When negotiating the sale of your online business, there are many things you want to be. Ruthless and also sensitive, intuitive, while mindful and reasonable, have finesse and also have grit, be determined, while also use your common sense. So in order to achieve a favourable deal for both parties, you should be prepared and ready for a good negotiation process and here we share all the dos and don’ts with you. While you may have your own approach toward the negotiation process, or decide to go with your guts, there are some key skills for effectively negotiating a deal and acquiring and adopting them can guarantee success.
Inter-personal skills
Business is business, but there is nothing more important between the relationship between humans and besides being a businessman, you are also a human being, the potential buyer too. Therefore, before the negotiation process even starts, you may consider an informal communication with the buyer. This is why, before the legal advisors and website brokers take the stage to iron out the deal, you want to be able to communicate directly with the buyer and talk more about the core terms and your and their overall goals.
This is the best way to make sure that both parties are content with what is on the table and prevent wasting precious time and energy. Before you start with negotiations you want to carve out their way by communicating more about other economic and procedural terms, any possible seller take-back, check out if either party wants to pull out before the transition period and how this is going to happen, the working capital that will exist in the business at the point of sale. By asking the buyer a lot of questions and listening carefully to the answers, you will get the best idea of what the buyer wants and expects from the deal and what you can and cannot control.
Honesty
For any potential buyer, it is essential to meet transparency and honesty from your party. They want to feel safe when buying the online business, know for sure that what you are saying is what in reality your e-business is. However, not only the facts themselves are important, but also the way you present them to the buyer. At the end of the day, you may decide on hiding an insignificant in your eyes issue your business deals with that, otherwise, it will definitely not affect the deal with the buyer. However, if you hide it now and the buyer uncovers it during the due diligence process, this will make them feel unsure and question everything else you are saying and sharing as information.
Therefore, the initial meeting with an interested buyer is very important and it is your priority to avoid mistakes during this initial period because they often lead to an immediate failure and there is nothing else you can do to save the deal. It is really some sort of art and craftsmanship to be able to disclose all information, even the tricky one, without losing the magic surrounding your online business, which really attracts the potential buyer. The more you say, the more you give away, therefore approach the situation with wisdom and have control over what information to share on this initial stage. In the long run, the more information you allow to slip out, the less leverage you are left with later on.
Flexibility
Be prepared to be flexible and make some compromises. Never lose sight of the overall agreement over minor issues and details. Think about what will be best for you in the long run. Paying too much attention to insignificant issues that don’t affect you that much is a sure way to lose the deal. If you think that you cannot approach with enough flexibility in such situations, make sure to use the help of a professional, who will be the intermediary who manage the whole process with diplomacy and guide both parties, while keeping their expectation within the boundaries set. Make sure to have a few plans in your head when you are considering the selling price. Know your limits, think of the best price possible, think of what price would be a compromise, but it is still workable, think of what is the lowest price when you will just walk away from the negotiation.
Confidence in yourself
Approaching the negotiation process with self-confidence means you know your worth and the worth of your business and you know how to show that to the potential buyer. You are not passionate and enthusiastic about your business? Then you cannot expect the buyer to be too, even if you market it the best way.
So make sure to think of how you felt about your business when you started, how enthusiastic you were as an entrepreneur, how much you valued your business in the beginning. Take this energy and canalize it into the negotiation process. Make sure to market all the best assets of your business, have the self-confidence you have built a good business with a lot of potentials.
Think of what your business will be the most interesting to the buyer and focus on these assets. However, make sure you never promises you cannot keep and always speak about your business with honesty and tell the truth. Take your time to also think if you are willing to offer a discount and what discount it would be, don’t make spontaneous decisions about offering a discount right there, on the negotiation table. Do it for yourself and your own security, never allow it to be in a situation, where you cannot approach alternative buyers.
Control your inner salesman
Yes, you are a businessman, you are naturally a salesman, and your job now is to sell your business. However, this doesn’t mean you should be tempted to leave your inner salesman break free and control the whole negotiation process. Instead, you want to control them. After all, negotiation is more like a form of art and not that much a form of sale. Negotiation is all about discussion, not propaganda.
Make sure to always seek balance and don’t be overly emotional or enthusiastic. Diplomacy is what you are looking for, try the more measured approach and leave the classic marketing pitch for something else. If you have self-confidence in the potential of the business you are offering, stand firm and don’t pour all your emotions into this negotiation meeting.