More and more investors are getting on board
e-commerce train and want to buy successful e-commerce brands that are too
lead to even greater success. For you as an e-commerce entrepreneur
sounds good, doesn’t it? Why not sell your e-commerce brand to the
sell to the highest bidder and enjoy the fruits of its many years of hard work
Enjoy work?
But the truth is also that despite
increased number of prospects, the number of actually sold
E-commerce brands have not risen with. This is not because,
that there are not enough brands to sell, but that these are
are simply too average and get lost in the crowd.
So before you offer your e-commerce store for sale
– for example via Dragonflip – make sure you have,
that you bring to a high gloss. Here are 10 points that
potential buyers should look closely at before shaking hands.
1. growth trends
No one bets on a tired horse. Investors
want to know that your brand will continue to be successful in the future
Grows. Therefore, take a close look at the following metrics:
- Sales revenue over the year ,
Including sales growth over the years and from month to month
seen, as well as forecasting sales for the future. - Sales per SKU (Stock-Keeping Unit): What
is the trend and product life cycle of a SKU? How much performance
is still in every product? - Organic growth over the year
away with the existing products ,
that is, without relying on the introduction of new products to the market
need.
It is best to create an overview of these
metrics that provide the potential buyer with all the information they need at a glance
outlined.
2. Financial
key figures
Without a doubt, the financial figures
are the most interesting clues for potential buyers to choose from
or decide against the purchase. Prospective buyers will especially be interested in the
take a close look at the following figures:
- Sales revenue, annual and monthly
- Operating profit
- Sales trends and growth
- costs for employees or freelancers
- Platform fees (Amazon, eBay,
webshop providers, etc.) - Costs for software used and
Agencies - Purchasing costs
- Advertising costs
3. Brand philosophy
(Brand Synergy)
Investors are looking for brands that deeply
have a rooted core philosophy. Your brand is the interaction
Between your core philosophy and what you promise your customers. Per
more purposefully you build your brand in terms of a vision, the more
greater is your recognition value and the more effective your branding.
Because investors want to know
- How big is your brand awareness? Search
customers in your niche according to your brand name? Know your brand
and inspire them to? - Does your product range appeal
specific target group? Do customers like it before,
during and even after the
Purchase? - Offer unique products? No matter
whether related to design, patents, packages, or top prices – you
Uniqueness usually means a larger profit margin.
So make sure that your
brand philosophy is formulated in a way that is comprehensible to all parties involved, and
that the message in all your marketing and branding activities
is visible.
4. Repeat purchases
Also always interesting for investors: come
the customers again?
It is easier for any e-commerce store
and cheaper to sell to existing customers than to new customers
to acquire. The persuasive power you have over your marketing
to make a customer want to buy again and again
encourage repeat purchases is much lower than for potential first-time customers, the
do not know your store and products yet.
Repeat purchases also prove the
customer satisfaction. They point to a future stable
companies and give a product a longer lifetime
Value.
Therefore, encouraging repeat purchases by
do not leave existing customers on the left, but also after their
purchase again and again targeted reminders of your products. That you do
for example via a newsletter, or by optimizing the order confirmation and
in it, for example, offer discounts on the next purchase.
5. Supply Chain
Also in the supply chain potential
Buyers like to be safe and will ask:
How many suppliers do you work with
together? If one fails, a
another fix to take over its orders?
More than one supplier means less
Chances of failures, late deliveries and quality slumps and give
therefore a reassuring feeling for every investor. Different
suppliers in different countries are another plus for the
case of tariff changes in one of the countries.
6.
Product/business expansion
What are your plans for future growth?
How do you plan to expand your product line or range or increase your
Take your business to the next level?
Investors are not looking for vague statements
about possible growth opportunities, but concrete plans, such as
about:
- introduce product X into the
next Y months - Ordered samples
- Negotiated costs
- sales expectations
These figures and plans provide the reassuring
Feeling that the e-commerce brand can continue to be successful in the future.
7. Financial forecast
Potential buyers are not only interested
the current financial situation, but also how the forecast for the
for the next year or two and even beyond.
Clearly you can never predict the financial development
predict 100%. But one based on consistent budgeting and optimization over the
well-founded and solid forecast has hand and foot, and convinces the buyer
from the promising future of your e-commerce brand.
8. Daily
Workflows
Potential buyers always want to know,
What type and amount of work they would be expected to. They are
ask:
- Who takes on the day-to-day
activities of the operational business? The seller? Or does
Team behind you that does most of the work? - How many hours per week or month
the seller brings to his e-commerce company? - Who takes care of the development of the
Products and the company? - Are SOPs (standard operating procedures)
available, which facilitate familiarization?
With this in mind, the more work you have to do as a
seller can either hand over or automate, the
more interesting your company becomes to potential buyers. No buyer
is looking for an e-commerce brand for which he has to plow 60 hours a week,
to keep it running on your own, just to save money.
A successful, exciting for buyers
E-commerce company can afford the staff or programs,
the owner from most of the day-to-day operations and are
Relieve back-office activities. Therefore, try as a seller,
get as far away from operations as possible before you
put your brand up for sale.
9. Different
Distribution channels
Many e-commerce companies rely only on
Amazon as a sales channel. Or just to your own webshop. Or just
on eBay.
And for the beginning this makes sense of course.
Prefer to focus on one channel, sales here
optimize and start making profit. And the sales giant Amazon
is an excellent first step for this.
But Amazon is neither the only nor
true opportunity to sell its goods. The more sales channels one
taps into, the greater the reach and future viability of a
Stores. This is why successful e-commerce brands tend to expand earlier
than later into other sales channels. For potential buyers this is
a promising indication of the brand’s future.
At least 30% sales outside Amazon
to bring in is a good guideline.
10. Cleanly maintained
business books
Actually self-explanatory. No prospective buyer
will be persuaded to buy if the accounts
are managed in an opaque, incomplete or incomprehensible way. The
does not leave a good feeling in the stomach area.
It is also advantageous here if the employees to be
selling brand has its own books of business and is not
Is combined with the vendor’s other brands. This makes the test of
Finances a lot easier and more trustworthy.
Focus on finances
No concern! You do not have to
10 points to meet your e-commerce brand
to be sold at a profit. If you do not cover all 10 points
can, focus on the most important metrics: the finances.
Clean finances are more important than (almost) anything else.
You have to
Knowing financial ratios inside out, documenting them neatly and reporting them to the
be able to explain to buyers in an understandable way. Otherwise, buy you –
literally – none your company from.
But with each of these 10 points, you
can meet, lift your mark from the average mass
increase their sales chances and favor an offer closer to the customer
on your price expectations.
Wilhelm Reich is managing director of the
Dragonflip LLC. He is an experienced business broker specializing
E-commerce and helps store owners sell their business. He
is a member of the International Business Broker Association (IBBA) and
has successfully accompanied numerous transactions in recent years
accompanied.