Websites for Sale - Tips on Selling a Web Site
If you have a website that generates profits then you have a valuable asset. But what is your website really worth? In general the website is worth from 3 to 6 times your pretax earnings. As an example, if pretax earnings for an eCommerce business were $100,000 in 2004, the asking price should be at least $300,000 plus inventory - unless it is a business with very low margins.
The number one web site selling tip is to run your website as if you were going to sell it tomorrow. This means you should be keeping accurate and clean books. Many Internet entrepreneurs have a few Internet businesses going at the same time. It is important not to combine the revenues. Do not use the same merchant accounts and checking accounts unless you intend on selling all of the websites simultaneously.
Another tip is to be very careful who you work with to sell your website. You should work with a website that has the ability to filter out the curious and unprofessional who will absorb all your time and never submit a serious offer for your website.
A serious website will guide you and the buyer through the process and will allow you to get a fair price for your website. VotanWeb is the only firm in the world that exclusively specializes in assisting Internet businesses. VotanWeb has a database of thousands of websites, big and small. Since 1999 thousands of websites have been sold.
When you decide to sell your web site, make sure you put a complete package together that contains the vital information of your website. Include a summary of the website business model, profit and loss statements, traffic reports, along with other important documents, such as customer conversion ratios and search engine ranking reports. This package will give your potential buyers a good overview of the business.
To obtain potential buyers you must use the services of a serious website marketplace. This will provide your website business with excellent exposure to potential buyers. A serious website will pre-qualify the buyers before you invest a lot of time in working with them. Nothing is worse then spending all your time courting a buyer with no money while serious businessmen are negotiating for your competitor’s websites!
When you have a buyer who is qualified and interested in the web site then you must being the process of due diligence. The seller must be able to provide a clear money trail that shows the dollars that flowed into the web site, usually via a merchant account or Paypal. When a checking account is used, it must be a dedicated business account – never a personal account! These income numbers should coincide with your tax returns. The same is true for expenses, be prepared to show invoices that match your outflow of cash from the business bank account. It’s important to be accurate and honest with the due diligence. Any confusion and uncertainty will cause the buyer to move on to the next deal. Today's buyers are very savvy and will find something that a seller was trying to hide. It is best to be completely honest and disclose everything.
Closing documents can be drafted up by attorneys.