How to Sell a Niche Market Business
Selling an Educational Services Business
Despite the pessimistic mood of many sellers, your educational services business can be a high value acquisition target for ambitious entrepreneurs -- even in today's tough economy.
You need to get a good price for your educational services business. To get there, you'll need to set realistic expectations and follow a deliberate selling strategy.
Despite the overall mood of the marketplace, educational services businesses are still an attractive investment, especially when sellers have invested time and energy in preparing their companies for a sale.
Turning the Tables: Buyer Concessions
In a tight economy, seller concessions are the name of the game. But that doesn't mean you can't push for buyer concessions to achieve a more favorable outcome in the sale of your educational services business. For example, if the buyer needs seller financing, you can leverage a five-year loan to push for a higher sales price. Although you won't see all of the proceeds upfront, you'll earn interest on the balance and realize a higher price than you would in an all cash deal. Like seller concessions, buyer concessions should be addressed during negotiations, before the preparation of a Letter of Intent.
Finding Prospects
Many sellers don't realize how many prospective buyers there are for their businesses. We frequently see qualified buyers emerge from the seller's network of business and personal acquaintances. In other cases, sellers take a proactive approach to finding likely buyers and contacting them directly. If you aren't generating interest in the general marketplace, consider approaching companies that sell complementary products or are closely situated in your supply chain.
Should I Hire a Business Broker?
When selling an educational services business, you have two choices: Hire a broker to facilitate the sale or perform the sale unassisted. Is there a cost associated with hiring a broker? Sure - about 10% of the final sale prices. But a good broker will make selling your educational services business much less painful. A highly skilled broker can compensate for his commission by selling your business for a significantly higher price than you could achieve on your own. But whether you use a broker or not, you may want to list your educational services business on BizBuySell.com and other popular online business-for-sale listing sites.
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