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Locate Prospects
You need to be as targeted as is reasonably possible. You can sell your business only once. The goal is not to find lots of prospects but to find one buyer. It usually does more harm than good to collect a lot of low quality prospects. Concentrate on no more than five prospects at a time.
If anyone has approached you, or if you have good reason to believe that someone would be interested in your business, contact him or her first.
Next, approach those who are in the same or a related business. This can include competitors, employees, competitor's employees, members of trade or professional associations, and businesses in your industry but in a different geographic area.
This is not to say that you should not try to get as many prospects as you can. You will find that the vast majority of the prospects you approach are not interested, of those that are interested, the vast majority will not be qualified, of those that are qualified many will decide that your business is not a good fit for them. It is your job to efficiently winnow down the field of prospects to those who may consummate a transaction. You may contact 1,000 people to get 5 serious prospects.
To begin the process, prepare a one page summary of the business (you can do so for free on our website Business Seller Toolbox) or write a short letter with highlights of your business. Once a prospect has expressed interest, have them sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (or NDA) which can be purchased at low cost before revealing proprietary information. A non-disclsure agreement not only protects you from having everything you tell a prospective buyer shared widely, it also helps you avoid wasting time by placing a soft barrier in the way of a buyer who is not serious.