When it comes to selling a business, the majority of sales fail. Deals can collapse for various reasons – an ineffective broker, issues with the deal structure, a subjective valuation, too much risk in inheriting the business, or a lack of time preparing on the seller’s part, to name just a few.
In order to successfully sell a business, and for that business to actually be saleable in the first place, it needs to be ran effectively – and more importantly, be able to do so without the input of the owner. Why? Long story short, if a business is dependent on its owner, a buyer needs to factor in the cost of replacing the owner with another employee to do their job – which reduces the profitability of the business.
What many business owners with ambitions of selling their business also fail to realise is that it can take up to five years to prepare a business to be saleable – it’s not a decision to be made in the spur of the moment and then look to be rid of the business within a matter of months.
Early preparation is key, and preparation should be made in all areas, looking at factors like reducing your overheads, improving your cashflow and profit margins, improving your customer retention and more.
So, where does marketing come in to all this?
There are numerous advantages to investing in and developing your marketing strategy when preparing your business for an exit. The below are just some examples:
Lead generation and company growth
As mentioned, a company needs to be profitable and demonstrate growth to be an attractive, saleable asset. A key part of this is demonstrating customer acquisition – of which marketing can play a key role. Investing in marketing strategies like SEO (search engine optimisation) and paid ads can help to drive a steady stream of leads to your website for your team to then convert to boost your growth and profitability.
This can be extremely advantageous if, as a business owner, you’re currently responsible for bringing in most of your leads. If this is the case, this needs to change before exit – else how can any buyer be assured that the business will still gain new customers when you’re gone? By demonstrating that a steady number of leads are being achieved through marketing – whether this is conducted in house, with a clear process for doing so documented, or outsourced to an agency that can continue working for the business alongside the new owner – without any involvement of your own, you have clear evidence that your business isn’t reliant on you for its leads. What’s more, if the number of leads received through marketing is increasing, this data can then be used to demonstrate the opportunity for future growth too.
Market/customer insights
Marketing and the use of accompanying tools, such as Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, Facebook Insights and more can provide valuable insights into your target customer base, allowing you to drill down into the demographics that engage with and are most profitable for your business. Having this data to show to potential buyers can help to add further value to your business.
Brand identity and visibility
Investing in marketing can also grow your brand identity and visibility. A well-known, positively received business with a clear, cohesive brand will be more attractive to buyers than a business with a brand that’s all over the place with no sense of identity or recognition.
These are just some of the ways marketing can aid a business owner in getting exit ready. If you need help with putting together a marketing strategy to grow your business, we’d love to speak with you – get in touch with us at Engage Web today.
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