Each year hundreds of companies to be closed, while only a few survive the first three years of life and a minimal amount exceeds 5 years in the market. There is no magic formula that guarantees success in business, however, there are certain points where experts from business and successful entrepreneurs, agree as key to a venture succeed in becoming a profitable and sustainable business.
Have an exit strategy so you can sell your business at some point in the future ?. The vast majority of small business owners when they no longer want to do business, simply close the door and say goodbye, without actually selling your business, due to internal things, because your business is unattractive to potential buyers.
However there are some tips that may be useful to give some value to our business and that in the future, when we decide to stop sales activities, we can sell and make a profit.
1. Your company needs a “standard offer service”: this offer must be taught and repeated by the employees, so that the owner / founder is not the only one who knows the mechanics of the business. Otherwise, the owner is at the center of everything, all the time, and when you decide to sell, will be unattractive because buyers want not only material goods, but the knowledge to manage the business to be acquired. It is necessary to document processes in a thoughtful manual.
2. Need to hire vendors: In most small businesses, the owner is the sales team. However, this removes interest to buyers who see the lack of workers as a sign of low profitability. At least you should have two vendors, which will make the business more attractive to potential buyers.
3. Modify the differentiating business value: Once you figure out your differentiated value, you must encode it in your standard service offering. This could even be part of your “trade secrets” that affect your profitability. This is an added value that can enhance business value and increase the profit margin on the sale. Even these trade secrets could be sold separately, opening a new business opportunity.
There are different ways to grow a business, but it is very important to have defined growth strategy. Are you going to open new stores, or maybe will sell franchises, do acquisitions, will create alliances, etc.? It is important to determine these, so your growth will be sustainable and planned.
