It can be a challenging general environment to sell a business right now. Data is showing business sales activity is generally down in 2016, particularly when it comes to mid-market businesses. In fact, the recently released “Mid-Market M&A: Deal Environment for Sellers” report, compiled by Firmex, cited a major slump in mid-market deals year-over-year.
Mid-market companies are larger organizations that fall somewhere between small businesses and large, global corporations. So if these businesses are experiencing issues, you may be wondering how your small website-based business can possibly sell right now.
Below are some tips that can help even very small website owners sell their site while maximizing its value, even in what’s being described as a buyer’s market for businesses.
Know and Be Able to Define The Long-Term Value
According to ProBlogger, when you decide to sell your website, you can general expect an average sales price to be anywhere from six to ten times its profit, on a monthly basis. This may sound like a lot, but in reality, it’s not much compared to what brick-and-mortar businesses sell for. Rather than simply basing the sale of your website on these figures, ProBlogger recommends you think about the potential for growth in the long-term to drive up your sales price.
Compile the Right Information
Just as if you were selling a traditional business, before you start looking for buyers for your website, it’s important to have the right data and information in place. Some of the things you should have ready for potential buyers include total and average unique visitors, total and average page views, growth rates over time, the sources of your traffic, PageRank of your site and keywords. You want to have all of this information organized and ready to show your performance to potential buyers. Additionally, just because you’re selling a web business, doesn’t mean you don’t need to have financials ready as well. Your site needs to be profitable, and you need to be able to demonstrate that over a period of at least a year, but preferably longer.
Look for Buyers in the Right Places
Most people who have already sold a website or have significant experience in the area would say to begin your search within your industry. This is where you’re likely to find the truest interest. If you can’t find interest in your specific niche, then you can expand outside of those confines, but you shouldn’t cast too wide a net in the beginning.
Keep Everything Updated
Even if your ultimate goal is to sell your website, you need to make sure you’re constantly keeping it well-maintained, making repairs when necessary and also publishing fresh new editorial content. Potential buyers need to see this is continuing to happen.
As a final note, while making repairs, maintenance and content updates are important, you shouldn’t try to make any massive structural or conceptual changes for at least a year before you attempt to sell your site.