Sell Ecommerce Business Using These Effective Tricks
Are you looking to sell ecommerce business? You should first learn how it’s different than selling a brick-and-mortar store. Of course, online selling is much easier compared to traditional transactions. However, you must learn more about the challenges of digital marketplaces. In fact, many online store owners don’t even realize the profits they can generate by merely flipping their ecommerce venture for a hefty profit.
Ecommerce businesses are profitable ventures. Hence, it makes them an excellent tool for investment. Most people love to buy firms with an excellent return on investment and lower barriers against external hurdles. Therefore, successful ecommerce store owners can flip their digital properties for a profit.
Still, you must take care and learn more to sell your ecommerce business the right way. You can ensure it by finding the reasons to make this offer:
Why Sell Ecommerce Business!
Ecommerce businesses are growing at an exponential rate. However, not everyone can successfully create an online store. This opens up the avenue of selling ecommerce businesses. It is similar to the traditional business model where people happily buy shops and stores that are already up and running. Here are a few facts you should consider when researching the critical term ‘sell my ecommerce business’ online.
It takes time!
Amazon is perhaps the largest ecommerce giant out there in the market. Remember, it took seven years for Amazon to become profitable. The modern online business environment has certainly grown a lot compared to the early 2000s. There will be times when you have an excellent business model but just do not have the timeline available to reach those great profits.
This is the right time when you should sell ecommerce business to a suitable person. The changing of the guard would mean that you can focus on the next project while still making a profit in the meanwhile. Free up your resources while letting the online store sellers do what they do best.
The growth potential
Online sales through a suitable platform have created most first-time millionaires. Therefore, the most interest in ecommerce stores has been in the last two to three years. If you have successfully established a store but are somehow pressed for time, selling an ecommerce business at the right price is a great idea.
However, we suggest that you find a suitable buyer for your online store. This would be someone who is genuinely interested in your idea and has the resources to carry your project forward to greater heights. You can also create an ownership-sharing partnership in many cases. Just make sure you are parting ways with your digital store the right way!
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Responsive industry
Everything on the internet follows a brisk pace. Therefore, when you place a sell my ecommerce store request on any platform, you quickly enjoy several responses. It makes ecommerce store selling a fun prospect where you can choose from a variety of buyers who all take a personal interest in your offer.
A recent survey recorded that 4 out of 5 people buy something from ecommerce stores. In addition, around 50% of internet users buy multiple times online. It makes selling an ecommerce store an excellent proposition. Social media and other industry-specific websites are ideal for making money through online store selling.
Scalability
Ecommerce businesses have a great potential for rapid expansion. They offer scalability. A good brick-and-mortar store can connect well with an online store to expand its client base. It can grow to a size many times larger than the conventional shop. Hence, it offers an excellent opportunity if you want to sell your ecommerce business.
Scaling a business is easier in the digital world. However, it is only possible when your online store is properly designed and perfectly set up for expansion as and when required. Good entrepreneurs will always ensure they start well by having a professionally developed ecommerce store. With the right inventory and suitable partners, you can successfully sell a scalable ecommerce store through various avenues.
How Long Will It Take To Sell My Online Business?
Judging an average time to sell ecommerce business is a tricky proposition. The times range anywhere from a few weeks to over a year. Usually, online businesses are easier to sell because less documentation is required. Still, a good selling practice is to place your store on suitable avenues and wait for multiple people to take an interest in your shop.
In addition, selling an ecommerce store depends a lot on the asking price and the offered products/services. Another key factor is the current profits of the ecommerce store. A shop in the positive will obviously sell quicker than one that barely covers its costs. However, still, one can expect to sell an ecommerce business within a few weeks if there are no significant issues with it.
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Top Business Brokers To Sell Your Ecommerce Business
There are many business brokers that help people sell ecommerce business the right way. Each one has its unique set of benefits and limitations. Let us compare a few of the top business brokers in 2022 for selling your online store.
Flippa.com
Flippa is an excellent platform for all types of digital startups. It specializes in selling online stores and SaaS (Software as a Service) businesses. You can sell your ecommerce ventures here, whether they are valued a $100 or $100,000. The company was founded in 2009 and has been helping connect online business buyers and sellers for over a decade now.
Flippa has already sold over 250,000 businesses globally. You can view their listings to find suitable buyers. Many ecommerce stores can do well with new owners. So, this platform can be of great help as it offers integrity and trust.
Business Exits
Business Exits is also a great platform if you want to sell ecommerce business. It gives you different options, especially the timeframe for selling your online store. It advertises that it has a 98% success rate with a typical 6-month selling cycle. Therefore, it is an excellent platform for selling most types of ecommerce stores.
However, Business Exits is an excellent selling website for larger online stores. It generally deals in shops that have a value of over a million dollars. It has an incredible connection with investors and can find the right buyer for your multi-million-dollar business. Still, you can look at this website to sell your ecommerce business if it’s valuable and earn a good profit.
Peterson Acquisitions
Want to sell ecommerce business but are not sure about the value? Peterson Acquisitions can help you out! They are a trusted business broker and have received many industry accolades. When people think about “sell my ecommerce business,” valuation troubles them the most. With this broker, you can focus on the other aspects of selling and purchasing businesses.
Peterson Acquisitions is an excellent resource for people looking to sell their online stores after learning more about them. Their experts collect all the business information and then help sellers realize the best value for their venture. It ultimately helps them find the right buyers and make a profit by flipping an ecommerce business.
Sunbelt Business Brokers
Sunbelt Business Brokers is an excellent service provider if you want to sell ecommerce business online. They argue that they sell more businesses than anyone else in the world. They are not quite picky when it comes to selling online stores. They will work with a small-valued business as well as sell a multi-million-dollar venture.
From administrative services to online drug stores, Sunbelt Brokers help all kinds of ecommerce businesses. In fact, they are also great for buying a budding online shop. You can look through their listings to sell your current store and buy a new one that best suits your plan moving forward.
10 Steps To Sell Your Ecommerce Business
Selling an ecommerce store can be pretty daunting if you are unprepared. However, these ten simple steps will help you prepare your online business first and then sell it to an optimal buyer. Just make sure you follow them religiously.
Store preparation
The first step is to prepare your online store for selling. This means that your website should not have any navigation issues and must appeal to the visitors. Buyers are not interested in only a half-working website.
A good ecommerce business is like a well-maintained house. It will undoubtedly sell well and fetch a higher price than a house in shambles. A commercial website should always be free from errors before even attempting to sell ecommerce business.
Updated product inventory
A good online store works with an updated inventory. You cannot aim to sell your ecommerce business when it has out-of-stock products and services across the online shop’s various pages. Hence, the first step is to refresh what is possible and remove products that aren’t going to be available.
It is not a good practice to have a website with pages that show “out of stock” products. This will not appeal to investors, and frankly, it will scare the visitors away too. Therefore, always update your inventory and remove legacy products when aiming to sell an online store.
Financial organization
Financial information of your ecommerce business must be up to date when looking to sell it. You may not be an accountant and hence face issues keeping everything properly counted and calculated. A good practice is to use suitable accounting software like QuickBooks or hire an external firm to keep track of your financial information.
An ecommerce business seller must have updated records of tax returns, cash flow, and balance sheets for the entire duration of the company. It should also be present in a digital form to easily share it with any buyer prospects. With that done, you are ready to sell your online store to the right bidder.
Organized lead information
A good ecommerce store uses a suitable CRM to record the details of business leads and customers. It is an important selling point of an online business since it allows a prospective buyer to check the health of the digital venture. The next buyer would love to run a dedicated marketing effort, which requires an already available list of contacts and prospects.
Take some time and update the information housed in the CRM. Moreover, it’s also a good practice to remove duplicate entries. Creating lead segmentation will also produce useful information for future campaigns. Sellers can show this information to generate more interest in their online store.
Building traffic
Building an audience for an ecommerce website takes some time. For better result you may hire search engine optimization service so, that you get consistent traffic on your website before trying to sell ecommerce business. Once you are receiving a consistent stream of visitors, it would automatically translate to a reliable number of sales every month.
Sometimes, online store owners lose interest which results in lowered traffic on the website. However, it presents a bad look to the investors and decreases the value of the digital business. Instead, consider your traffic and sales metrics before going to the website selling mode.
Get valuation
We have presented some top business broker websites for this purpose. Get an independent business valuation before making up the mind that says – sell my ecommerce business. It’s hard to think of a suitable number without taking professional help. A good estimator understands the process and can help you out with each aspect.
A suitable third-party appraiser will take all the important factors into account. This will include all the financials, current traffic, expected revenue, and inventory management, among other elements. You will receive a detailed report that will help you find the best candidate to buy ecommerce business.
Selecting a broker
We have already presented the importance of selecting a suitable business broker to sell your online store. You can look at the options shown here or look for your own to find the right partner. It will help you tremendously in maximizing business profits.
You can compare the brokers with each other by asking them as many questions as you have in mind. However, always select a broker who excels in selling ecommerce websites. It will allow you to connect with the most suitable prospects.
Rate buyers
You should not sit passively and wait for buyers to find you. Instead, you should actively look for prospects interested in buying a similar digital store. A broker surely helps you connect with leads, but you should rate these leads to screen out poor matches right at the start.
Selling an ecommerce business becomes easier once you qualify and rate buyers according to your requirements. Remember, you can sell your online store to anyone across the world. You don’t face the typical problems of flipping a brick-and-mortar store.
The sale
Completing the sale is the legal step where you must sign a contract and ensure that all processes follow the necessary compliance details. You sell ecommerce business successfully once you are done with understanding the legal jargon to learn how this business will now move out of your hands.
Here, hiring a contract lawyer is the right choice. It will protect your interests and ensure you have a designated record keeper for your deal. However, modern transactions can fully take place online, where digital signatures and documents are exchanged to complete the sale.
Handing control over
Handing the control over to the new owner is not giving an individual the keys to the place. The handing over process instead depends on the details recorded in your contract. Usually, you sell your ecommerce business and help the new owner to settle into managing the different business aspects.
Remember, your reputation is on the line during this process. Suppose you give the new owner a good transfer experience; who knows how many future opportunities you can receive from the same buyer. With this approach, you can complete the selling of your online store.
Mistakes To Avoid When Selling An Ecommerce Business
Many people commit different mistakes when it is time to sell their ecommerce business. They are often pressed for time and fail to perform due diligence. Ultimately, it can lead to a poor selling experience, resulting in a loss of value and opportunity. Here are a few mistakes you should avoid when searching to “sell my ecommerce business.”
Not planning ahead
A good business owner always plans an exit strategy when starting an online business. It means that if you didn’t have an exit plan, you would face plenty of issues when trying to sell ecommerce business to a suitable buyer. In such cases, you don’t have any safeguards and cutoff point numbers to help you decide when it’s the right time to sell.
A common problem that highlights the planning problem is when your ecommerce store expands quicker than you can manage. Sometimes, you aim to sell your online business when it reaches a particular value, ensuring a profitable exit. Therefore, it’s a good practice to have a strategic plan that outlines all scenarios for selling the business and moving forward.
Deferred payment
Don’t sell your ecommerce business if the payment conditions are too lenient. It’s as simple as that! Sometimes, a few bidders will overprice your online store but want deferred payment options. Remember, they are often not suitable for an ecommerce business seller. Instead, ask for a clearly detailed payment plan that describes immediate payment for a quick business transaction.
If a potential buyer asks for some time to create a payment plan, give them leverage to make a proper payment solution with their bid. Yet, never take a payment that goes too much into the future where inconsistency can mean you are no longer guaranteed the offered amount. This situation is easily remedied if you allow the buyer to get their finances in order and pay you directly to complete the sale.
Impulsive selling decision
To sell my ecommerce business online is a thought that can affect people’s judgment. In addition, most entrepreneurs love developing their ideas but perhaps don’t have the necessary skills to manage or scale a business. Hence, such creatives can often make a selling decision impulsively. However, it leads to getting a poor buying deal, with the business idea also losing traction with the wrong owner.
What if you decided one day that you have had and want to sell your ecommerce business? You will surely be unprepared in such a case and make an impulsive decision. You can eliminate this mistake by avoiding an emotional response when making a selling decision. Instead, you use the available information at your disposal to make the right call.
Choosing the wrong broker
One of the mistakes when selling an ecommerce business is to choose the wrong business broker. We have talked a lot about brokers in this article because their help matters when businesses must change hands. A suitable broker will have the correct type of prospects that would work well with your online store. Else, you may be wasting time with someone not experienced in selling businesses in your particular industry.
Remember, you can lose money when selling your online store with an inexperienced broker. Instead, a suitable broker will help you find excellent prospects who already know everything about your business and specific industry. Working with the right broker will ultimately help you amicably transfer your business to the new owner.
Let’s Conclude
You now have the necessary information to have the correct method to sell ecommerce business in various situations. Online stores and shops have really surged in the last few years. If you have an ecommerce store you want to sell, it is probably the right time to sell it with professional help.
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