How long does it take to sell a business?

22/02/2007 by info.

If you were selling a car, 2 weeks is a long time, sell a house and 6 weeks is a long time.  So how long does it take for you to sell you business? 

As the number people looking to buy a business is considerably lower than the number looking to buy a house or car a reasonable time is considerably longer than 6 weeks to find a buyer. 

Of course you could be timing it perfectly, and the person who will your business might be looking now so you could have a sale agreed in a week.  But often it can take 6 months or longer to find a buyer, so don’t blame your agent if it isn’t sold in that time. 

What you need to be concerned about is firstly the number of enquiries you are receiving and secondly why the enquirers don’t want to take the purchase further.

If you are not getting anyone interested then perhaps the price you are marketing your business is too high, and either you have too high expectations or your agent doesn’t know the market as well as they suggest.

If you are getting enquires but they simply are not interested after looking at your business you need to decide where the process it falling down.  Do the sales details sell your business?  Are there other reasons why they are not interested, do the premises or accommodation look a mess?  Are you negative about your business when you talk to prospects?

Perhaps you just need to take a closer look at your business.  It’s often not as desirable to other people as you think it is.

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