Advice on Niche Market Exit Planning

Selling a Toilet Seats Retail Business

For the right sellers, the business-for-sale marketplace is a friendly environment for toilet seats retail business opportunities. There aren't any guarantees, but if you adhere to fundamental business sale concepts, you can likely get a good price for your business.

The buzz in the marketplace is that now isn't the right time to sell a toilet seats retail business. Consequently, sellers are holding their businesses off the market until they are sure the market will sustain their asking prices.

There is no simple way to sell a business. But the most prepared toilet seats retail business sellers are achieving fair market value and more for their companies through persistence and the application of sound selling techniques.

Negotiation 101

It's critical to negotiate from a position of strength. In a toilet seats retail business sale, knowledge is power -- the more you know about your business and prospective buyers, the easier it is to sway negotiations in your favor. But great negotiation begins with knowing yourself. What is the realistic price range for your toilet seats retail business? What is the minimum amount you're willing to settle on? Are you willing to offer seller financing or other concessions to close the deal? If you can't answer these questions, you're simply not ready to sit down at the negotiation table yet. If you aren't sure what you need, put negotiations on hold until you gain a clearer understanding of your own deal parameters.

Sale Documents

A basic understanding of legal requirements is foundational for a successful business sale. Despite the confusion that exists among many sellers, the essentials of the sale are described in the Letter of Intent, a seminal document that is created prior to due diligence . The price described in the Letter of Intent may fluctuate based on information that is revealed during due diligence, but the inclusion of new requirements in the final contract could be a deal killer. For sellers, that makes a close review of the Letter of Intent more than a formality - it's a critical juncture on the path to closing.

Sale Preparation Timeframes

Preparing a toilet seats retail business sale takes time. For starters, the financials need to demonstrate a track record of profitability and growth. Next, the business will need to be documented in professional financial statements and manuals that facilitate the ownership transition. Since all of this takes time and effort, a toilet seats retail business can rarely be ready for the marketplace in less than six months. A more likely scenario is that it will take more than a year to create the conditions necessary to receive the maximum sale price.

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