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How to sell your business to a competitor

Travis Strack, with Lion Business Brokers of Oklahoma

Want to know how to sell your business to a competitor? You’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to learn how to sell your company to another business in your industry.

Why would you want to sell your business to a competitor?

Selling to a competitor is often the easiest way to sell your business. Your competitors would probably love to acquire your customer base and any trade secrets you were keeping over the life of your company. This means that you don’t have to spend any time advertising your business for sale — you can just approach them and get the process in motion!

If you have multiple competitors who might be interested in buying your business, this can be an even better opportunity. They’ll likely engage in a bidding war to acquire you, meaning you might get more money than you hoped.

How to sell your business to a competitor

Selling to a competitor is pretty much the same as selling to any other person, with a few small differences. Here are some tips to help you through the process:

  • Get a business valuation — Have a certified appraiser determine the value of your business so you know what it’s worth and can maximize your profit.
  • Set your terms — If you want to stay at the company in a management or advisory role, determine this ahead of time so you can make this a term of the sale.
  • Put your emotions aside — You might feel like you’re giving up or bowing down to your competitors by selling to them, but push your emotions aside and remember that you’re doing this for a reason.
  • Keep your secrets secret until after the sale — There’s always a chance that your competitors will act interested in buying only to get trade secrets out of you, so don’t give up any important business information until you have a check in your hand.
  • Hire a professional broker — A professional broker will oversee the sales process from beginning to end, ensuring that you get exactly what you deserve from the sale of your business.

Lion Business Brokers is here to help you

If you’re thinking about selling your business to a competitor (or anyone else), we want to help. We bring strategic insight, industry expertise and cutting-edge technology to our work in representing sellers, and we’ll make sure that you walk away from your sale in good shape. Contact us today for a free business valuation to learn how we can help you.