5th Key Area: How can your Marketing Strategies increase the value of your Business?

^{"To continue winning the marketing game, your content has to be more than just brilliant — it has to give the people consuming that content the ability to become a better version of themselves.” ~ Michelle Stinson Ross}

Last time on the Growth To Exit® Blog, we talked about the 4^th Key Area in your business, the IT and IP Systems and why it is important to upgrade your operating methods and processes before the sale of your business and the change of ownership.

Buyers who are interested in your company, will specifically evaluate and scrutinize 5 Key Areas of your business. Flaws and problems in any of these areas can impede the value of your company and result in a reduced offer from the buyer, who will need to spend extra money and time to fix these issues. To be sustainable, you must implement best practices, processes and systems in these five critical areas.

As a reminder, the five key areas include:

1. Legal
2. Human Capital
3. Finance & Accounting
4. IT/IP Systems
5. Sales & Marketing

Now it's time to look at your Marketing department, and determine how stable your business really is, and what can be done to enhance the streamlining of your sales. Having a detailed business plan for future growth, will increase the trust that potential buyers put in your company, and help you receive a higher valuation and better offers.

Businesses provide a service or product to generate sales.

Many small business owners tend to follow the same marketing strategy that they have been using for years and think “Well, I can't change it because that's the way I've always done it.” Basically, the old adage, “If it ain't broke, don't fix it.”

This approach, however, will not work when you are selling your business.

As I explain throughout the Growth To Exit® course, you have to shift your mindset from that of a business owner to a business seller. Buyers want to know is how they can grow your business and increase profitability after the sale.

Before you even think about selling your company, preform an objective marketing analysis and forecast and see how your company is going to do in the next few years, and what its position will be in the marketplace.

Buyers want to know what your sales plan is, and the more predictable you can make your company operations, sales, and marketing revenue, the higher the buyer will be willing to pay. With a sales and marketing plan, you add mare value to your business, as the uncertainty and the risk are being reduced.

Consider these areas when you conduct your marketing plan and growth analysis:

• Clarify the Difference between Marketing and Sales: A lot of people confuse the two terms. Marketing is how your company is positioned in the marketplace and it is all about giving people the opportunity to look at your products and say, “I want to go buy from them.” Sales is when your salespeople take the marketing materials can use out in the field and present to potential customers.

• Understand your Industry and Competitors: Are you clear what industry you serve? Who are your best customers? What do your competitors do better or worse than you, and how can you improve in this market segment? Knowing your industry and customers is key to marketing, sales and to drive revenue and value.

• Evaluate your Contracts: Oftentimes, your existing contracts impact your sales and marketing. Who are your suppliers? How can you increase your margin? Evaluating your contracts as part of the process, and looking at your sales, revenue, and your EBIDTA, can help drive higher exit values for your company.

• Examine Barriers to your Future Sales: When you are planning out your sales and marketing processes, you need to be open to the idea that you may have self-imposed barriers. When you have the ability to flex and grow into a different market area, it not only increases revenue, but it also increases the value of your company.

The Bottom Line

Buyers of existing companies look for consistency, stability, and growth. Communicating and demonstrating to a buyer that the growth potential of your company has not been fully tapped, and that there are new lines of business that can be reached, increases your company’s value.

People that create a sales and marketing plan are far more likely to be successful in predicting future performance than those that do not. Having a written plan helps grow your business, set new targets, identify key performance indicators, and organize commission schedules. In the end, a buyer will be reassured that the business will still be viable after the sale.

This blog post concludes the 5 Key Areas Series. Of course, each area is discussed in greater detail and practical suggestions are made inside the Growth To Exit® online course.

Remember, everything that you do pre-sale, before you try close a transaction, adds potential value to your business. When you optimize your exit using proven strategies, techniques, and processes, your company is harder to devalue. You have done the work a buyer would have to do to scale your business, and that translates into a higher sales price.

Your company is the product. Growth to Exit® is the process. The Buyer is your customer.

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