Review Your Current Marketing Position

nav: resources ... seller's guide ... selling prep ... market prep ... position

Understanding Your Markets

What - Where - Who
Your first step in preparing your company for sale is to define your current markets. This must be clearly stated when presenting your company to a prospective buyer.

The buyer will be interested in the following:

• Business Category:
  
  

  	distribution
  	manufacturing
  	wholesale
  	retail
  	or other

  
  
• What is your Standard Industrial Classification Code (SIC)
  
  
• Who is your primary market target?
  
  

  	business (define type)
  	consumer (define demographic)

  
  
• What is the approximate number of customers?
  
  

  how many of these customers account for 25% of revenues?

  
  
• Where is your customer base?
  
  

  	local
  	regional
  	national
  	global

  
  
• How would you rate the trend of your markets:
  
  

  	growth
  	stable
  	decline

  
  

SWOT Analysis

Usually not required, but often requested, is a clear definition of your company's SWOT analysis:

• S=Strengths:
  you need to clearly define your company's strengths. It could be your product line, sales force, location, operation efficiency or other.
  
  
• W=Weaknesses:
  in comparison, you need to outline your company weakness. This too may by your product line, sales force, location, operation efficiency or other.
  
  
• O=Opportunities:
  the buyer would like to know what opportunities lie ahead under a strategic play. This could be a key reason why the buyer is interested in your business.
  
  Strategic opportunities may include a product line expansion, opening a new market, streamlining an operation for better efficiency, etc.
  
  
• T=Threats:
  in contrast, you need to also list the potential threats. This may include price competition, new competition from a major player, lack of employment skills, declining demand, etc.