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Can I Sell My Online Business Myself?

Posted by Richard Whitson in Articles
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There are many different options available to you when deciding to sell your small online business. Some of the most important and easily available include selling through a third party advisor such as a website broker or selling the business yourself.

Going It On Your Own

Thousands of sellers and buyers choose to work directly with an experienced business broker to ensure that they have considered all aspects of listing the company for sale and minimize the potential challenges. Listing a company for sale privately on your own can add a great deal of stress or even tasks to your to do list.

Many people are under the impression that they just need to gather some basic information about their website and then list it on a popular marketplace online. This concept of build and they will come, however, is not accurate because it requires a lot of work to list an online company for sale. Private sellers and buyers tend to prefer the services of a website broker because a broker has expertise about the entire process of selling a business, and can help to connect to a broad network of professional buyers.

Making it Simple with a Broker 

For a broker, the compounding impact of 15 or 20 inquiries for each listing can add up over time. Working directly with a business broker means that you get to build on the trust that has already been established by a knowledgeable broker like those at Website Closers. It takes a long time to build up trust with a buyer, and many people who enquire on a listing could take well over a year to determine which of the online businesses for sale is right for them. If you’re in the process of selling businesses regularly, like a business broker, this can be economically viable.

But for private sellers who are looking for quick results, you might end up more frustrated than you expected. Selling your business to a strategic buyer or a competitor is another option that would still allow you to sell the company on your own. However, these deals tend to fall through all the time, and not having the proper preparation and work at the outset of this arrangement can prove problematic for truly selling the company.

Since the entire process of selling your online business can take well over a year and still might not lead to a strategic buyer, this is one reason why you might choose to sell your business with the help of a broker.

Another option available to you to sell your business yourself is to sell to an employee. However, it is very rare for employees in your company to have the cash themselves, so turning to the option to raise capital could be their only option. This can take significant time and if the owners is not willing to finance the deal on their own, then this can rarely amount to anything. You could also step away from the business entirely and ask for an internal employee to step up to the role of CEO.

Plenty of people decide to sell their businesses due to other commitments and lack of time, so this is an option that could work for you but is not necessarily guaranteed. Schedule a consultation with our experienced business brokers to discuss your next steps in listing your online business for sale to maximize your chances of success.

 

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