Creating a killer advert
Where you advertise and how you do it is the only thing standing in the way of talking to potential buyers about your business or not.
You can’t sell a secret, so the first and most important tip of all is to make sure you really are for sale by advertising as widely as you can. Ensure your advert is on all of the major business for sale websites. You don’t want to miss out on a serious buyer simply because that buyer prefers to use a website that you’re not currently on. Here are the major ones worth covering, plus our site and Facebook:
Now you might be thinking it is expensive to advertise on all of those sites, and you’re right. But it’s important to ask yourself, is it more costly to miss out on serious buyers and risk not selling your business for another couple of years, or potentially ever?
You probably invested a good amount of money into your business to get it started, probably a good chunk more over the years running it, don’t get suckered into thinking it can be sold for free. While there is the odd story of a buyer walking in with the cash, it takes some investment to get the job done for the absolute majority.
Contact us today if you’d like some assistance with gaining access to the major business for sale sites.
Once you know where to advertise, you need a great ad so that you stand out from the crowd. Here are a few Bonza tips to building your ad so that it converts a web visitor into an enquirer:
1) Use keywords that business seekers will use to search for your business. Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and do a few searches, see what businesses show and where you’d like yours to appear.
2) Be specific, factual and relevant – You don’t want too much text as you’ll put people off from reading it. Keep it short and punchy; you just need them to enquire.
3) Use alternate ad titles when you repost ads. Keep the ad looking fresh to those that are revisiting.
4) Target the motivation of business seekers in your ad summary, i.e. “be your own boss”, “escape the employed life”, etc.
5) Comment about lifestyle, income and support. Give the enquirer an idea of what it will be like to run your business.
6) Ensure your ads are in the correct industries to ensure the right people see them.
Selling your business is not a simple process. In fact, it’s safe to say the easiest part is getting the enquiries. It’s the next stage where most business sales fail.
Once a buyer makes an enquiry, you need to make sure you have:
1) The right price for your business – If you’re priced too low, you will undersell, and if you are priced too high most buyers will not make further contact, and you’ll lose serious buyers (why not book a free appraisal with a Bonza Sales Expert? You can do so by clicking here).
2) The correct representation – Your documents need to be in order and in one clean, easy to read place. What is given to your buyers makes a world of difference in moving them closer to making an offer. For more information on how to professionally represent your business to buyers – click here.
3) You’re ready to support – Most of your buyers will be buying for the first time and need all of the support and assistance they can get to move forward on your business confidently. Here’s some solid advice on how you, the business owner, can assist with this – click here.
For more advice don’t hesitate to call us on 1300 266 922
