9 reasons why you MUST sell your successful business!

It’s rule 101 of Internet Marketing (actually it’s rule 103, but who’s counting) that your Internet business should always be treated with a view to sell it!

This makes extreme sense for several reasons;

Reason 1) Firstly you probably got in to IM to escape the 9 to 5 drudgery chains of employment and to become self employed. But if YOU “are” your business, then it will always be you who has to run it - erm not only 9 to 5, but as any self employed person soon discovers; 8am to midnight, 7 days a week, with a quarter day even on public holidays (to review all those stats you’ve kept meaning to review, but didn’t have time for in you 18 hour day).

And the best way of YOU not being your business is to run it as if you are going to sell it. You’ll see why later!

Reason 2) The entire concept of IM marketing is promoted to us on the basis of niches and reacting and milking it as fast and as much as possible. Didn’t you know that? That means we constantly have to evolve and go with the flow of money and the latest buck earning fashion craze, before the next gal.

But rather than waste all of your hard work on plan x, and abandon its customer base, you flog it off while the going is good and there is still some life in it, to the next hopeful (but not quite so up to date) Internet Marketeer.

OK so that sounds (and is) totally cold and heartless and probably sounds despicable conn man style, to any non-business people reading this. But that is the way “business” works! All business.

Note that it doesn’t even mean that the new owner will do badly, just not so well as you will on your next project. It’s a bit like selling your old car to get a new one. See that’s OK isn’t it (thought bubble - that bastard who sold me that clapped out Ford Capri must die…).

But we all have to start with one foot on the ladder, and you’ve just given them a go’er (something which already flies, all set up and already earning), they just have to keep it going, increase it if they can, until they are ready for rung two themselves.

But and this is the crux of the fence argument - are you in it for love, or for money? This can be a heart wrenching self assessment question. The correct answer (in business terms) is for the money.

Are you running a business or a hobby????
(BTW you might earn far more in a job and just have a hobby… just a thought…)

I suspect most people will have answered, “to do what I love and just to get by”. Well I am with you there, but that is NOT a business approach. You will most likely, never be rich and sadly, never attain that basic stability that we seek, either

And that’s because there are business people in the world, waiting to chew our collective asses.

You can’t just meander, or go for a pleasant stroll, on the football pitch playing football. (Baseball if you are American). There will always be the other team waiting to kick your shins should the ball come within 100 yards of you. Even your own team mates will “involve” you in goal scoring and marking the opponents, so they can go score a goal. (sound familiar anyone?)

SO if you do not play to win, then you don’t get picked for the team and you are no longer playing. You are just watching from the side lines, going “oh I wish I could go for a stroll on the football pitch, but I don’t like all that damn ball kicking… oh poor me… “

News flashed - you are screwed! You are a spectator and deserve to be.

That is why you need to GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

Just aiming to survive is NOT an option! You will get eaten alive!

That’s why this article is SO important. Because to survive you are going to have to think like you are going to sell your business - whether you ARE or ARE NOT going to sell your business. Selling or keeping, is not the point It the ability and thinking like you will sell it, that will keep you alive.

Reason 3) To maximise the “value” of a business for when you sell it, four things will naturally happen.

i) You will become more detatched from it and put systems in place, and document stuff, so other people can do it, instead of you. It’s like delegation was during employment, isn’t it! Hmm!

ii) Hence by valuing your business, you start to value yourself and what you do, and then you value your own time. Then you make things happen without you (that can include automating stuff of course) and then you get more free time.

Then hey, you might suddenly get an hour off work (sorry self employment…)

iii) STOP - no stop it. Stop thinking of your value in terms of an hourly rate. You will never be able to build your business beyond the number of hours you are prepared to work otherwise. This is why, you need to put systems in place. To use your time to generate income while you sleep. Not to work x hours for Y pay on a per project basis.

It’s the difference between a tradesman or consultant vs a publisher mentality.

Be the principal, not the teacher.

Be the garage owner, not the mechanic. No hell no! Be the garage “chain” owner and employ garage branch managers (they could be called affiliates of course - those poor hourly thinking bastards.).

Be the factory owner (who exports), not the cottage industry designer who’s building prototypes.

iv) Staff: A business person realises they can’t do everything. They probably aren’t even good at doing everything, let alone having the time to do it.

But bottom line… Time (other peoples) is a commodity you can buy (wages) but something which you can never get back personally (life). Also if you can pay some one Y to make you 3 times Y, rather than just make Y on your own, (or even 2 times Y because you are quicker and better than anyone you can employ) then what do you think the right business answer is?

Are you seeing a common thread here yet?

Being in business does not mean we have to foul, cheat or build a team of shin kicking bruisers. (They will be out there though!) But hopefully you realise you have to actually be playing. And playing to win.

Now can you see in to the future, that being a 65 year old centre forward (with arthritis) may not work? SO maybe you need to start to manage the team, coach, or own it. Or maybe donate a ground to charity for young kids to learn, as you love football so much.

Either way, the path is not possible from just being a (local park) football “player”. You manage and then own the team/club and you sell it. Now do you sell a team of your best mates, who might be a bit crap at playing football, or do you build an elite team you can get a high price for? (It’s a bigger charity ground for those needy kids, etc. etc. …)

(You can still play hobby football with your mates in your time off…)

As a manager/owner do you even want to be associated with 11 fat, bald, bad football players, or something better?

Now when you are on the pitch the next time, are you just kicking the ball about aimlessly? Or are you lining up goals for the guys on your team you know can score, because you want to be part of the wining team. Don’t you want to be in a team that is worth you buying it, shortly?

Hey aren’t you suddenly playing to win now?

I’m not convinced you are even interested in reasons 4 to 9, so I’m going to end here. Strangely I don’t have a business reason to tell you, so why should I anyway?

Yep think about that for a moment…

To your success!
Peter

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