The online retail market has grown exponentially over the past two years. As the owner of an ecommerce business, you know how much success this online environment has brought to your store. Now that your business is established, it may be the exact time to consider selling your business and perhaps look at some new opportunities.
There are so many potential buyers searching for businesses like yours right now. Everyone is watching the success of online retailers and they are desperate to have a piece of the ecommerce pie. If you are considering advertising your online business for sale, here are some best practices for getting ready to find your buyer.
Prepare to Sell Your Online Business With These Tips
Since lots of businesses are deciding to sell right now, you’ll want your business to stand out. Here are some ways you can ensure your ecommerce store will rise above the rest so that you can receive the very best offer.
Work With a 3PL
As your business grows, more of your time is taken up storing, packing, and shipping your goods to customers. At first, this was exciting. You probably got to hand wrap and personalize each order for your buyers. But now that you have several shipments a day, that level of attention is taking up more and more of your time – time that you could use developing new products, speaking with vendors, or marketing your products. A third-party logistics company will be able to handle all of your packing and shipping needs. And if you’re running out of room in your stock area, a 3PL can help you find more storage room. Partnering with a 3PL is one of the easiest ways to scale your business. You’ll be able to focus more on sales than packing and shipping. When you create a relationship with an ecommerce 3PL, your company automatically looks more streamlined and professional to potential buyers.
Scale Responsibly
As you scale your business by taking on more clients, offering more products, and making more daily sales, it’s important to not grow too quickly. If you are prepared to have 100 sales a day but are only averaging 10, you are not focusing on the important issues. It’s hard to discern the best way to do it, but you really need to grow your business following your sales demands. It’s a tough balance to generate more sales while continuing to keep up with fulfilling those sales. Your company will be more desirable to a potential buyer if you have scaled responsibly so try to not take on too much, too quickly.
Create Standard Operating Procedures
Do you remember when you were starting your business? You had no idea who your vendors were going to be, how to find employees, or where to purchase office supplies. But you did the hard work and figured out the best way to manage all your business affairs. The important thing to do now is to create a document that outlines how you run your business. By creating standard operating procedures, you will be making it easier to sell your business. Any potential buyer will want to know exactly how you’ve become so successful, and in turn how they can continue that success. By writing out your day-to-day tasks and best practices, you will be giving them a blueprint on exactly how to run your ecommerce store.
Invest in Resources
Big investments, like hiring your first employee or purchasing a professional delivery truck, can be scary, but in the long run, they can only benefit your business. If you really want to grow as a company you’ll need to make these types of investments. And while it may take a while to reap the monetary benefit of these investments, all of these improvements raise the value of your company. If you try to sell your business you’ll see that a company that has more resources available to it will simply have a larger sales price.
Monitor And Track Online Analytics
It is obvious that you have quite a bit of experience in driving online traffic toward your ecommerce business. Potential buyers may not know how important web analytics are for the industry. So if you aren’t already tracking your online analytics you need to start. This will provide you with invaluable information about your customers and their online shopping habits as well as how they use your website. Then you can give this information to potential buyers to show them how they can continue to grow the business.
Establish Authority And Buzz in Your Industry
If you’re not quite ready to advertise your online business for sale, you can use this time to network within your industry. It’s important to have a business that is recognized by your competitors and target audience. This type of networking can actually draw referrals leading to more potential sales. Plus, if you take the time to build a positive reputation within your industry, perhaps one of your competitors will want to purchase your company.
Hire an Expert Bookkeeper to Organize Finances
It is so important to use a professional bookkeeping or accounting service when you own a successful business. When you started you may have been doing all of your own bookkeeping, but your notebook full of figures may not cut it when you try to sell your ecommerce store. When you find a buyer for your business, it will be much easier to hand over professional accounting records than your box of saved receipts. If you use a professional accounting service your books will have uniformity and clarity, making your business much more attractive to your potential buyer.
Find the Right Marketplace to Sell Your Business
The recent growth of online retailing makes this a perfect time to consider selling your ecommerce business. But remember there are always risks and rewards. On one hand, lots of buyers want to jump into the ecommerce niche. So you may get many offers for your business right now. But because many people are selling their online businesses, you have to do your research to ensure that you find a fair and equitable sales price. It’s so important to not underestimate the price of your business. You’ve worked hard building your reputation, client list, and resources. Your business price should reflect that value.
There are many reputable online marketplaces for purchasing businesses. Each of them offer services to ensure that both the buyer and seller have a fair experience. These resources will help you to set your sales price and assist you in the actual legal responsibilities of selling.
- Shopify Exchange
- Flippa
- Empire Flippers
- FE International (for large-scale businesses)
Scale Your Business With Ship My Orders 3PL
If you’re considering selling your ecommerce business in the next few years, one of the simplest ways to scale is by partnering with a 3PL. Ship My Orders 3PL can take full care of your business logistics so that you can focus on product development, sales, and marketing. By letting us take the packing and shipping responsibilities off your plate, you will have so much more time to devote to making more sales and networking within your industry. Working with a 3PL is an easy way to scale your business and get it ready for potential buyers. Contact us today and find out how we can help you grow by requesting a free quote.
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