Perhaps you’ve considered buying an existing business to help you jumpstart your entrepreneurial journey – or even considered selling your own. If you’re in either boat, a logical question to be asking is, “How do you figure the worth of a business?” The answer: a business valuation tool.
We’re going to cover this question in detail and much more here as we dive into the many opportunities available to you if you’re interested in buying a business or selling your own business.
We’ll also be sharing a free Business Valuation Tool that just keeps on giving from our friends and sponsorship partners over at Flippa!
How do You Figure The Worth of a Business?
If you’re looking to buy or sell an existing business, figuring out the worth is a pretty important step. This is where a business valuation tool comes in handy!
Just ask Steven Gliebe, founder of Personality Max.
When Steven first started thinking about selling his high-traffic website offering free personality tests, he started with valuation research.
He quickly discovered Flippa, the number one marketplace to buy and sell digital real estate, and also that they offer a business valuation tool that just keeps on giving!
Thanks to Flippa’s free business valuation tool, plus their seamless process for helping you list your business, Steven had Personality Max listed in just 48 hours.
Check out Flippa’s free instant business valuation tool right here:
Steven’s Business Description From Flippa
Personality Max launched in 2010, is a high-traffic website offering its free “ultimate personality test” with up to 20 pages of personalized results and charts. It has averaged $3,625/month net income over the last 12 months (from May, 2019).
During the same period, Google Analytics reported an average of 250,000 sessions per month. Income is almost completely passive, with just a couple hours of work per month. The traffic is organic. As a side-project, there has been zero active marketing effort for many years (excellent potential for growth).
After having Personality Max listed for just 15 days, Steven’s business sold for $254,000!
I know, this might be making it seem all too easy to list and sell – or search and buy – a business. But platforms like Flippa were literally invented to make it so!
No red tape, no running things up the chain, not even a need for a broker…
And as you can see, Flippa’s platform makes it super simple for you to share all the details necessary with an interested buyer.
How do I Sell My Business Without a Broker?
Oh yes – the wide world of brokers and the many pros and cons to using one!
If you’ve worked with a broker before, then you’re familiar with the likelihood of being committed to them for a period of time – typically a minimum of 30 days, all the way up to six plus months. Pretty typical, but this requirement is one of many you’ll find in your agreement.
I’m not saying working with a broker is a bad thing, but if you’re wondering how to sell a small business without a broker, I’m here to tell you it’s very possible.
If you list an asset on Flippa there are terms against you listing it elsewhere at the same time. In other words, there is an exclusivity clause.
But perhaps one of Flippa’s biggest differentiators is that their platform connects you directly peer-to-peer – meaning buyers and sellers meet on the platform – then negotiate and exchange funds and assets directly!
The Ease of Use is What Attracted Adam Dolan to Flippa.
What started out as a hobby selling Automotive Art Prints on Etsy in 2015 quickly turned into an eCommerce niche site for DolanPaperCo.com. Kudos to Adam, as we’re huge fans of discovering your niche and going one inch wide and one mile deep!
By 2019 Adam and his wife were netting nearly $15k / month from sales on Etsy, Amazon, and their Shopify website.
That’s about the time they decided they were ready for a new adventure: starting a family.
With a desire to shift their focus to becoming parents, Adam was looking for a way to sell his business without going through the process of hiring a broker and potentially waiting months – if not years – to sell his business.
Thanks to Flippa, he sold his business in just 4 months.
Because Flippa is the largest marketplace globally for buying and selling sites, stores, apps and online businesses, it’s easy to see why connecting buyers and sellers directly on the platform to negotiate and exchange funds and assets works so great.
And with over 30,000 new buyers joining Flippa monthly and over 300,000 buyers globally, it’s no wonder Flippa is the number one marketplace to buy and sell digital real estate!
How Much Does it Cost to Sell a Business?
Great question, and it’s what we’ll wrap up with.
Every business is unique. From its beginnings, to its setup, to its profit margins, and beyond. Every business has a story, a history, and a whole lot of blood, sweat, and tears that goes into it.
With Flippa, the cost of selling your business depends on the value of your business, which is why it’s great to be able to leverage their free instant business valuation tool.
Check out Flippa’s free instant business valuation tool right here:
Along with getting an instant business valuation for your business, you’ll also receive insights from Flippa on how to improve sellability. Just check out this treasure trove of resources!
And to give you some insights into the fees associated with listing on Flippa, there is a one off listing fee of $49. Then, there’s a variable success fee depending on the final sale price.
- For listings that sell for up to $50k, the success fee is 10%.
- For listings that sell from 50k to 100k the success fee is 7.5%
- For listings that sell for $100k plus, the success fee is 5%.
Flippa also offers a price guarantee, meaning they’ll beat any platform or broker on success fees. Simply send Flippa evidence of the quote (or similar) and they’ll beat the offer by 1%!
And as you can see with Steven and Adam’s examples, buying and selling a business on Flippa isn’t limited to the million-dollar businesses of the world. Heck, you can even sell your domain on Flippa!
Learn More About Buying and Selling Online Businesses
Once you’ve checked out Flippa’s free instant business valuation tool, be sure to check out the other resources they offer those looking to buy and sell all sorts of digital real estate, like with their podcast, The Exit.
Dive into the many opportunities available to anyone who is interested in buying or selling an online business by tuning into Flippa’s podcast The Exit.
In 30 minutes, you’ll hear directly from people who have bought and sold businesses – how they did it and why they did it. Talk about finding out the worth of a business… this podcast will give you loads of examples and the specific steps to help you along your entire journey with buying or selling a business!
Oh, and don’t forget to check out those resources from Flippa to help you prepare, list, AND sell your business successfully!
