Most people think heavy promotion is a necessity when it comes to making a sale. After all, when you sell a car, you want word to spread. More people mean more chance for a sale. This, however, is not the case when it comes to selling a business.
What is true for both the sale of a home and the sale of a business is that the goal is to receive top dollar in the sale. Unfortunately, the asking price can be negatively impacted by publicly advertising the sale. Once this information becomes public knowledge, the potential disruptions to the business are great. Confidentiality is of the utmost concern for multiple reasons.
Here are a few of the reasons why Alliant Capital believes confidentiality is critical to the sale of your business.
Employees
Once employees learn that a business is for sale, the natural tendency is to start worrying about jobs. Employees fear the impending changes, and this uncertainly can impact both productivity and loyalty, even causing employees to leave prematurely. Once employees start focusing on finding another job, it will impact the overall atmosphere of the company. This can be especially true of key employees – those who are essential to the every day operation of the business as a whole.
Volume
Similar to employees, your customers may also fear change in ownership. Repeat customers might grow concerned about the impact to products, services, and pricing. Rather than waiting to see how things change, they may start doing business with your competitors. This loss can be detrimental for both long and short term sales, and can jeopardize the overall sale of the business. After all, most businesses take up to a year to sell and maintaining volume is crucial.
Vendors
Another factor to consider is your suppliers. Any relationship changes for them can affect their own bottom line. They may look for ways to alter the ways you have been doing business together or change the payment options you have been using
Competitors
Once your competition gets wind that you might sell the business, they would be happy to advertise for you! After all, this provides them with an easy advantage of offering stability, guaranteeing that their products or services will not change, etc. They can literally “step in” to your market and poach those customers already on the fence. Additionally, since the process of selling a business can take awhile to complete, your competition may cast doubt on the overall health of the company by questioning the reasons it is not selling. Not exactly fair, but certainly this is a risk without confidentiality.
These factors are why we believe confidentiality is a first and constant priority. It is pivotal to provide maximum exposure with minimum disclosure until a qualified buyer is available.
About Alliant Capital Advisors
At Alliant Capital Advisors, our only business is selling your business…confidentially. Located in Nashville, TN Alliant Capital Advisors, LLC is the largest full-service intermediary firm in four mid-south states, offering exit strategies to privately held business owners. From Main Street sales and mid-market transactions, to high-level mergers and acquisitions, Alliant employs decades of collective experience in corporate practice and as brokers, and we observe the highest professional standards in our industry.
If personal and professional integrity are our foundation, then the cornerstone of our service is a highly disciplined process which guides, guards and serves our clients like none other. Confidentiality is our first and constant priority, as our brokers guide clients through valuation, marketing, screening, buyer qualification and education, negotiation and closing. Unlike many other intermediary firms, Alliant’s business model is strictly “pay for performance”. We only receive a Success Fee when we close the sale.
Whether you are interested in buying or selling a business in Nashville, we invite you to contact us for a free and confidential consultation and valuation.