To diversify or not to diversify, that is the question. You'll find out why it is important to diversify what you sell in today's podcast.
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Discover conversion funnels and how they can help you focus your digital marketing efforts and increase sales for your business.
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About the Author:
Marla DiCarlo is an accomplished business consultant with more than 28 years of professional accounting experience. As co-owner and CEO of Raincatcher, she helps business owners learn how to sell a business so they can get paid the maximum value for their company.
Business owners intent on selling their company can do several things to increase its value. Though it is difficult to let go of something you have worked so hard to build or acquire, selling your business will feel like a major victory if you get top dollar. Invest some time and effort into implementing some of the improvements detailed below to maximize your company's value and sell with confidence!
The 7 Most Important Things To Do to Sell Your Business for the Maximum Sale Price
7) Establish a Growth Plan
Savvy business professionals are focused on growth rather than present-day profitability. If your business does not have a growth plan, you will not fetch top dollar upon selling. Invest the time, effort, and money necessary to create a growth plan with merit and you really will spike interest in your enterprise. To put a growth plan in place download this great free marketing plan template that has already been downloaded by over 1,500 business owners.
Make sure to establish a growth plan.
6) Shake Hands and Open Your Doors
It is a mistake to assume you can maximize the sale price of your business by interacting with prospective buyers online and over the phone. Put yourself in the position of those interested in buying your company. Interested buyers will feel much more confident in bidding on the business if they can meet with you face-to-face. Provide interested parties with the opportunity to view your business in action. Otherwise, it will appear as though you have something to hide.
5) Cut Unnecessary Costs
If your business has unnecessary costs, cut them before putting the company up for sale. It will also help to pare back costs that cannot be completely eliminated. Cut and pare back such costs and your business will be that much more efficient. Reduced costs and increased profitability will also show prospective buyers your business is on the upswing.
4) Have a Backup Plan in Case Key Employees Leave
If an executive, manager, or other leader exits the company when you are fielding offers, bidders might get cold feet and back out. You need a backup plan for all essential staff members. If anyone on your team is indispensable, take some time to pick out a replacement ahead of time or even discreetly train a potential replacement just in case your valued employee leaves before the sale is finalized.
3) Settle Liens and Lawsuits
No one wants to buy a business plagued by liens or lawsuits. If you are held up in these types of legal quagmires, find a resolution before putting your business up for sale. Though fast-tracking these legal matters might result in unfavourable outcomes, putting such matters behind you ensures you can sell your business without liens and lawsuits hanging overhead.
No one wants to buy a business plagued by liens or lawsuits.
2) Do Not Tell Employees the Business is Up For Sale
The moment you let your workforce know you are putting your business up for sale is the moment they start looking for new jobs. If employees leave before the business is sold, it will become less attractive to potential buyers. Though it certainly makes sense to give your most valued and loyal employees forewarning of the sale after you accept an offer, it is a mistake to let the cat out of the bag before this offer is in place. If you decide to tell a couple high-ranking employees about the sale, make sure they understand this information should not be shared with anyone else.
1) Focus on Profitability, Not Debt
Those interested in buying your business are more concerned with its profitability than its debt. No one wants to purchase an enterprise that struggles to turn a profit. If your product or service profit margins are slim, do everything you can to maximize these margins prior to putting the business up for sale. The bottom line is, business value is centred on profit rather than financial obligations.
Timing is everything when it comes to setting the stage for the sale of a business. If you find a way to boost sales and profit margins in the weeks, months or days ahead of fielding offers for your business, it will likely raise some red flags. Do not be surprised if interested buyers look back at the business's financial history and question the sudden change. The moral of this story is to be careful about the timing of the attempts to hike profits. Try to spearhead this project well ahead of the point in time at which you plan on selling your business.
Finish Strong and You Will Reap the Rewards!
You have certainly worked hard to build or operate your business. Do not let those years of hard work go to waste by coasting to the finish line. Follow the tips detailed above, present your business in the best possible light and the offers might surpass your expectations!
You can also download the Ultimate SEO Checklist from Profitworks by clicking below!
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Profitworks is proud to present the following guest post. Contact us today for all your SEO needs.
Author Bio: Ashley Coblentz is a lifestyle blogger currently writing for Synccentric and political journalist. After graduating from college, she worked as a Registered Nurse at one of the largest hospitals in South Dakota until deciding to be a full-time mom. She remains very passionate about the nursing profession and often volunteers in her extra time to teach community education classes on first aid and other related topics. She has one amazing child who keeps her on her toes. Who knew 10-year-olds could have so many questions? If you want to keep up with her and see what she’s writing next you can find her on Twitter or check out her portfolio for other fun reads.
Selling products on Amazon isn’t always an easy feat, but it's a worthwhile pursuit. There’s a lot to learn and even if you’ve been in the game for a while now you’re probably still wondering if you’re doing everything correctly.
Even with all the forums and Amazon tips that are offered to Amazon sellers you can still be left with questioning if you’re really doing the best you possibly can.
Are your items bringing in the best profit? Should you be using an FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) calculator instead of trying to figure out fees in your head? These are both things sellers can wonder about from time to time. It’s important to get those questions answered in a clear, concise way that doesn’t leave you more confused than you were to start!
If you’re trying to decide if your listing is doing as well as it possibly can, you aren’t alone. This article will help you learn five easy tricks you can use to help you sell products on Amazon.
Amazon isn't just for books anymore!
5 Easy Tips And Tricks To Help You Sell Products On Amazon
1. Use An FBA Fee And Profit Calculator Early And Often
Figuring out how much something costs to list with Fulfillment By Amazon is nearly impossible to do without help. There are a lot of various things that go into the cost of an FBA fee and it’s too important for you to guess at. With an FBA calculator, you’ll get exact numbers, and that’s crucial.
FBA calculators also give you the chance to see pricing suggestions. They’ll be right in the spot that makes sure you aren’t losing money on fees, but are still within market range. You’ll want to double-check any suggestions they made as fads can change quickly on Amazon but the pricing advice is always helpful.
If you’ve been blowing off using an FBA calculator before now, it’s time to stop. They truly are a useful tool and any successful Amazon seller will tell you the same.
Source: https://services.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon/benefits.htm
This handy tool can help grow your business using Amazon.
2. Use A Keyword Tracking Tool
Make sure you’re using the keyword tool to figure out the best way to title your listing. AMZ Tracker and other keyword tools can do that for you.
Sometimes what a customer searches for isn’t exactly what you might want to use as a listing title. Using a keyword tool will help you adjust your title to make it easy to find for everyone.
With the right keywords, your listing titles will be clear, concise, and easily searchable, which is a big deal when you’re trying to be the best seller you can possibly be.
3. Handle Negative Reviews With Ease
Everyone is bound to get a negative review or two, it’s just the nature of working with customers. How you handle that review is what really matters. If you reach out quickly and with workable solutions, your customer is more likely to change the review after everything has been resolved. Amazon customers have 60 days to change their review after they post it so reaching out in a timely manner is important.
Sometimes people use another name than the one you shipped the item to when they leave a review. Using a review tracking tool can help solve this problem. These tools help you match a review to the correct order number so you’re reaching out to the right person.
Remember to reach out and offer solutions instead of just demanding a better review. If you do fix the issue the customer was having you can always request a review update after everything has been handled. Your customer doesn’t have to update their review at all but they’re much more likely to do so if everything has been handled professionally.
The way you react to online reviews doesn't go unnoticed.
4. Yes, Customer Service Does Still Matter
Don’t let being behind a screen fool you into a false sense of security here. These people are still your customers and they should be treated just as well as if they were to walk into a brick and mortar store. This starts from the moment they click on your listing through the last transaction they make.
You can send thank-you notes if you’d like, you can follow up to see how things are going, or you can say nothing at all and risk the poor review. The thing is if you have customers who are unsatisfied but don’t leave a review you have no way to work with them to make things better. Following up to ask for honest reviews as well as making sure everything is OK is a great idea.
5. Watch Your Competition
There will always be someone doing a little better than you on Amazon and that’s not a bad thing. You don’t have to discount someone else’s success just because they edged you out a few times. You can use their listings to gain information about how to fix your own listings instead.
Look at what keywords they’ve decided to use. Scan their reviews to see what customers are loving (or hating) about their product. If there’s a consistent problem customers are mentioning in their reviews, see if your product fixes those issues. You don’t have to call out the competition but you can point out what your product does that others do not in your product description.
Check out their pricing strategy and make sure yours is as effective as theirs. You can make edits to your listing based on the good things your competition is doing. You don’t have to clone their listing word for word (and you shouldn’t) but you can still adjust things on your listing if your competition is doing something a little better right now. Amazon competition is fierce so use any chance you can to learn from your competition and make your listings as great as possible.
Start Selling Products On Amazon!
The Amazon marketplace is vast and full of other sellers, but that doesn’t mean your product is doomed to fail. If you use the right resources and tips you definitely have a chance to do really well as an Amazon seller. We hope this guest article has been helpful towards that end!
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The focus of our services is on increasing domain authority and sales and providing a positive return on investment.
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Can You Double Your Sales By Implementing The 10 Things Top Sales Performers Do? - From Rain Today
I love football. When I first started learning about football about 10 years ago I was, and still am fascinated by the best coaches in the history of the game. This drove me to research what the best of the best coaches did. Just this morning I actually watched a clip of one of the best coaches ever in super bowl X. When I conducted me research of what made the very best football coaches the best, I found it was something VERY different from what I thought. It was something not every coach did. I guess that is what made them the best. The same holds true when I researched what top sales performers do. It is something I did not expect. Read this article to learn exactly what it is.
