Have you ever thought about selling your online business? Many entrepreneurs reach a point where they feel ready to move on to new ventures and sell their existing businesses.
Here are common commonly sold types of online businesses:
- Display Advertising Sites (Google AdSense/Ezoic/Mediavine/Adthrive)
- Amazon Affiliate Sites
- Other Affiliate Sites
- eCommerce Stores
- Mobile Apps
The decision to sell an online business is not an easy one. It’s a big decision that can have a lot of consequences, both good and bad.
If you’re thinking about selling your online business, there are a few things you should keep in mind. In this article, we’ll go over some of the key things you need to know about how to sell your online business.
Table of Contents
1. Know the Sale Process
Once you’ve decided to sell your online business, there are a few things you need to do to get the process started.
First, you’ll need to find a buyer. This can be done through a broker, or you can try to find a buyer yourself. There are a number of online platforms that allow you to list your business for selling, such as Flippa and Motion Invest.
Once you’ve found a buyer, you’ll need to negotiate the price and terms of the sale. This can be a complicated process, so it’s important to make sure you’re getting a fair price for your business.
Once the sale is finalized, you’ll need to transfer ownership of your business. This usually involves transferring the domain name, website files, and any other assets to the new owner.
2. Prepare to Sell
Your preparation will make the transaction process smoother. Before you put your online business on the market, you need to do some preparation. This will help ensure that you get the best possible price for your business, and it will also make potential buyers know your business, your monthly income, page visitors per month, and other data.
Meanwhile, the broker will evaluate a price for your online business as most sellers prefer to sell their online business through a broker platform to ensure their online business security. You can agree to sell or not at that price.
Here are some of the things you should do before putting your online business up for sale:
Historical Performance Data in 12 Months
You need to present history data (at least 12 months) for your online business. If it is a website, you need to provide data in Google Analytics, like page visitors, traffic source, top 10 visited pages and etc. Buyers will want to see how your business has performed over time. So, if you have any data on hand, make sure to include it in your sale listing.
Income in 12 Months
You also need to have up-to-date and accurate records of your revenue, expenses, and profitability. Buyers will want to see these numbers to evaluate the purchasing price of your business is reasonable or not.
The Process of Building the Business
You also need to say something about how you built this online business. What you have done right that makes this business successful, what problem you’re facing when establishing the business?… These will give potential buyers an image of the growth potential if they can solve these problems and increase the revenue after buying your business.
3. Get a Professional Valuation
This will give you an idea of how much your business is actually worth. There are a number of online tools you can use to get a valuation, or you can hire a professional appraiser.
After the broker gave you the estimated price, you might be upset because it’s way less than what you think your business is worth to you.
You have to remember that a buyer is looking at your business from a different perspective. They want to know what kind of return they can expect on their investment, and they’re not going to pay more than they think your business is worth.
4. Find a Trustful Broker
If you’re not comfortable handling the sale of your business yourself, you can hire a broker to help you. A broker will know how to market your business and find potential buyers.
Here are some things you can do to make sure you’re getting a fair price for your business:
Get Multiple Valuations
As we mentioned, there are a number of online tools you can use to get a valuation. But it’s also a good idea to get multiple valuations from different sources. This will help you get a better idea of what your business is actually worth.
Negotiate the Price
Once you’ve found a buyer who’s interested in your business, you’ll need to negotiate the price. This can be a tricky process, but it’s important to make sure you’re getting a fair price for your business.
Don’t Be Afraid to Walk Away
If you’re not happy with the offers you’re getting, don’t be afraid to walk away from the sale. There’s no point in selling your business for less than it’s worth.
5. Keep Your Online Asset Safety
Once you’ve found a buyer and negotiated a price, it’s time to finalize the sale. But before you do that, there are a few things you need to do to make sure your online business is safe because the buyer may be not a trusted one.
Keep your domain name and hosting account in your name. Once the sale is finalized, you’ll need to transfer your domain name and hosting account to the new owner. But before you do that, make sure to keep them in your own name. This will help protect your business if the new owner doesn’t pay or if they decide to cancel the sale.
Change all the passwords. Once the new owner has access to your domain and hosting account, they’ll also have access to your email, social media, and other online accounts. So, it’s important to change all the passwords before you transfer ownership.
Back up your data. Before you transfer any ownership of your website or online accounts, make sure to back up your data. This includes your website files, database, email messages, and anything else that’s important to your business.
Get everything in writing. Once you’ve agreed on a price and the terms of the sale, make sure to get everything in writing. This will help protect you if there are any problems with the sale.