The Importance of Confidential Business Marketing

The Importance of Confidential Business Marketing

The decision about whether or not to sell your business can be a difficult one. But once you have made up your mind that now is the time to pursue divestiture, you are faced with the even bigger question of how to put your business on the market without damaging your relationship with your customers and clients or causing turbulence in your workforce.

In many industries, part of what makes a business succeed is the perception of stability. People want to know that they will be able to count on the same degree of service next month that they received today, and the prospect of a new owner or new management can be perceived as a disruption.

This state of affairs puts owners in the seemingly impossible position of wanting to capitalize on the value of their companies but being unable to do so without jeopardizing that very value.

This paradox is why confidential business marketing is such an important aspect of divestiture, and it is one of the reasons so many business owners choose to work with an advisory and brokerage firm to help them find potential buyers without going public.

How Confidential Business Marketing Works

Confidential business marketing can involve a number of different strategies, but one of the most common is the “blind profile.” A blind profile attracts the interest of potential buyers by presenting the essential facts about your business but scrubbed of any details that could be used to identify the business itself.

Once this profile has been created, it can be marketed publicly through:

You can enter into discussions about specifics after interested buyers come forward, so this is a great way to get a feel for what interest there might be without committing yourself to make a sale.

confidential business marketing

The Role Business Brokers Play

Business brokers make the sales process much simpler by offering a blanket range of services to help companies find buyers in a confidential way.

For example, brokers can develop multi-point strategies that include blind profiles and marketplace advertising as well as more targeted approaches that identify potential buyers and reach out to them proactively.

Working with a broker is a great way to avoid the issues that may arise during confidential business marketing, and to get results quickly. Brokers can also play a vital role by screening interested buyers to weed out those that are unlikely to be a good fit, and because they are experts in deal making they can help make sure that when the time comes to close the sale, you have skilled negotiators in your corner.

If you’ve never sold a business before, you might find the process more complicated than you initially expected. There are a lot of things to take into account, and the last thing you want to do is cause lasting harm to your company by going public about your interest to sell.

Instead, explore your options for confidential business marketing and find a broker with the expertise to ensure a seamless, successful sale.