Is it time to change your life’s direction for a personal or professional reason? If so, find out how to sell your gift basket business.
Closing shop
Lots of aspiring entrepreneurs start making gift baskets as a business, but many don’t set up their businesses to sell it to a buyer or similar investor.
The many going-out-of-business ads on Craigslist and Facebook tell the story. There is lots of merchandise for sale for pennies below the original price, and few want to buy it.
You put a substantial amount of money into your business during the start-up phase. At the end, most products sell for lower than the original asking price. The rest is held for wrapping personal gifts or simply put into the trash.
If you own a gift basket business now, what’s the end game? Do you plan to sell your business, or will the idea of making and selling gift baskets die with you?
Perhaps you’re not thinking about all of the items that relatives will have to organize and sell or discard if you still have the business when you leave the Earth. It’s another task they’ll perform in addition to gathering your personal belongings.
If none of that matters, fine. However, you have the ability to sell your gift basket business and enjoy the funds from that investment if you structure your enterprise the right way.
Focus on five components
Now that you’re thinking about the end of your successful business, you’ll have to organize the internal part in a way that investors and buyers expect as they inspect what you offer. This includes:
- Accounting. Your financials are to be in a well-structured system.
- Inventory. Account for and arrange all all products.
- Systems. Explain the way you operate in a written form.
- Clients. Records showing who buys from you is crucial to maintain.
- Marketing. Document every way you reach the public.
These five areas are a quick look at what buyers and investors want to see when considering buying your business. There is a lot more, and if you don’t start your enterprise with the end in mind, it will be difficult to organize your business later on.
Plan to win
Maybe selling isn’t in your sights because you make gift baskets as a hobby. That’s understandable. However, if you consistently earn at least five figures every year (it has to be the right five figures), there is potential for a decent buyout. Are you set up for such an offer?
Designers who turn to me for advice each month, an option that’s open to you as well, operate their gift basket businesses like well-oiled machines. When they arrive each day in the studio, they know what to do first and how to proceed. There is no time for games or wondering where sales come from.
Everything is in order to ensure that marketing equals orders and referrals. That’s a valuable system to make potential buyers drool with interest, and when the sale is done, you can start another business, stay on board after the sale to manage the operation (if that’s part of the deal), or consult with entrepreneurs who are considering the same type of business sale you completed.
The way you handle your business is in your hands. You can treat it like it’s gold or as if it’s tarnished. Which do you prefer?
