Are you a business owner looking for a new direction in your life? Maybe you want to retire or start a new venture? Or perhaps economic conditions have caused the business to struggle and you want to exit before things become more difficult? ​ Depending on your situation, you may be hoping to complete the process quickly, but for a business to be sold fast, it’s important you follow certain steps, and use the services of experts when needed. The most significant driver when selling a business is the asking price. When setting a valuation, take into account your profits, debt, and the value of current assets.  It always helps to get an independent valuation to give reassurance to buyers, and to ensure you are entering the process with realistic expectations.   Set a Realistic Valuation : Determine the fair market value of your business based on its assets, revenue, profitability, growth potential, and other relevant factors. Pricing it competitively can attract more potential buyers and speed up the sale. It always helps to get an independent valuation to give reassurance to buyers, and to ensure you are entering the process with realistic expectations.   Prepare Financial Statements : Organize your financial records, including balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, and tax returns. Having transparent financial documentation readily available can instill confidence in potential buyers and streamline the due diligence process. Enhance Business Operations : Prior to listing your business, optimize its operations to maximize efficiency and profitability. Address any operational inefficiencies, streamline processes, and eliminate unnecessary expenses to make your business more attractive to buyers. Identify Potential Buyers : Utilize various channels to reach potential buyers, such as business brokers, industry networks, online marketplaces, and social media platforms. Additionally, consider reaching out to competitors, strategic investors, private equity firms, and other individuals or entities that may have an interest in acquiring your business. Marketing and Promotion : Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy to promote your business listing. Create professional marketing materials, including a detailed prospectus or information memorandum highlighting key aspects of your business, its value proposition, financial performance, and growth opportunities. Leverage online platforms, industry publications, and networking events to reach a wider audience of potential buyers. Flexibility in Negotiations : Remain open to negotiations and be flexible with terms and conditions of the sale. While it's important to have a clear understanding of your bottom line and desired outcome, being too rigid may deter potential buyers and prolong the sales process. Engage Professional Advisors : Consider hiring experienced professionals, such as business brokers, attorneys, accountants, and financial advisors, to assist you throughout the selling process. They can provide valuable guidance, negotiate on your behalf, and ensure that all legal and financial aspects of the transaction are handled properly. Be Prepared for Due Diligence : Anticipate and prepare for the due diligence process, during which potential buyers will scrutinize your business operations, financial records, legal agreements, and other relevant information. Having all necessary documentation organized and readily accessible can help expedite this phase of the sale. Maintain Confidentiality : While marketing your business for sale, ensure confidentiality to protect sensitive information and avoid disruption to your operations. Implement non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and limit the dissemination of confidential information to serious, qualified buyers. Work with Pros: Working with an experienced business broker is the easiest way to sell your business fast. A good business broker will guide you through the entire process, including valuation, and marketing, as well as assess the financial position of interested parties, while protecting the confidentiality of your business. Moreover, they already have access to a large network of funded buyers who have already been vetted, speeding up the sales process considerably. By implementing these strategies and remaining proactive throughout the selling process, you can increase the likelihood of selling your business quickly and efficiently. However, it's important to prioritize finding the right buyer who shares your vision and values, rather than solely focusing on speed as this will dramatically increase your chance of a successful business sale.

If you’re looking to sell your business, it’s essential that you determine the type of exit and buyer you want so you can market the business accordingly. Determine Your Business Qualities Before trying to attract the right buyer, create a list of the company’s positive attributes that make it an attractive investment opportunity. This will help you to create adverts, presentations, and pitches that highlight these positives and make the business case more compelling. Namely: Location: are you relocatable or do you have loyal local customers? Scaleablity & Growth: can you expand into new markets or scale easily? Have you identified new products or markets that will allow you to increase revenue? Reputation: do you have positive reviews and testimonials? Profit margin: is your profit margin in line with industry averages? Can it be improved? Asset value: what equipment, property or intellectual assets does the company own? Management team: is the company overly reliant on an owner wishing to exit or have you ensured a smooth handover process with a strong management team? Loyal customers: are you over-reliant on specific customers, or can you easily weather the loss of a valuable client? Flexibility: can your business easily adapt to changing market conditions such as an economic contraction or does it have cash in hand to do so? Once you have determined the strengths of your business, you need to identify the type of buyer who would find such a proposition attractive.   Create your ideal buyer profile A buyer profile helps you to define which acquirers will have the means and the will to purchase a business like yours, while achieving your post-exit objectives, such as staff retention. A buyer profile might include preferences for: Ethical positioning (you may be willing to take a lower valuation to secure future jobs) UK or foreign buyers Synergies Monetary position such as cash-rich instead of heavily leveraged Sectors of interest Minimum revenue requirements Builders of businesses rather than “restructuring” private equity firms   Draw Up A Target List Once you have drawn up the ideal characteristics of a buyer, you can create more detailed targets, possibly drawing from the following sources: Competitors Synergistic companies that are expanding Foreign buyers moving into the UK market Key customers that could save money by acquiring your business If you have significant revenues or are in a very specialist space, the range of potential buyers could be quite narrow. Many business owners will be able to easily identify their top five potential acquirers, but it is wise to research the market extensively to reach a wider pool, including international targets if that is of interest. Brainstorm what concerns potential buyers may have so you have a compelling answer for every question. Marketing Your Business After creating a buyer profile, you can craft a compelling advert to market your company on business sale directories. Use positive, upbeat language in your advert, emphasizing the potential to increase revenues and profit. In our experience, some sites have a far better return on investment, and the best outlet varies according to the type of business. It pays to research the best sites for your sector or use a business brokerage  to advise you accordingly. When advertising your business for sale, in most cases it makes sense to maintain confidentiality. You don’t want your competitors flagging your potential sale to your best customers as this could affect their relationship with you.   Using Your Network Another great way to attract potential buyers is through your network, albeit discreetly. LinkedIn Premium also gives you the advantage of contacting target acquirers directly. By reaching out to people you trust who might work in these businesses, you can prepare for any pitch more effectively as well.   Keeping a Buyer’s Interest It’s vital to be prepared before advertising your business or approaching potential buyers. Make sure your financials, contracts, manuals, handbooks, insurance, and legal matters are all up-to-date and easy to review so you can answer any buyer questions promptly. One of the fastest ways to lose the interest of a good buyer is to take too long in responding to their questions.    Getting Professional Help Attracting the right buyer can take time and involve a steep learning curve. If you are focused on running your company, business brokers can help speed up the process and find the right buyer much more quickly. We know the best ways to advertise businesses for sale, where to find the right buyers, and how to pitch the business to interested parties on your behalf. The best business brokers  have an extensive database of ready buyers keen to invest in the UK market. Our team can quickly match most businesses with a great fit. I nterested in finding out more? Contact our team today for more valuable advice or to get a free business valuation  from our business sale experts.

If you have launched an ecommerce business, you may need to know its worth, either to raise funding or if you are looking to sell it to a third party. Valuing an e-commerce business differs to those of bricks and mortar companies, because of the potential to scale and reach a much larger market. There are two main methods used by the industry - our guide gives you the key metrics used for online company valuations. In order to create a realistic valuation, you need up-to-date financials, including the profit/loss, assets, liabilities, and loans of the company. Once you’ve prepared these, you should determine your firm’s earning power, which can then be applied as a multiple to arrive at a business value. It’s important to note that the two most common approaches to valuing an eCommerce business include Sellers Discretionary Earnings (SDE) or Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA). However, these two methods may not give the true value of fast-growing businesses that are investing heavily in technology and growth. In this situation, you’ll need to forecast revenue and growth and then use those figures to arrive at a valuation, so long as your projections are realistic. Avoid relying on the growth-based method if you’re using SDE or EBITDA, which are discussed below. As a rule of thumb, SDE is used to value smaller companies, while the EBITDA metric is more commonly used when valuing large online companies. Let’s briefly go through how each method works. SDE: SDE is a valuation method using the Total Owner Benefit a business produces. It is based on the owner’s total cash flow which includes salary, benefits, and depreciation, and benefits received by the owner from the business. All of these items are added to the profit of the business to arrive at a valuation figure. EBITDA: EBITDA valuations involve using earnings before deducting interest expense, taxes, depreciation expenses, costs, and amortisation. Simply add depreciation or amortisation expenses to your operating profit to reach the EBITDA value. The figure will represent the underlying earning power of your company. Now that you have a ‘net income’ figure through either the EBITDA or SDE method, it’s time to determine the multiple. This is a figure multiplied by your SDE or EBITDA to attain your final business value. So, how do you determine this multiple? The most critical factors affecting your multiple include: Financials: Your eCommerce business’ financials will be the most critical and most complex factors. A business with comprehensive financial records and with up-to-date Income statements, Balance Sheets, and Cash Flow Statements, independently verified, will be considered reliable. From the buyers’ perspective, the more transparent you are about the eCommerce business, the more likely they will consider buying the business. Quality of Web Traffic: This is one of the most complex factors used to determine the revenue multiple. Common metrics used to evaluate traffic quality include pages per session, bounce rate, conversion rate, and average session duration. Apart from traffic quality, your backlink profile, trends in web traffic, and concentration of web traffic into specific resources will also be considered in calculating a multiple. Considering the complications involved, it’s best to consult a business sale broker who offers independent business valuations. Intellectual Property: As an eCommerce business owner, if you own any patents, copyrights, or trademarks, their value will need to be determined. Value of Customers: This is an obvious factor in the calculation of a revenue multiple. Your aim here should be to highlight any loyal customers who keep repeat ordering; relying on one or two suppliers can be per ceived as high risk Running Costs: Operating costs, such as rent for your eCommerce business’ office space, will also affect the revenue multiple Calculating the EBITDA Multiple The valuation range for UK e-commerce businesses varies greatly according to the sector, revenue level and potential to scale.  The majority of e-commerce businesses achieving under £1million in profit sell for between 3 X and 4.5 X their annual profit. However, in fast-growth sectors, and if a company has an exceptional management team, much higher multiples can be achieved. You should now have a clear idea of what you need to determine your ecommerce business valuation. If you are planning to sell your ecommerce business, it’s usually easiest to get a free independent valuation from a trusted professional. Contact us today for a free, independent business valuation for ecommerce businesses .

Rachel Reeves’ Budget, while aiming to raise revenues, appears to disproportionately hurt business owners, especially those hoping to sell small to medium-sized enterprises. The changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR), combined with operational cost hikes, create an environment where selling a business with a good return has become more challenging. Business owners planning exits must now carefully strategize to minimize tax liabilities and protect their hard-earned value. To fully understand the impact of these tax rises, it’s important to be aware of the current position: BADR allows the first £1 million received by an individual from most business sales to be taxed at 10% This is a lifetime value so once you sell assets over that figure you’ll go into a higher band for any future returns Not all businesses or individuals are entitled to BADR, and the rules are different for farms and buy-to-let businesses Individuals must also have held their business assets (shares or property) for at least two years to be eligible for BADR and not have used the £1m allowance previously In Reeves’ budget two major increases have been announced: The 10% rate for BADR up to £1million will increase to 14% after April 2025, and then to 18% after April 2026  - see our calculations below to see how this could affect your business sale The CGT rates also increase as follows: o   Lower rate taxpayers: 14% after April 2025, 18% after April 2026 o   Higher rate tax payers: this rises from 20% to 24% after April 2025 However, there are rumours that Reeves is looking to reduce the BADR allowance even further in the future, and well-placed sources told the Guardian newspaper that she has even been considering raising the CGT rate to 39%. If you want to sell a business within the next 18 months, time is of the essence. Here are some examples of how the tax bill for business sellers will increase dramatically after April 2025. These figures are only for individuals eligible for BADR.   Tax rates for an individual selling a £500,000 business Date Tax Yr 23-24 Tax Yr 24-25 Tax Yr 25-26 Business value 500000 500000 500000 Allowance 3000 3000 3000 Taxable 497000 497000 497000 Tax rate up to £1m BADR 10% 14% 18% Tax due up to £1m 49700 69580 89460 Taxable after £1m na na na Tax rate after £1m 20% 24% 24% Tax due after £1m BADR na na na Total tax 49700 69580 89460 Tax rates for an individual selling a £1 million business Date Tax Yr 23-24 Tax Yr 24-25 Tax Yr 25-26 Business value 1000000 1000000 1000000 Allowance 3000 3000 3000 Taxable 997000 997000 997000 Tax rate up to £1m BADR 10% 14% 18% Tax due up to £1m 99700 139580 179460 Taxable after £1m na na na Tax rate after £1m 20% 24% 24% Tax due after £1m BADR na na na Total tax 99700 139580 179460 Tax rates for an individual selling a £2 million business Date Tax Yr 23-24 Tax Yr 24-25 Tax Yr 25-26 Business value 2000000 2000000 2000000 Allowance 3000 3000 3000 Taxable 1997000 1997000 1997000 Tax rate up to £1m BADR 10% 14% 18% Tax due up to £1m 100000 140000 180000 Taxable after £1m 997000 997000 997000 Tax rate after £1m 20% 24% 24% Tax due after £1m BADR 199400 239280 239280 Total tax 299400 379280 419280   For business owners selling at under £500,000 the tax bill will nearly double, but these are significant hikes for anyone selling a business. BADR is effectively being phased out. Is there a way to avoid paying so much tax on a business sale from April 2025? It is worth speaking to specialist accountants who specialise in company sales as there are a number of ways you can minimise your CGT burden, which include: Reinvesting in schemes such as the The Enterprise Investment Scheme Transferring gains to your spouse Investing in your pension Offsetting other lossses Becoming non-dom (requires advanced planning of many years prior to the sale) The easiest way to avoid the tax rises is by selling your business before April 2025 or April 2026. How to Sell Your Business Fast If you want to avoid these significant increases, and you want to sell your business soon, our business brokers can help. Our team knows how to market your business to attract the right buyers quickly, how to negotiate a fair price, and how you can prepare for due diligence so that the process can be much faster.   Need a free business valuation or help selling your business fast ? Contact our helpful team today.

When selling your company, it's important that you budget for any associated costs, such as marketing, broker fees and even the time it takes for you to work through the business sale process. Our guide takes you through what to budget for during this exciting yet challenging time. The Cost of Marketing Your Business Sale Marketing your business effectively is one of the steps that requires careful planning. Simply listing your business online is usually not enough - a well-rounded marketing strategy is needed to attract serious buyers. This includes creating marketing materials, and paying for online advertising. If you are using a business broker service, they will create a compelling sales memorandum for you, but if your business is small you may want to use a copywriting service to do this for you instead. We provide this service at KBS. Business brokers will usually cover the cost of ads in their fees, but if you opt to go it alone, you can expect to pay around £50 per month to list your business sale on each site you decide to advertise on. Business Broker Fees Marketing your business on your own can be a false economy as you are likely to receive a lower valuation, make mistakes and have to deal with timewasters - and when you're running a business, time is definitely money! Business sales brokers generally charge an upfront fee to cover marketing costs, and a commission of 5% to 15% of the final sale price. Experienced business brokers will also have a database of vetted buyers, which can significantly speed up the sale process. A professional business broker will produce your sales memorandum, value your business, guide you on reasonable terms for the sale, and ensure you are aware of your legal obligations. If Property is Involved in the Business Sale When a business is put up for a sale and a property is included, an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) may be required should the property not be owned by the Limited Company being sold. An EPC provides a buyer with details about a property’s energy efficiency and likely carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. An EPC applies only to business properties which have ‘their own heating or conditioning units’.​ The cost of an EPC certificate can be up to £120.   In addition, if there is a risk of harmful materials being present, such as asbestos, the seller will have to pay for inspections to ensure the environment is safe. The costs of this will vary according to the size of the property and how hazardous the environment might be. Due Diligence Preparation Once you have interested buyers, they will begin a due diligence process—an in-depth examination of your financials, assets, and operations. It's wise to get all your accountancy records, client contracts and financial commitments organised as soon as possible for review, as this will also help to lower the costs of hiring professionals. Usually, the buyer will incur most of the cost of hiring professionals for due diligence, but it's important to budget for accountancy costs nonetheless, as well as the costs of employees undertaking this work instead of their normal duties. Legal Fees When Selling A Business When you are selling a business, it is essential that you hire a lawyer with M&A experience. Your solicitor will help negotiate the business sale contract that will cover the terms of the exit, such as valuation, handover period, and non-compete clauses. They will ensure you complete your legal obligations, including to your employees. Solicitors specialising in this area will either charge an hourly rate or a fee of 1-2% of the sale price. Employee Severance Packages:  If downsizing is part of the transition, you may need to offer severance packages. An average severance package can cost from two weeks to several months of base pay per employee. Tax Advice When Selling Your Business Understanding the tax implications of selling your business is vital before finalizing any agreements. Some entrepreneurs in the UK qualify for BADR but this is being nearly phased out after the Rachel Reeve's budget so time is of the essence if you do qualify and want to sell soon. Read our guide to the tax rises affecting business sales to find out more. Along with helping you prepare for due diligence, a good accountant will help you minimise your tax burden - which could involve re-investing some of the sale proceeds or even becoming an ex-pat for a time. Specialist tax advice is essential if you will receive a significant gain. Professional Guidance Can Be Invaluable Selling a business can feel like navigating a maze, but professionals can make the process easier. Working with professional business sale brokers can streamline the process so you can continue to run your business effectively. The best business brokers will even give you advice on how to make your company even more attractive, helping you achieve a much higher valuation. The Benefits of Professional Help: Expert Insight: Brokers understand current market trends and have negotiation experience. Their input can significantly affect the sale price, helping you to secure the best possible outcome. Cost-Effective Solutions: Although there's a fee for hiring a broker, the higher sale price they usually negotiate can lead to a better return on investment. Being aware of the costs associated with selling your business is critical for preserving your profits and ensuring a smooth transition. The more prepared you are, and the more help you get, the smoother the process will be! If you would like to find out more about KBS' business brokers, or would like a free business valuation, find out more using the links below.