Sell Your Marine Business in Australia
Selling a business in the Marine Industry is not dissimilar to selling any business. Marine businesses are often run by the owner plus they may have some staff including qualified marine mechanics and or apprentice staff.
Read on for more on how to sell your business for the best price possible, and move on to your next opportunity in life as quickly and easily as you can.
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Selling Your Marine Business Online Just Like a Broker
There are many different types of Marine Businesses in retail, tourism, manufacturing and predominantly servicing within the industry. whether it be surf schools for sale, boat repair businesses, boat hire, marine retail businesses or touring businesses, anything related to sea, rivers, Marines, Harbours etc all come under the Marine or Marina Industry.
Including:
- – Boat Hire Business
- – Boat Sales Business
- – Boat Manufacturing Business
- – Maritime Business
- – Boat Repair Business
- – Outboard Mechanics
- – Boating Tours
- – Panel Beating
- – Charter Boats
- – Boat Accessories
- – Cruise Companies
- – Angler / Fishing
- – Marine Tourism
- – Marine Retail Business
- – Marina Hire
- – Marine Business
- – Marine Driving Schools
- – Marine
- – Sailing Tours
- – Yacht Sales
- – Fisheries
- – Marine & Salvage
- – Ships and cargos
Why are you selling your marine business
here are many reasons why someone wants or needs to sell their Marine Business. Perhaps its you are nearing retirement, or maybe you have lost your best staff member or partner. Perhaps it is personal circumstances, or perhaps your business is now at its best! No matter what the reason, you probably already know why! Don’t make the mistake of delaying the inevitable. You have already decided to sell. The most common mistake of many business owners not achieving the right price for their business is because they left it too long before putting the business on the market. It is not healthy to keep a business longer than you wanted. More often than not you will get tired and lose interest in the business and possibly have less profits and more stress!
Know the benefits of your marine business
When preparing to sell your Marine business, it is important to know the benefits of your business. Years of trading – (this can include your time and any previous owners demonstrating longevity of your business). The specialties of your business; like outboard motor repairs or other specialties such as yachts, charters, boat sales etc. your service and particularly your point of difference! Talk about your staff, the achievements of the business and your typical type of customers. The benefits of the location like: ‘great exposure’, plenty of on-site parking, ‘surrounded by other related businesses’, high tourist spot or very reasonable rent! Talk about your competition. There is nothing wrong if there are several other marine businesses in your area, this often attracts more customers to come to your location. If you don’t the prospective buyer will! Further potential is also worthwhile including, as it demonstrates to the buyer that there are other things they can earn an income from. This could be as simple as setting up or updating your website or social media pages. If you sell parts then add a shopping cart so that you can sell more parts and accessories on-line. Its OK if you don’t have a website, just point this out to the new prospective buyer as further potential. Most business owners know other opportunities but have never had a chance to execute them. But now is the time to express this to a potential buyer. Future growth and/or development of the area. Many Marine businesses are locational based in seaboard towns and usually near water, however you may be a Boating Sales Company situated in a suburb. The more population in your local area, the more potential customers you have. This is a positive thing to demonstrate.
List all of your assets
This is easy to do. Just list all the items that you are including in the sale of your business. Assets can be ‘hard assets’ such as boats, yachts, cranes, dry docks, dry suits, superlight helmets, all associated machinery and stock and accessories. Assets also can be ‘soft assets’ like your computerised database of clients, your cash register software or point of sale equipment. It can also be your website, domain name, your social media platforms. It can also be Propriety software (or IP). Once you start realising your assets, this helps towards achieving a better sale price for your business. Often you will already have an ‘assets register’ included in your financials, so that would be the first place to look. Some business also have certain equipment or software that is leased, so these should be included on your list with any financial commitment details. Tip: Check with your accountant.
Get your documentation ready
Leasing Details If you are renting the premises your business is in, then get a copy of your lease. The buyer will want to see these arrangements. Often a business has plenty of options (i.e. 5×5 years). Even if you have a month by month lease you will still have a Lease Agreement. No matter what type: put yourself in a buyer’s shoes, you would want to know that when buying your business, there is a secure lease is, or can be put in place. If you are fortunate enough to own the premises, then consider whether or not you are selling the premises with the business. Alternatively, you may want to keep the premises and just sell the business and lease the premises to the new owner. Profit and Loss No matter what the financials are, a prospective new buyer will want to see them. Usually the last 2 or 3 years of trading are acceptable and depending on the time of the year you are selling, it is satisfactory to only have up to the previous financial year. Most small businesses have their financials up-to-date or just over 12 months old. Your financials should not be shown until you have a genuine interested buyer. The buyers are initially interested in what they see and what you are telling them, like the benefits and the future opportunities. Is it hard to sell my marine business without a broker? No it’s not. Remember, you have owned and operated your business for a while now and you know your business inside and out. Certainly, better than any Broker would. There would be very few Brokers that specialise in Marine Businesses. If you have done all of the above, then you are well on your way and ready to market your marine business for sale. Until you start advertising the sale of your business, then you won’t know who is interested. Getting the right advertising exposure to attract the right buyers to buy your marine business is very important. A broker would use major sites to list your business for sale, but you can too. The main difference is that you have control over who is looking at buying your business and when you sell, you won’t be paying any commissions whatsoever. The benefits of selling privately far out way selling those through a broker. Of course, Business Brokers may tell you differently. You have worked a long time in your business and brokers often charge very hefty commissions, especially in a specialist area like Marine Businesses. Often commissions can exceed 10%. 10%!!!! of the whole business sale price. That’s 10% of your equipment, 10% of your good name and 10% out of your pocket. You may have already purchased your business previously, or even paid for a new set-up. So be well informed how much it is really costing you to sell through a broker. Example: In 2015 you purchased your business for $280,000 including stock. During the running of your business you have replaced equipment items (value $70,000). You have also increased the revenue. Today your business may be worth $460,000 including stock. So if a broker is charging 10%, then you will need to pay them $46,000 + advertising costs (lets round it to $46k). Your profit from the sale is the sale price ($460k) less your original set-up and extra expenditure ($350k) – profit is $100k. So, $46,000 to your broker is 46%! YOU are the one who deserves this, not the broker. Be aware 10% does not mean 10% it is more likely 40-50%
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