A Business For Sale in Asia - Selling Through the Internet
Recently, one of the businesses listed on our website as a business for sale emailed us about their recent success in selling their business in the Philippines. We received an email from one of the children of the business owner we thought to share this experience with the wider community because there are some useful tips about finding buyers.
The owner of the trading business had started the company in 1976 and had developed it into a substantial family owned business specializing in home decor products. The business had fairly done well over the years and the owner had decided that they would like to see what potential buyers may be prepared to pay for the business itself. A business sale would only be considered if the price was right. The owner did not wish to engage a business broker initially as they were not yet sure that they would proceed with any sale. Instead, they chose to place an advertisement in the paper in the classified section to gauge the response. The advertisement was placed for three consecutive days in a major newspaper without providing too many specific details. After placing the advertisement, there was not even a single reply so the owner was prepared to forget the idea. One of the family mentioned posting an advertisement on the internet as this was a new option that had to be at least considered.
So with that in mind an advertisement was placed on our website. Within three weeks they had received two serious enquires, one from an investor in the UK and the other from China. It turns out that both interested parties were interested in making an attractive offer for the business. The Chinese investor was looking at expanding in the Philippines and the UK investor was looking on behalf of a syndicate of investors. Both potential parties made offers to the company for substantially more than they would have expected from local business investors. At the end of the day the sale occurred to the Chinese buyer as the payment and earnout terms were the most attractive.
A key lesson of selling a business here is to maximize the number of potential buyers. Traditional newspaper advertisements only showcase an advertisement for a limited period usually a single day. It is unlikely that most serious qualified buyers of a business are going to be reading the newspaper on that day and to place and advertisement in the paper over a series of weeks will cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Newspaper advertisements also limit the list of potential buyers from other towns or other countries and in this day and age, buyers are often international themselves. A sound strategy should be to consider both newspaper and internet advertising.
The success that this story represents demonstrates the power of the internet itself in connecting business people in general. It has been a great vote of confidence in the future of business for sale listings in Asia with the internet. A Business for sale is all about finding the most qualified buyers and the web is a valuable instrument to make that a success. The internet has provides an excellent means to view the many exciting business and investment opportunities in Asia today.
A current listing of business for sale and investment opportunities is available at http://www.asiabusinessinvestor.com
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