Whether you have other project commitments, your e-commerce store is not profiting, you have run out of resources, or are simply unable to maintain it anymore, the reasons for selling an e-commerce store can be many. Since a lot of efforts are put into setting up an e-commerce store, right from beating your brains into selecting the products and business model, invest resources in getting the online store, and sweat equity into growing it, so, when it comes to selling off an e-commerce store, the only thing anyone wants is their store to be sold at a greatly profitable price, in a quick and hassle-free manner. To do this, it is indispensable that you have a well- thought strategy to ensure that your e-commerce store fetches best values and goes into the hands of someone who can nurture it just like you did. For this, you need to be aware of certain things and follow a well-planned guide. Given below is a step-by-step guide to selling your e-commerce store that can help you make a lucrative sale.
Ensure That You Are Ready To Sell
Setting up an e-commerce website requires a lot of efforts and time. From getting the website designed by the top e-commerce website designing company to setting up the store and launching it in the digital world, the process of getting your e-commerce store up and running can consume a lot from anyone. Thus, selling it can be a big decision. Be sure about the reason to sell your e-commerce store. Is it not yielding profits? Do you have any other project to focus on? Or do you just want someone else to take over your reins? Whatever your reason for selling your e-commerce store; ensure that you are 100% ready to sell. Also, make sure that you do not have the fear of selling too soon to avoid any fear of missing out in case the new owner of your e-commerce store makes it big.
Understand the Process Of Selling
Once you have totally made up your mind to sell your e-commerce store, it is now important to understand the entire process of selling an e-commerce store. Although the selling process for e-commerce is quite simple and straightforward, it can get tricky and complex in case of large e-commerce stores. The basic process of selling an e-commerce store is pretty simple. Here are the steps included in the process of selling an e-commerce store:
- Get the perfect valuation of your business. Take into consideration all the inventory and other things while evaluating the e-commerce store.
- Create a well-organized prospectus with all the facts and figures of the business mention clearly.
- Get started with finding potential buyers for the e-commerce store. They could be found on different marketplaces.
- Discuss the price of the e-commerce store and the terms of selling that you would like the next owner of your store to follow with the potential buyers.
- Once you've selected the buyer, verify the financial records to ensure that he/she is capable of handling and growing your e-commerce store.
- Your job does not end here. To complete the selling procedure successfully, it is important that you train the new owner of your e-commerce store about the working of your store and share some tips to run the business successfully.
Know Your E-Commerce Business's Worth
The next step in selling an e-commerce store is to know the total worth of the e-commerce business. Proceeding to sell the store without getting it evaluated by some expert could only lead to a loss. It is important to know the true value of the business, its monthly turnover, the value of the entire inventory in the store, the expense for operations along with the owner compensation to correctly evaluate the business. Have a valuation scorecard and a Seller's Discretionary Cash Flow for your e-commerce store before selling it out to any buyer.
Increase The Value Of Business Before Selling
To fetch the best price for your e-commerce store, it is indispensable that you increase the value of your store. There are many e-commerce store owners on Shopify who get their property value from evaluated and then take six to ten months to increase their store value before selling it off. You can also increase the value of your e-commerce store by analyzing the store to achieve an increased value. Some of the simple things to achieve to boost value are to know the predictable new sales drivers, increase traffic inflow, reduce friction on your e-commerce website, gain repeat sales and visitors, show growth potential, clear out any signs of legal history.
Find The Best E-Commerce Marketplaces
The next step is to find the best e-commerce marketplace where you can sell your e-commerce store. There are several online marketplaces where you can find entrepreneurs and buyers for your online businesses. Some of the top marketplaces where you can list your e-commerce site are:
- Flippa: With more than five thousand businesses and domains getting listed on this platform every day, Flippa is one of the oldest marketplaces where you can list your e-commerce store to attract buyers.
- Digital Exits: Digital Exits is a great marketplace for medium-sized online businesses that are making around $100k $20m.
- Empire Flippers: To sell your e-commerce store, Empire Flippers is another amazing marketplace that not just helps you find buyers but also estimated a price more than 30%-40% of the average sale in 3-12 months.
In a nutshell, to sell your e-commerce store, you first need to ensure that you are ready and understand the process of selling. Once you know that, the value of the business needs to be evaluated so that you can work to increase its value to fetch a better price. And finally, you can list your business on different marketplaces to attract buyers.