How to Qualify Leads for Your Business

Selling your business can be an emotional time. You’ve likely spent years working to build this business and put lots of money into it, too. So, when you decide to sell, you will want to know that it has gone onto someone who can help it to continue doing well. 

But how do you know if you have found the right buyer?
 

There are lots of things to consider when it comes to qualifying leads for your business, and everyone is different. What you want from a buyer is not going to be exactly the same as what another business seller wants. This means there are no hard and fast rules for finding the right buyer. You can, however, take a few things into consideration.
 

This article will look at the ways you can better screen potential buyers for your business to find the one that suits your business so you can happily leave it in their hands. Let’s get into it now.
 

Step 1: Decide What is Important to You
As every seller is different, what is important is going to be different too. Below are a few considerations to make when it comes to the right buyer for your business.

1. Your Price
Before selling your business, you will have taken the time to value it and make sure you’re asking for what it is worth from buyers. But, you should consider how much leeway you’re going to give to the right buyer. While we would always suggest finding a buyer with the financial means to take over your business, if someone is the right candidate but can’t quite meet your asking price, you need to decide if this is something you would be open to.

To make sure you’re dealing with buyers with adequate funding, it’s a good idea to get bank statements or proof of assets before going into negotiations. You need to make sure that your buyer is actually serious about purchasing the business from you and has the means to do so.

2. Sales Options
Selling a business can happen in a number of ways, and if you’re not ready to give up total control, you can negotiate with potential buyers to get what you want from the deal. This is worth taking into consideration when deciding what you want from the sale of your business.

Options like an earn-out, where you can keep a share of future profits if a buyer cannot meet your asking price, give you the option to choose the right buyer, even if they don’t yet have the means to buy you out fully.

3. Continuity                                                                                                                                                                     

Business continuity is the extent to which you want to remain a part of the business. In other words, do you want to continue working within the business once you have sold it to ensure everything from staff to suppliers to other business arrangements is looked after once it's under new leadership?

If this is definitely not something that you want, then you’re going to need to find a business owner who has enough experience to be able to step in and take over immediately. If you think you’ve found someone who could do really well with just a little bit of mentoring, you may have to stay on for a little while longer.

4. Future Growth Prospects
Of course, you want your business to do well, even if you’re no longer in charge of it, which means you need to choose a buyer who you know will make a success of it. This means finding someone with the drive to make hard decisions, innovate, and grow your business into all it could be.

If you have reached the point where you want to step back from your business, but you know it has more potential in it, it is imperative that anyone who takes over also sees this potential.

5. The Right Fit
The likelihood is that your business already has a strong team of staff with a good working culture, so any new owner needs to be able to fit in with this. You will likely know when you meet someone if they would work within your group, so use this instinct to guide you toward the best buyer for your business.

This is an incredibly important part of the new buyer search simply because you want the rest of your staff to feel comfortable and to be able to continue working for a business they’ve been with for a while.

Step 2: Background Research
If you think you have found a great buyer for your business, the next thing to do is some really thorough background research. This should give you all the information you need to decide whether they’re the right fit for your business or not.
 

Below are some easy ways to conduct your own background research on a potential buyer.
 

• Their resume - You're probably going to ask for this anyway, but taking a closer looker at their experience, educational background, and more will give you a wonderful insight
  into who this person is and what skills they can bring to the table.
• Social media - The advent of social media can be seen as both a curse and a blessing,
  and in this instance, it’s definitely the latter. A potential buyer's professional social media, like LinkedIn, will give you an easy way of verifying their credentials, but other socialnmedia can give you an insight into who they are as a person.
• Ask for references - If you don’t find them on a resume, then asking for them is a good
  idea. A referee will be able to give you an outsider's perspective on the person you’re looking at and will likely help you work out whether they’re a good fit or not.
• Drop by - If the potential buyer is already a business owner, then why not discreetly
  check out their other businesses? You can get a good idea of how a business is run, whether the staff is happy, and more from just spending some time there.
• Have a chat - Whether you call them or meet in person, there is nothing like your gut instinct when you meet someone. If you meet them and something feels off, you may decide to pass and move on to another buyer instead.                       

Step 3: Dig Deeper
If your potential buyer has checked out during your background research, now is the time to
truly get to know them, discuss prices and take over styles, and build a rapport with them. At this stage, you need to be as clear as possible as to what you want from this process. If they don’t agree with your methods or your price, you can either negotiate or choose to walk away.
 

You might want to conduct a pseudo-interview with the buyer to find out a little more about them. Getting to know what a person does in their free time, how they have handled issues in the past, and their previous experience can help you to decide whether this is the person you want to hand your business over to.
 

Conclusion
Finding the right buyer for your business is a long process, but doing it right can ensure the ongoing success of your business, the happiness of your staff, and your own peace of mind. Take the time to truly figure out what you want first so that the later stages take up less time.
 

Are you looking for a network of active buyers to find someone who wants to buy your
business? Why not get in touch with Eden Exchange today? As a buying and selling platform,
we always have interested parties looking to take over established businesses and we have all
the resources to make this a quick and easy process for you.