If you own a profitable website and you are thinking about selling it, you are already aware that the preparation process can be very challenging. Especially if you have never sold a website before. Here are 5 questions to ask before selling your online business.
- What is the concrete value of your business?
Buyers are looking to save time developing a brand, a website, an audience, a social media following, and the entire search engine optimization process. The buyer will only see the finished result, and be sure they will compare it with other offers currently on the market. So you need to show that value.
The most obvious way to demonstrate value is by showing how much your website is currently earning. The simplest price gauge to a website is the multiple of their monthly revenue, and then adjusted by other factors that will be discussed further down.
Another concrete value your business brings to the table is traffic. While raw numbers are important, the origin of the traffic and how many visitors convert into a product purchase plays an important role into judging how much you will be offered for your site.
- How well documented is your business?
All numbers provided must have a track record of 12 months, at the very least. 24 or even 36 months is even better.
Other than mentioning profitability, traffic, and revenue, you need to present yourself, describe the website you are selling and the monetization methods, what marketing activities you engage in, future opportunities for growth, challenges you currently face, how much time you spend on management, a written training manual of all the activities involving the website so the future owner could simply hire a manager, post-sale support you are planning to offer (if any), and so on.
- Why are you selling the business?
As for you, why would you do it? Would you like to free up more of your time? Do you have other projects and would you like the extra cash to reinvest it? Are you simply ready to move on?
Find your true motivation and avoid regretting the sale.
2. Is everything as optimized as possible?
Before selling the website, make sure everything is as streamlined as possible.
Planning for your exit allows you to document your internal processes and hire a remote manager to take care of the daily website activities for you. You can, and should, do the same with an accountant and all your bookkeeping records, expenses, and so on. This is how your online business becomes truly location-independent.
You should also create a communication system among your team members and concentrate everything under one single tool, instead of being split between cloud hosting for exchanging articles and images, exchanging instant messages and voice calls on a voip app, and being all over the place.
- Who can help you close the sale?
If you have limited experience selling a website or a limited network of potential website buyers, you are probably better off engaging a website broker in the sale.
These companies will guide you towards optimizing the finer details of your presentation package. They also have a network of past and prospective website buyers and that, alone, can greatly speed up the entire process for you. Finally, they understand the intricacies of selling a website and they will offer you an extra layer of protection.
Selling your online business can represent a life-changing influx of cash in your personal finances. By acting upon these 5 questions, you will have a good understanding of the selling process and will increase your chances of maximizing your sale profits.
