Entrepreneurs often worry about how to accurately value and buy a business that is up for sale. Numerous intangibles can often be involved and these can “muddy the waters” when it comes to arriving at a true value. It’s possible to investigate all the financials, refer to benchmarks and talk to experts, valuing leasehold or freehold asset positions, inventory levels and generally conducting a wide exploration. When you’re looking at a website for sale, though, a number of other issues may emerge during this process.
The Internet has expanded and become a significant and fundamental part of our lives during the relatively short period of its existence. It’s difficult to imagine how we would function in many respects without Internet access and our ability to jump online and find answers to our ever-growing list of questions. It is this invaluable nature that should make a website business attractive to start off with. After all, if the business has been well put together, then there could be a whole lot of potential for growth. As we go forward into the new decade, we will undoubtedly rely more on the Internet for our research and the subsequent purchase of services and products.
As the Internet is still relatively in its infancy, many conflicting valuations may arise and you could be faced with seemingly contradictory facts and figures. Certainly we may find that it is difficult to value an Internet business, but due to the very nature of the beast it is likely that we will be able to find all the resources necessary to conduct our research online.
Generally speaking, an Internet business is only as good as its website and its traffic generation methods. Remember that we are looking at Internet marketing methods, list generation, e-mail interaction and other variables and not conventional marketing approaches.
A website often relies on the strength of its domain name, and originality and creativity can sometimes represent a distinct value; you will be able to check this value at specific sites online. Remember that a majority of people find websites through search engines and the optimization of the site is important relative to the keywords used by the searchers. You will need to know what the specific keywords are for the business and how the seller actually markets them.
You need to know everything you can find out about the design and construction of the website. You may well need to get help if you are not technologically astute. Who designed and built the website, who maintains it, what coding is used and where is the site hosted and maintained? You need to be able to ensure uptime and that you will have access to all the data and the ability to maintain the site religiously as you go forward.
Look at all the existing clients and see how long they have been doing business. Find out how they discovered the site in the first place and the best marketing initiatives to date. If it is a service related business, just who will provide the services after everything is sold. Ensure that you have access to a sufficient amount of talent and should the business rely heavily on the outgoing seller, ensure that he or she will be available to help you in the future.
If the business niche is off the beaten track, you could view this as a potential asset due to exclusivity, but on the other hand be sure that your new business will not become the subject of some new or fresh legislation in the future. It almost goes without saying that you should be sure that there is a demand for the services or products represented by this venture and never assume that a novel idea will sell simply because of what it is. It’s essential to buy website business assets carefully when you venture into the online world!
Richard Parker is the author of the How to Buy a Good Business at a Great Price series. As President and founder of Diomo Corporation - The Business Buyer Resource Center, his materials, seminars and consulting have helped thousands of business buyers realize their dream to buy a business.
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