Optimizing Business Exits

Selling a Recreational Trips and Guides Business

Most businesses are susceptible to economic conditions and recreational trips and guides businesses are no exception. But in some cases, a down economy can actually improve saleability. All it takes is a strategy to identify solid prospects and convert them to buyers.

Market timing is a perennial problem for business sellers.

Eventually, it will the time will come to exit your business. When that happens, your future plans will be dependent on your ability to receive the highest possible sale price for your recreational trips and guides business.

Average Timeframes

Hoping for a quick recreational trips and guides business sale? You may be disappointed. Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules about the length of time your business will be on the market. Pricing plays a role in sale length, but there are no guarantees that a fairly priced business will sell quickly. Before you can list your recreational trips and guides business, you'll need to invest as much as a year in preparing it for prospective buyers. Once your business is ready for the marketplace, it could take an additional six months to a year to locate the right buyer.

How to Skillfully Address Buyer Concerns

Business sellers sometimes struggle to maintain a positive attitude when dealing with buyers. The questions recreational trips and guides business ask during due diligence are designed to alleviate their concerns about the business and should be promptly addressed by the seller. Avoid answering buyer concerns with vague generalities. Instead, be as specific as possible, even if it means doing additional research before offering a response. If due diligence drags on too long, your broker may need to intervene.

Leveraging Industry Connections

There are a lot of different places to look for recreational trips and guides business buyers. To advertise your sale to the widest possible audience, consider a listing on BizBuySell.com or other top online business-for-sale listing sites. For more targeted lead generation, consider tapping into your network of industry contacts. When leveraging industry relationships for sales prospects, you'll need to be cognizant of the potential for competitors to use knowledge of your sale against you in the marketplace. Even though you can expand your prospect base by shouting it from the rooftops, it's probably wise to limit the release of information to the people you trust in the industry.

Share this article


Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs

Lists of Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms

Franchise Opportunities

Contributors

Business Glossary