Selling a company, regardless of the industry or size, is a process. It's worth it start it by assessing the value of the entity. We can choose from many methods - comparative, income or property. The aspect of the potential investor's assessment of the return on investment is very important here. Therefore, we have to prove that our company has a high return potential. However, there are several ways that will affect the value of the traded entity. So what to do to get a higher price when negotiating? And how can you increase brand value? We advise.
Aware of the values
Brand value is becoming an increasingly popular slogan, which is used not only by the recipient focused on selling or buying a company. Large editorial offices or business entities regularly publish brand rankings and valuations. State-owned enterprises with Polish capital are valued as well personal brands (e.g. footballers). The valuation is most often based on the so-called royalty relief. It consists in determining a license fee that could be charged by the brand owner at the moment when he would decide to surrender the rights to use a given brand. After the publication, it can be noticed how widely the decreases, increases and also debuts are commented on. This applies to both stationary brands and brands operating on the Internet. And the value of the latter, in particular, often becomes the subject of numerous discussions.
Company sale? Let numbers become arguments
As Bill Gates, the famous co-founder of Microsoft, said, "Every company's business begins and ends with an in-depth analysis of numbers." What numbers can we talk about for your business? And why does the sale of the company have to be supported by them?
Sale of the company
Here is a list of hard data that should be included in the sales presentation - both in the context of the current situation and the potential in the coming years:
- Number of media publications about the brand
- The reach of media publications
- Unique website visitors
- Seasonal brand name searches on Google (how many people enter its name in the search engine)
- Number of website views
- The position of the domain in the search results
- The number of clicks on the "contact" tab on the website
- Number of inquiries (and value)
- Number of customers (growth trend)
- ROI of advertising campaigns
- Brand vs. Competition (market share, growth, advantages)
- Distribution (online / offline)
- Number of contracts signed
- Amounts of long-term contracts / agreements
- Own, unique solutions
Why is it so important? The numbers don't lie. They don't create the illusion of success. It's hard to argue with numbers. These are facts that can speak in favor of your business and make it easier to sell your business. However, if you need support in this area - the support of marketing advisors who will help you generate an even better result can be helpful.
Let "Your People" contribute to increasing the brand value
A strong argument when negotiating the selling price of a brand can be the value of the team that makes up the company. It is he who largely decides whether an entity will be able to build a competitive advantage in the future, implement a sales strategy and contribute to an increase in market share. Therefore, if you employ experts whose statements appear in the media, and who actively build their image, contributing to building the company's image, you will automatically contribute to the growth of the value of the entire organization. The lack of a qualified team also requires recruitment (currently it is a difficult and expensive process). This, in turn, generates costs and may reduce the company's price. It is worth taking care of this area properly. For this you can use, for example, appropriate PR tools that increase the value of the brand and minimize problems with recruiting qualified staff. So what can we do?
- To present specialist knowledge, unique experience or creativity of experts in external communication - explains Sebastian Kopiej from the Commplace agency. - Expert comments, industry reports or articles - these are just some of the tools that can positively affect the perceived value of the brand, thus constituting a strong argument in negotiations with the future owner - adds a specialist from Commplace.
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Selling a company and increasing brand value through references
The sale of the company is based not only on "hard data". The essence of referral marketing is to motivate consumers to share their experience. The implementation does not require significant financial outlays, but time and energy - yours, recipients of your offer or business partners. With minimal effort, you can gain a powerful tool that will increase the perceived value of the company. Moreover, the solution is available to any type of organization. In fact, any company, regardless of the industry, can benefit from referral marketing. It is enough for it to meet one simple condition - it has satisfied customers / business partners. A large number of positive recommendations is a clear signal for potential buyers, which proves that the brand is perceived positively on the market. And what kind of recommendations are we talking about? Belong to them:
- written references,
- reviews on Google Maps,
- photo references,
- video references,
- customers opinion in social media,
- opinions on thematic portals (e.g. GoWork, Tripadvisor),
- and other.
Sale of the company
It is also worth paying attention to the so-called Sensitive phrases related to the brand. What are they? To put it simply, these are phrases in the Google search engine:
- brand + reviews
- brand + work
- brand + job reviews
The method of verification is simple - just enter them in the search engine using your own brand name to see which pages the potential customer goes to after entering them.
Make the headlines (but not just newspapers!)
The sale of the company must be strategically planned. Use the power of the greatest medium - the Internet. Gemius analyzes have shown that approx. 97% of Polish internet users use the Google search engine. What does this mean for your brand? Your potential customer is just entering a phrase related to your brand on Google. What's more, almost in 90% it will only look through the search results from the first page (from the so-called TOP 10). And the 63% who asks a Google search will click on the first three links.
- The appearance of your website, and therefore your brand high in the search results, is a market potential, prestige and an element of competition with the competition. It is the search engine that "deals the strongest cards". Why? It's simple - most decisions start with the search. How can this be implemented? By using appropriate SEO tools (e.g. Marketing Conversion) that connect content marketing with sale. Ultimately, strengthening conversions and increasing the value of the brand - sums up Sebastian Kopiej from Commplace.
Brand awareness grows year by year. This is an opportunity for all those who think about selling the businesses they have built so far. At the very beginning, however, it is worth carrying out a few activities that will positively affect increasing the brand value. Thus, they will allow you to achieve greater profit on sale. Improving the visibility of the site in search results, verifying opinions about the brand, creating expert content, or implementing procedures related to reference marketing - these are a few activities that you can start with now. And you will surely see their positive effect when negotiating the price with a potential buyer.