has value. Visit website and speak to a selling expert.
