These online tools will help you sell a business

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If you’ve decided to sell a business, you may feel overwhelmed, but there are some online tools help with the process. It can be difficult to find these tools using Google because most searches bring up tools that will help your business sell more goods and services. However, we have gathered some of the most helpful online tools to help you sell a business here.

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Before you check out these online tools, you may want to check out our full guide for selling a business here if you haven't done so already.

Online tools to sell a business with Exit Adviser

One of the most thorough sites with online tools to help you sell a business is Exit Adviser. The site offers a business valuation tool, sales memorandum tool and a "sellability" advisor tool. Exit Adviser also offers sales documents you can use to buy or sell a business, helpful how-to guides and more. The platform also serves as a listing site for those who are buying or selling a business.

To get the most out of Exit Adviser's online tools to sell a business, you will have to pay for the service. For those who feel like they can't afford a business broker, Exit Adviser comes pretty close by providing all the documents and online tools you need to sell a business. However, you should still engage an attorney to make sure all the appropriate documents are in place and that everything that must be done is done.

Additionally, Exit Adviser will help you find a broker, lawyer or other advisers to work with who are in your area. The website also has a listing service and go-to-market tool to help you get your business listed for sale online.

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The go-to-market tool allows you to place a listing on Exit Adviser with the business category, main location, what the business does, the asking price, financing and more. The tool also provides a place to explain why the business is attractive to buyers and to state important financial facts and forecasts, the reason for selling, and required qualifications for the buyer.

How Exit Adviser's online tools to sell a business work

Exit Adviser's business valuation tool requires you to enter your net profit for the most recent financial year, projected annual growth rate, total sales revenue for the last financial year, fixed assets, working capital, non-operating assets, borrowing, discretionary expenditure and cost of equity.

The sales memorandum tool enables you to easily draw up a sales memorandum document, which includes a cover page, summary, business highlights like products or services, customer profiles, and sales channels, price and terms, future developments, and appendices. This document is an essential part of the sales process, so you will need to have it ready to go when you start the process of selling the business.

The "sellability" advisor tool allows business owners to assess how saleable their business is by rating the seven most important aspects of the business. The seven aspects are financial strength, growth potential, customer portfolio, recurring revenues, value proposition, customer satisfaction and independence from the owner.

The downside of this tool is that it's entirely subjective, which means you must have a totally realistic view of your business. It requires you to enter ratings based on how you view your business, but those ideas might not reflect how a potential seller would view your business.

Online directories of businesses for sale

Exit Adviser is just one of many listing services that allow you to sell a business online. Many of these listing services are also brokers, so if you're looking for a broker, that might be an option. Exit Adviser helps you find a local broker, but there are many online brokers that don't require you to be local.

Some brokers are specific to types of businesses, which can be a good thing because they bring a large number of potential buyers who are looking for the same type of business all to one place. For example, FE International specializes in online businesses, so if you're selling an online business, that might be a good place to start.

There are also sites like Centurica, which mainly works with buyers. However, Centurica gathers listings from multiple brokers and online sites. If you're selling an online business, it might be a good idea to get your listing on Centurica, so you might want to contact them and see what is involved. Since they capture listings from multiple sites, you will have to list with a broker or other service first, but you might want to take the next step to also get it listed on Centurica.

Some other online directors and brokers include BizBuySell, BizQuest, and BusinessBroker.net. These online sites will show buyers businesses for sale in their state or area, so it's a great way to put your business listing in front of local buyers who might be interested.

Last tips for using online tools to sell a business

Looking for online tools to help you sell a business can be tricky, but many online brokers will have everything you need. Exit Adviser certainly isn't the only site with such tools, but it may be one of the most accessible ones that's out there.

Even if you haven't decided for certain whether or not you want to sell a business, you might want to use some online valuation tools to help you make your decision. You might not be able to get as much as you want to get for your business, so in that case, you would need to put some more time and effort into getting it ready to sell before you actually list it.

It's also important to realize that while online tools can be extremely helpful when it comes to selling a business, you should still get advice from a broker, lawyer or other professional in the field. Online tools cannot act as a substitute for human help because while they can give you some ideas about valuation and other aspects of the sale, they cannot make sure that you get the most for your business or ensure that you take care of everything that must be done to complete the sales process.

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