When you’re selling your business, one of the first things you’ll need to do is to create a business for sale advertisement. The advertisement is the first thing potential buyers see when they are looking for a business to buy so you want it to be good. The ad should create interest in your business so that potential buyers want to learn more.
Here are 5 tips for your business for sale ad:
- Catchy title that tells buyers something about your business: The ad title needs to be catch potential buyers attention and broadly say what the business does. Examples of ad headlines include: Profitable Brentwood Baker For Sale or Iconic Bike Shop for Sale. The ad does not tell buyers everything the business does or offers – just one or two key features.
- Nice looking photo that shows buyers what the business does: An ad must have an attractive photo showing what the business does. Stock photos are great, especially when the sale is confidential.
- Basic description of what the business does: The advertisement should have a few paragraphs of information about the business. Text should describe what the business does and how the business makes money. It can be useful to talk about employees or the owners role. It can also be helpful to talk about how a future owner might run the business. The main thing for the advertisement text is that it isn’t too wordy or doesn’t tell too much. It is a short description of the business so that shoppers can decide if they want to learn more.
- Some key financial highlights: Ads must include financial highlights like annual revenues, profit and sale price. Sometimes it makes sense to include the cost of the lease. The main thing buyers want to see are the asking price, revenues and profits – these facts tell a smart buyer how the business is valued and they want to see how the business compares to others for sale.
- Reason for the sale: Always list a reason for selling in your ad. It doesn’t have to be a whole dramatic thing – one sentence is appropriate. You can say that the owner is retiring or that the owner is going to raise bees or whatever it is, just explain it.
The goal of the ad is the drive interest in buyers taking the next step – getting the sales deck (which will be a future post!). Remember, in most cases buyers do not know the name of the business for sale until after they have signed a non-disclosure agreement.
As always, reach out to us to learn more about our services. We can help you with any part of your sale, from advertisement creation to full brokerage services.
