Niche Exit Planning Tactics

Selling a Wedding Candles Business

Owning a wedding candles business hasn't always been a bed of roses, but it's been worth the effort. Now the trick is to convince cautious buyers that your operation is worth the asking price.

You won't find any magic formulas for selling a wedding candles business, especially while the market is struggling to overcome the perceptions created by a down economy.

To sell a wedding candles business now, you need to apply the right combination of preparation, strategy and common sense.

Sweetening the Deal

Today's wedding candles business buyers expect sellers to offer concessions to persuade them to close the deal. Concessions can consist of non-cash as well as cash incentives. When you've reached your limit on price, consider offering non-cash concessions to encourage a commitment from the buyer. In the current economy, seller financing is becoming common in wedding candles business sales. If the prospect is inexperienced or lacks credentials in the industry, you can also offer to stay with the business for a specified period of time to help the new owner get on his feet and introduce him to your network of industry contacts.

Sale Documents

We run into a lot of wedding candles business sellers who intend to wait until the final contract to negotiate details. Big mistake. With few exceptions, sale structure is hammered out early, in the Letter of Intent . If you are seeking buyer concessions, the time to address them is before the Letter of Intent is drafted. So after consulting with your broker and attorney, make sure you're comfortable with the terms of the Letter of Intent. If not, everything you do to close the sale of your wedding candles business may be a waste of time.

Laying the Groundwork

Effective wedding candles business preparation focuses on communicating value to prospective buyers. Professional business brokers understand buyers and know how to properly communicate a wedding candles business to the marketplace. Specifically, brokers can advise you about the preparation of financial statements and other documents buyers expect to see in a premium wedding candles business opportunity.

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