Around the Web: A Week in Summary
A recently published article on Axial Forum entitled “How to Tell Employees You’re Selling the Business” explains a very important, and sometimes difficult, step in the transaction process: alerting employees of the sale. With much of the transaction process occurring behind closed doors, most employees will be clueless to all of the behind the scenes action. Having a proper change management plan in place will help to alleviate some stress and worry, as well as lessen the initial shock about the sale.
Along with having a proper change management plan in place, the article recommends telling an important core group of employees early on about the sale, the avoidance of socializing the news too early, thinking ahead to potential pain points on the employee’s end, and the idea that the change process should not rely on shock and awe. These factors, in their own unique ways, will help to lessen the shock value of a business transaction and help to improve the transition process.
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The recent article published in Divestopedia entitled “Who Will Buy My Company?” helps business owners understand the avenues for finding a buyer for their business. With options in selling internally, externally, or a combination of both, there are multiple paths and opportunities to finding the right buyer. Each of these paths can result in a unique outcome, so it is important for a seller to choose the one that best fits their needs.
The article identifies two important and useful steps in understanding who will want to purchase a business: identify best buyers and take an offensive approach. Having at least a general idea of who would even consider buying your business is a great first step, which can be refined with better and more pertinent information over time. Taking an offensive approach involves actively becoming a bigger presence in different communities related to the business or industry, giving a seller better insight into what potential buyers may be interested in.
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A recent Forbes article entitled “How Do You Sell a Business While Keeping It a Secret?” explores three different scenarios and strategies for selling a business that involve various inherent levels of secrecy:
- A Proprietary Deal
- A Handful of Friendlies
- Making a Market
Deals within each of these different scenarios maintain various levels of secrecy regarding the sale to employees and customers. For example, proprietary deals are deals advertised to only one potential buyer, which limits the spread of information and greatly reduces the chances of news slipping. In a scenario that involves making a market, hundreds of potential buyers are typically invited into the sale process. This can compromise the secrecy of the transaction, but also deepens the pool of potential buyers. A seller’s choice in which path to take will have a huge impact on whether or not news spreads about the sale of a business.
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