5 Signs It Is Time to Sell Your Ecommerce Business |
Posted: August 17, 2017 |
A website with an established audience, sponsors and advertisers may not be valued where you think it should be. Often, people are shocked when they get their site evaluated, assuming it will be a lot more. It’s best practice to just accept an evaluation because it’s coming from an expert with not emotional feelings or bias.
So, what are common signs that you need to sell? Signs can be in the form of, performance, growth or even personal issues.
The business value is often changing
Like any business, the value of your online business will change depending on growth, decline and the in-between. It’s up to you to recognise the signs and trends that lead to the highest possible value.
Two major aspects will have a significant influence on the value of your business, current earnings and the earnings trend. Naturally, higher profits and positive trends will result in a greater value. What does this mean? It means the best time to sell is before growth and earnings start to plateau or decline. Digital Exits can give your business and evaluation and help you get the best price.
A common mistake is being too optimistic about growth and sales, missing the best opportunity to sell. Optimism is great, however, it often blinds us.
Burnout
Burnout is one of the most common reasons a person will sell any business. Burnout is dangerous, especially if you think you can get past it. Typically, you would try overcome burnout with some good old fashioned hard work. This might not be enough. If you feel burnout coming on, it could be time to sell, or at least start preparing for a sale.
The industry is changing (in ways you don’t like)
Change is expected. Sometimes these changes make you start to rethink an industry you once loved. A while back a friend decided to sell his web hosting company after his business became outdated due to massive changes in the industry. He could have continued to update his site and service but ended up not liking where the industry was going. Luckily, he was able to pick up on this early and sell before the company went stagnate.
More growth than you want
In some cases, growth can be unwanted. To properly scale your business, you need to adjust a business structure. For some people, the idea of change isn’t appealing, especially if something is working well.
If an e-commerce site has a history of steady and consistent growth, but the owner isn’t prepared to take the next step, what happens? Many people will fulfil orders, answer calls and manage the marketing by themselves from the comfort of their home. However, they don’t want to grow, they don’t want to hire another person, and they don’t want change.
A new project
Many of us will jump at the opportunity to make money. It can entice us to pursue a new venture and try new things. When an opportunity grows into something substantial, our other projects can take a back seat.
A common mistake is thinking you can manage more than one project at once. Maybe you can handle them at the same time, but you can’t do it well. You don’t have enough time to give all your energy to one, so just do the bare minimum. If you are considering a new opportunity, think about your business, work out when the best time to sell is. Don’t wait too long.
Always be on your toes, continuously think about when you may need to sell. Have an exit strategy ready.
|
||||||||||||||||||
|