potential

The most interest over the last weeks has been “When Is the Right Time to Sell?
The answer to that question moves amongst how-long-is-a-piece-of-string and who really knows. Nonetheless, there are a few prime clues that I will explore with you over the next number of posts…

In sale conversations, there is much talk about the “potential”.
“A new owner can do this, a new owner can do that, which will result is a windfall etc etc”, business owners say.

Question #1 from a buyer:
“If there is such opportunity, why hasn’t it been done already?”

Question #2 from a buyer:
“Why should I pay for the privilege of doing something that has yet to be done? Ie there’s no proof that it will in fact work…

The much-learned colleague of mine always says:
“What a buyer buys is profit, the reason they buy it is the potential.”

Not only do you need to sell your business as being robust from a “scorecard” point of view, you also need to show that there is still some life in the old dog.

This is demonstrated by talking about:

  • What you would have done, but haven’t? And why?
  • What you could have done? But haven’t? And why?
  • What are the trends in your industry? And what does that mean for your business?

If you want to be paid for potential, then start installing some of the initiatives you are prepared to highlight and show a measurable increase in the metrics and the financials. That way, it’s not just all-talk!

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