Leaving Your “Groundhog Day”, Business Sale Behind

Have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray? Where his character gets stuck repeating the same monotonous day over and over again? “I wake up every day, right here in Punxsutawney, and it is always February 2^nd, and there is nothing I can do about it.” Poor guy, right? You may be asking yourself how this movie relates to business sales, and where I am going with this. Well, if you really think about it, there is something to be learned from the movie’s ridiculous story line. We can all relate to the feeling of repetition. At some point in our lives we have longed for life to move forward, and felt that nothing we were doing was actually making a difference.

One of the biggest areas we experience this time loop is in our careers. As a business owner, you have probably spent your career building your business, growing it and making it successful. Now that you have finally made the decision that it is time to sell your business, you are probably looking forward to what new opportunities the future will bring once you do. Unfortunately, it’s been months, maybe even years, and you have been unable to make the actual sale. You may have met with several prospective buyers who claim to have an interest in your business; spent a considerable amount of time showing your business to them, answering their questions, meeting with them, only to discover that the great majority of these so-called buyers lack either the money or common sense to even purchase the business. Showing your business has probably lost its excitement and become repetitive; you may start to question if the effort is even worth giving if it is not really making a difference in the outcome.

A major challenge faced by business owners who are independently selling their business is the time spent showing their business to prospective buyers. Most specifically buyers who claim to have an interest and money to make a purchase, but who are actually not qualified.  These types of buyers waste so much of a seller’s valuable time, and can compromise the selling effort by violating the non-disclosure rules. It is important that a seller avoid working with unqualified buyers because they never actually lead to a sale. However it may be very difficult for a business owner to identify the time-wasters and unqualified buyers from the serious and qualified buyers. A professional business broker has expertise in not only identifying qualified buyers, but also the right buyer for your business. Consulting with a broker can save you not only a considerable amount of time and aggravation, but also bring an end to your Groundhog Day sale.  For more information on how a business broker can help you, contact one of the professional business brokers by calling 1-800-BIZ-BROKER or by visiting www.1800bizbroker.com.