3 Options for How to Sell Your Printing Business
Let’s review some of the options available to you.
Doing It Yourself / For Sale By Owner
When selling your printing business, the first – and probably most obvious option – is to sell the business on your own. Although business for sale by owner listings make up a small majority, there are many owners who go this route first and some do succeed.
As tempting as that may seem, most business for sale listings by owner do not sell. At Minuteman Press, we’ve helped many printing business owners who have attempted to sell their business first without success.
Three challenges that may arise when selling on your own are:
- Trying to figure out what your business will really sell for. Most industry experts will evaluate and value your business on a multitude of factors. However, we’ve found that the best and most important indicator is mainly what similar businesses are currently selling for based on a multiple of earnings.
This information is not always available or accessible as it takes a lot of experience, time, and effort. The bottom line is that a proper evaluation and the right selling price can make the sale, while an improper evaluation and the wrong selling price can break the sale.If you set too high of a price, potential buyers who are reviewing business for sale opportunities will gravitate towards more fairly priced businesses, and yours will only make the other options look better.
- Having to spend the extra time and money to find and qualify buyers while still running your business. This is very time-consuming and the costs can add up. You’d be spending a lot of your own money upfront to advertise the sale, and then you’d be spending a lot of your own time having to interview, qualify, and vet potential buyers.
- Having to provide additional training and support to the buyer yourself after the sale. Even if you do find a buyer, there is also the issue of providing the buyer with training and support after completing the sale. This can tie you up in the business after the sale, causing extra work and effort on your end.
Using a Business Broker
The majority of business for sale transactions are handled and closed by business brokers. Business brokers have experience in evaluating and determining a fair price and also usually have a network of buyers. Most service a specific geographic area or multiple areas. They will also help you address any issues or problems that may be hurting the value of your business so that potential buyers see it in the best light.
Business brokers will also have a proven method to sell your business, attracting qualified buyers while keeping it confidential, negotiating the sale and successfully closing the deal.
According to Investopedia, business brokers tend to charge around 10% of the final sales price as their commission.3
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Partnering With Minuteman Press
Another way to sell your business is to partner with an experienced franchisor like Minuteman Press.
That is because Minuteman Press can:
- Offer a free evaluation of your printing business to help you set the right price
- Save you time by locating and qualifying buyers for you
- Save you money by placing ads for the sale of your business at no cost to you
- Save you time by training and supporting the buyer after the sale is completed
These are just some of the initial benefits of partnering with Minuteman Press instead of doing it yourself. We’ll explore this in further detail in the following sections.
Approximately 7 years ago, Minuteman Press started a conversion program to help independent printing business owners secure an exit strategy. One of the biggest advantages is that we will do this for qualifying independent print, sign, or promo centers at no cost to them.
We have over 45 years of experience in evaluating printing businesses and attracting qualified buyers. We’ve also developed a proven system for buyers to help continue the legacy you’ve built.
“As owners of SprintPrint, my wife Liz and I had decided in the last year that, after 35 years, it was time to sell our business. It was of utmost importance that our employees were taken care of – we were looking for someone who would run the business in place and retain our staff. We originally explored selling it ourselves or working with a broker, which was not working out for various reasons. We then contacted Steve Szymanski, Regional Vice President of Minuteman Press International, to explore our options with their firm. We found their system to be very attractive as there was no cost to us to market our company for sale, and we could exit the business entirely upon sale. Minuteman Press was able to find a buyer that was the best fit for how we wanted to leave the industry. We could not be more pleased with the whole process. We would highly recommend working with them to any print shop owner looking to sell their business.”
– Phil Van Kampen | SprintPrint
Madison, WI