A guide to selling your ecommerce business

Selling an ecommerce business is a lot different to selling a traditional commercial property, and it’s important that you understand the processes involved and the challenges that you might face.

Of course, just because the process is different, doesn’t mean it is difficult. In fact, although it has its challenges, it is relatively easy to sell an online business.  Whether you have reached your growth target and want to invest to expand, or you simply want to move onto pastures new, there’s lots of reasons why people decide to sell their ecommerce business.

We’ve created a helpful guide outlining the steps that you need to take to sell your ecommerce business, with minimum hassle.

First and foremost, you will need to prepare your site for sale.

If you’re considering selling your ecommerce website you will firstly need to ensure that your website is appealing, responsive and inspires action. After all, if your site is dated or does not perform, you’re unlikely to attract any buyers.  With this in mind, before you sell, you should update the design and fix any navigation issues.

Are your products up to date?

At the same time, your inventory should also up to date and any items that are out of stock should be marked accordingly. All product categories should also be updated and of course, if you remove any products, categories should be marked accordingly. All of your product descriptions and images should also be clear, correct and impactful.

Are your finances in order?

Next you will need to ensure that all of your finances are in order and that you are able to provide your last three years of tax returns, an income statement, a cash flow statement and a balance sheet. All of this information should be accurate and up today as any red flags in your finances can put people off. 

Speak to a Valuation Expert

Next, you should speak to a Valuation Expert in order to find out how much your ecommerce site is actually worth. This will give you a price range of how much you should be listing your ecommerce site for. A third-party appraiser will always give your ecommerce website a fair valuation and will base this on a number of different factors including traffic, financials, how long you have had the business, customer service, inventory, your relationship with your supplier, technology and profits. 

Find an eCommerce Broker

There’s lots of ecommerce brokers out there who will sell your business on your behalf and get you the very best price. This is one of the cheapest ways to sell your ecommerce business and is also one of the easiest.

Complete the Sale

Once you’re ready to accept an offer, you will need to contact a solicitor in order to help you to complete your sale. This is because the legal documents associated with the sale of an ecommerce business can be incredibly complicated and challenging. With this in mind, these should not be completed by yourself as ultimately, these legal obligations are important for a smooth transition.

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• What do I need to notify my accountant about? A guide for ecommerce entrepreneurs
• 5 ways to grow your ecommerce business

Get in touch!

Here at Unicorn Accounting, our team of specialist e-commerce accountants is happy to chat about all of your eCommerce accounting needs. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s talk and maximise the growth of your e-commerce store.