In some cases, people sell to a buyer they aren’t keen on. Luckily these are rare and tend to be for one of two reasons: there is no other buyer on the horizon and time restraints means the offer must be accepted; or the money is too good to refuse.
The sale of a business is as much emotional as it is transactional. For most owners, no matter how successful the business has been, it has been a labour of love, and to pass that on to another person requires an element of trust. This is at conflict with the feeling that the seller must accept whichever buyer shows interest, regardless of personal feelings.
This doesn’t have to be the case. One of the biggest myths is that the seller must accept what the buyer offers regardless. What most sellers don’t realise is with planning and an understanding of the market, they can seek out the type of buyer that suits the business and create an opportunity that will attract the right buyer at the right time. Part of this is based in understanding the business, how it is valued and how the model may appeal to certain types of buyers over others.
If the current business structure and valuation mean that a seller may end up with a type of buyer that they wouldn’t want to sell to, then there are steps that can be taken prior to sale to mitigate that.
This is not to say that there are ‘good’ buyers or ‘bad’ buyers.
The dream transaction may mean a buyer that will have a role for the seller in the business going forward, or alternatively the dream may be to hand over the keys and skip into the sunset.
Regardless, it is achievable with enough planning and foresight. This means understanding why the business would work for some buyers and not for others, and making changes prior to sale to attract the type of buyer that is preferred. It means keeping an eye on the market and how it changes and adjusting the business accordingly as the seller approaches exit. This allows the seller to maximise the value as they are attracting the best-placed buyer to purchase at the right time.
