Overview
Sarah Smith ran her corporate catering company, Sarah’s Kitchen, for 10 years. Sadly, due to personal circumstances, she had to sell her house and she “couldn’t afford to get anywhere big enough to run the catering business from.”
But it wasn’t all bad because she got to “move down to sunny Devon”.
Why BusinessesForSale.com?
Sarah had already heard of BusinessesForSale.com before she started her selling journey, telling us: “I quite often browse BusinessesForSale.com.”
To begin with she tried offering her business up for sale on Gumtree and Facebook but had no luck. Instead, she decided to advertise as a private seller on BusinessesForSale.com.
Placing the advert
What appealed to Sarah most was the ease of use. “It was very easy and straightforward. It only took about a month once I put it on BusinessesForSale.com.”
This rapid turnaround was a godsend, as Sarah only had a two-month timeframe, something she thought would be a major challenge – but she actually achieved a sale in half the time.
Enquiries
Sarah’s advert generated six enquiries from interested buyers. After speaking to people on the phone and finding out a bit about them she managed to choose a suitable buyer easily enough.
Choosing a buyer
Hoping to keep existing relationships going between the business, customers and suppliers, Sarah was looking for a buyer who lived locally.
“I had a good customer base, they knew what they liked and we were able to provide that. I wanted to make sure my clients would be happy with them taking over,” Sarah told us.
“I asked about their experience, the area they come from. I was looking for someone who lives in and around this area. If they were over an hour away they wouldn’t really be good for the business.”
Explaining that she chose her buyer based on several factors, she said “they had run a business before, not in the same sector, but they had some experience. They had very high standards and were very enthusiastic to continue what I was doing.
“I knew my customers would be happy because the new buyer wanted to do things just the way I was. That’s what attracted me to them.
“The new buyer was happy to continue this – the same style, same price, and they were happy with everything.”
