{"id":561408,"date":"2012-06-27T05:43:20","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T09:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vrbbd.wpengine.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/why-sellers-wont-sell\/"},"modified":"2022-01-31T12:44:15","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T17:44:15","slug":"why-sellers-wont-sell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/why-sellers-wont-sell\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Sellers Won’t Sell"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A recent survey asked leading business brokers and intermediaries: What is the seller\u2019s biggest obstacle to selling the business? In other words, why do business owners who are considering selling fail to follow through?<\/p>\n

Seller\u2019s Biggest Obstacle to Selling<\/strong><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

The answers to this question were revealing, fascinating and important for prospective sellers to understand and consider prior to placing their business on the market.<\/p>\n

The biggest reason was one that most people would guess\u2014price. Here are a few explanations that sellers offered concerning price:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Price\u2014net amount after tax proceeds<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Never enough dollar value in the deal, after taxes, lawyers, accountants, brokers<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Price justification<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Price versus offer<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They don\u2019t want to accept the market price of the business<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Price does not meet owner\u2019s retirement needs<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Understanding that valuation is based on historical cash flow rather than \u201cpotential\u201d cash flow<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Perception of value of their business in the marketplace based on reliance of an ill-informed source<\/p>\n

Price was the area most mentioned (by far) as the reason sellers don\u2019t sell or, not to mince words, why businesses don\u2019t sell. A professional business broker is aware of local market conditions, has comparable sales data available and is knowledgeable in pricing businesses.\u00a0 Keep in mind that the ultimate decision-maker in determining a selling price is the marketplace. If you are not willing to accept what the market is willing to pay, then you should reconsider your reasons for selling\u2014and read on.<\/p>\n

The Next Biggest Obstacle<\/strong><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Two obstacles other than price were mentioned more frequently than any others.\u00a0 One of these had to do with books and records\u2014or the lack of; and the other was a fairly new obstacle\u2014seller\u2019s remorse. You read that right: not buyer\u2019s remorse, but seller\u2019s.\u00a0 Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Money\/letting go<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Motivation<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Giving up business<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Price and emotional ties<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What are they going to do after selling?<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No more income stream<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Being ready to really let the baby go<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Motivation to actually sell when the offer comes<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Can\u2019t afford to retire<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pricing, indecisiveness (family\/friends advise)<\/p>\n

The point here is that sellers really shouldn\u2019t put their business on the market unless they are totally convinced that they want to sell. Check with your business advisors, family members, and most important of all, ask yourself if this is really what you want to do.<\/p>\n

Financial Information<\/strong><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Although inadequate books and records, etc., probably cause more difficulty than seller\u2019s remorse, this subject is far less emotional than whether you really want to sell your business.\u00a0 Although it deals with straightforward numbers rather than emotions, it still takes its toll. Too many sellers wait until they have made the decision to sell and are ready to put their business on the market before they realize that their books and records don\u2019t measure up to a buyer\u2019s expectations. Today\u2019s buyer wants to see everything in black and white; they are not willing to accept a seller\u2019s version of sales and profits. If you are even considering selling your business, now is the time to go to your financial advisor, accountant, or CPA and have your financial records put in order in such a way that the information can be verified and a buyer or his or her financial advisor can easily access them. Contact your business brokerage professional, who can advise you about what buyers are really looking for when examining a seller\u2019s business financial records.<\/p>\n

Needless to add, but worth adding anyway: proper record-keeping should be done on an ongoing basis rather than on the eve of the decision to sell.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent survey asked leading business brokers and intermediaries: What is the seller\u2019s biggest obstacle to selling the business? In other words, why do business owners who are considering selling fail to follow through? Seller\u2019s Biggest Obstacle to Selling The answers to this question were revealing, fascinating and important for prospective sellers to understand and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-561408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-selling-a-business"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561408\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrbusinessbrokers.com\/vrbbgreenbay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}