Buyer Offers Advice to Sellers

I just heard from my good friend who is still trying to buy a printing business. After giving it a rest for a couple of weeks, he wrote me and summarized his recent experiences. I think his views are insightful and I wanted to pass them along:

"As I evaluated our experience with trying to purchase a business, I realized that in reality, the owners of the businesses we met, forgot that their real objective was to sell the business. They get all caught up in the mechanics of confidentiality, protecting things which in the end, are just general knowledge, and frankly, create obstacles for the purchasers.... They become their worst enemy when trying to sell a business. They treat the potential purchaser as a spy, an enemy from whom they have to protect themselves. As you very well said, and I actually did when I sold two of my businesses, the first people I told, were the employees, and actually gave them a chance to become the new owners, if they would find somebody to finance them. Anyhow, I just wanted to give you this thought."

Even in the worst of times, there will always be qualified buyers interested in buying a printing business, but sellers need to adopt a new and improved attitude that treats potential buyers as allies rather than a spies or individuals wishing to do them harm!

Feel free to provide your feedback on this as well as other comments.