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Selling a Live Theater Business

You've learned a lot during your tenure as a live theater business owner. Now the trick is to convince cautious buyers that your operation is worth the asking price.

Business sellers sometimes face a long, hard struggle to get fair market value for their companies. But with the adequate preparation, your live theater business can attract buyers who recognize its potential.

The business-for-sale market is extremely dynamic. So if you're waiting for the perfect market conditions to sell your live theater business, you could be waiting a while. If your business is ready to be sold, the time to sell is now. To improve sale outcomes, you will simply need to tailor your live theater business to today's buyers.

Leveraging Seller Concessions

Seller concessions are becoming more commonplace in business-for-sale transactions. The most common seller concession is seller financing. Capital is scarce, causing new entrepreneurs to rely on sellers to finance at least part of the purchase price. If you are unwilling or unable to offer financing, be prepared to offer other types of concessions to close the deal.

Average Timeframes

It's rarely possible to sell a live theater business in a month or two. Although asking price and other factors contribute to sale time, it's difficult to predict how long your business will be on the market before you locate the right buyer. Before you can list your live theater business, you'll need to invest as much as a year in preparing it for prospective buyers. In a good market, an attractive live theater business can sell in as little as a few months, although it can take more than a year to find the right buyer after the business is listed.

Tips for Working with A Business Broker

Brokerage is a mainstay of the business-for-sale marketplace. Brokerage is particularly common in the live theater business-for-sale market, where aggressive selling strategies are the norm. However, your broker will still expect you to materially participate in the sale of your business. Successfully brokered sales are based on solid relationships between brokers and sellers as well as the strict execution of a common selling strategy.

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