How to Close a Business Consulting Or IT Consulting Deal

written by Adam Mathew

These two items go hand in hand because you must listen to completely understand their client and their goals. Only with that knowledge can you appropriately explain the value you bring and how it will aid the client in reaching their goals. In addition to these fundamentals, here are a few tips to help land more consulting deals.

Communicate Effectively

To start let's assume you already paid attention to the fundamentals. You know the client's needs, goals, and where you can add value. Now you need to effectively communicate how you, as a consultant, will provide value. If you can't effectively convey how your skills are going to aid the client, you won't get the deal. To communicate well ensure you always think before you speak. I know it sounds simple, but think before you answer a question. Think about how the question is reflected for your client. Your client's will appreciate your advice and begin to trust your answers.

When speaking with your clients stay away from jargon. Every industry has its own particular "language" - words, terms and expressions that are common to the industry but are foreign to people from other industries. Make sure that your client can understand what you are talking about; otherwise they will not know how you can help. If you try to impress them with jargon, you will most likely lose the deal.

When communicating with your client don't forget to let them chime in. The best way to get your client involved in a conversation is to ask questions. By asking questions, you will begin to understand how you can help, and what the client feels is important. The more you know about the client the better. This will give you an upper hand to ensure you are hitting every point that is important to them.

Be Passionate & Personable

Your client feels passionate about what they do, and if you show that you are passionate and enthusiastic about providing them the consulting skills they need, you'll get the deal more often than not. Remember, your consulting in a area either it is IT or business consulting that you love so don't hold back. If your client sees that you are truly happy with what you do, they will feel better about working with you.

Build relationships with your prospective client. Learn about the company and the persons that work for it. Look for similarities that you have with your client. Maybe it is a sport, education, hobby, etc. that you both enjoy. Find ways to talk about more than just busy. If you show your client that they are more than just another big deal for your portfolio, they will respect you are many levels.

Remember that you need to sell to the client's needs, not yours. Master this and you will land more consulting deals than you ever imagined.

Adam Mathew is an expert author. To learn more about how to work from home or to learn how to start IT consulting with free tips visit our online site.

Retrieved on 24 September 2009 from http://www.articlesbase.com/business-opportunities-articles/how-to-close-a-business-consulting-or-it-consulting-deal-1263242.html

Find the Right Virtual Match

When you're looking for freelance help, know what you need and be sure you're comfortable with the person you choose.

written by Lesley Spencer Pyle

Most of us know that even if you have the time, you simply can't do it all. Most business owners need to call in additional help at some point, whether it's for legal advice, web design or virtual assistance to handle marketing or e-mail backlog. Finding the best freelancers or off-site employees isn't easy, and you want to be confident you're getting the services you need for the right amount of dollars.

Decide What You Need
It's frustrating for you and the freelancer you're interviewing if you aren't clear about what you need. Be specific. You don't just need help with your bookkeeping; you need last year's accounts reviewed, and then you need help setting up this year's books. You don't just need help marketing; you may need assistance evaluating your current marketing efforts and recommendations for the future. Perhaps you want someone to manage all social media marketing efforts. Or maybe all you need is to have a simple press release written.

Find the Right Source
There are a variety of sites to choose from, including eLance.com,oDesk.comand hiremymom.com. Keep in mind that each site attracts different types of freelancers. You may find it easier to work with a single site once you become familiar with it.
Laurie Cohen, president of Deerfield Marketing Associates, uses freelancers exclusively from one site. "I initially tried several different sites and then found one site that I was comfortable with and that consistently had freelancers with whom I worked well," she says.

A number of freelance sites allow you to post your project and have freelancers bid on them. Be wary of accepting the lowest price as your first choice. Instead, consider the qualifications and experience you want and need.
You may also wish to look in professional databases. Virtual assistants, for example have several databases on which you can draw:
• International Association of Virtual Office Assistants
• International Virtual Assistants Association
• Virtual Assistance Chamber of Commerce

Confirm a Match
Because this is a "virtual" working relationship, make sure you and the freelancer are a good fit. It's not quite the same as having someone sitting next to you in the office. You really have to believe this person has the right experience, and that you can trust her to deal with your work.

"I like to chat online with freelancers for a bit before hiring them to see if our communication style is similar and to judge response time and skills," Cohen says. "I highly recommend this before hiring anyone."

Begin with a Trial Period
Instead of simply handing over all your books or copywriting needs, decide on a specific project with a clearly defined schedule and payment. Put your expectations and compensation in writing. Include details, such as how often you want the freelancer to check in, whether the project fee includes revisions and, if so, how many?

Once the project is complete, you can better judge whether you want this to be a longstanding commitment. Evaluate the freelancer's skills. Was the job done well? If you needed revisions, were those done quickly and appropriately? Was the freelancer offended or did she accept suggestions graciously? Was it a good value for your money? Do you want to work with that person again?

Freelancers also want to choose clients who are a good fit for their skills and personality. For any number of reasons, the two of you might not be a great long-term match. Not to worry; in any relationship, it takes time and patience to find just the right fit. The more thoroughly you know your needs, your likes and your dislikes, and the more specific you can be in your job or project post, the easier it will be to find a match made in heaven.


Lesley Spencer Pyle is the founder and president of HomeBasedWorkingMoms.com and HireMyMom.com, and she is the author of The Work-at-Home Workbook: Your Step-by-Step Guide on Selecting and Starting the Perfect Home Business for You. Pyle has been working from home for more than 13 years.

Retrieved on 6th October 2009 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/homebasedbizcolumnistlesleyspencerpyle/article201492.html

5 Things Your Clients Should Know

written by Paul Boag

Do you ever feel like you are endlessly repeating the same day? I do, every time I attend a kickoff meeting with a new client. Each time I find myself covering the same old issues from explaining the client’s role, to encouraging investment in content. I find it incredibly frustrating and this is what ultimately led me to write the Website Owners Manual.

This is not a criticism of clients, however. There is so little information that clearly defines their role. Sure, there is no shortage of material on usability, accessibility, online marketing and copywriting, but who has the time to read all of it?

The problem is that the client does need to have a very broad understanding (certainly more than can be communicated in a single article), however I have found that understanding certain key issues can make an enormous difference to the efficiency of a client.

What follows is a list of the 5 things that I believe will have the biggest impact on a client’s site. At least they should, if the client understands them and chooses to implement them.

1. The client is the secret to a successful website

I have worked on hundreds of websites over the past 15 years and each site’s success or failure has always been attributed to the quality of the client.

As web designers we, of course, like to emphasis our role in the process. This is what justifies our fee, however we can ultimately only point our clients in the right direction. It is their decisions that shape the site and their commitment that defines its long term future.

As web designers, I believe we need to clearly communicate to the client the importance of their role and dispel the misconception that they can hire a web designer and walk away.

Not only do we need to emphasis the importance of their role, we also need to define the extent of it.

2. Clients have a diverse and challenging role

I believe that the role of the client is by far the most complex and challenging in web design. Sure, dealing with IE6 is a pain, but that pales in comparison to the shear extent of issues that most clients need to handle.

A client has to be a:

· Visionary – capable of establishing the long term direction of their site

· Evangelist – able to promote the site both internally and externally

· Content guardian – responsible for ensuring the quality and relevancy of content

· Project coordinator – overseeing all aspects of the site as well as dealing with suppliers

· Referee – making final decisions between conflicting priorities

What is even more is that the client is supposed to know enough about a broad range of disciplines (from marketing to interface design), in order to make informed decisions. It is hardly surprising that, as web designers, we sometimes feel our clients “just don’t get it!” They are simply expected to understand too much.

Unfortunately their role is also often massively under resourced. Most of those responsible for websites are not dedicated website managers. Instead, they run their websites alongside other responsibilities in IT or marketing.

It is our responsibility to explain the role of the client and ensure that they understand how much work is involved. We cannot assume that they instinctively know this.

The danger is that if you do not clearly define the clients’ role, they will end up trying to define yours instead.

3. Clients identify problems, designers provide solutions

One of the biggest problems in most web projects is that the client starts making the decisions that are best left to the web designer. Not only does this lead to bad decisions, but also inevitably leaves the web designer feeling undervalued and frustrated.

This problem can manifest in a variety of ways, however ultimately it comes down to a single issue – the client is trying to find solutions to their problems instead of relying on the web designer.

Let me give you two examples. The most obvious occurs at the design stage. After seeing your design the client comes back with comments such as ‘make the logo bigger’. This is their solution to a problem that they have with the prominence of the branding. If they had expressed the problem instead of the solution, it would have enabled you to suggest alternate approaches. Instead of making the logo bigger, you could have possibly added more whitespace or changed its position.

Another less obvious, but more significant example, is in a client’s invitation to tender. These documents are inevitably a wish list of ideas that they have for the site. They are the client’s attempt to solve an underlying issue. For example, their problem might be a failure to engage with customers, therefore in their invitation to tender, they suggest adding a forum. Of course, in reality there are many other ways to engage with customers, however unless they express the problem to you, you will never have the opportunity to suggest a solution.

At the beginning of every project, encourage your client to focus on problems and not solutions. Whenever the client suggests a solution ask why. This will enable you to understand the underlying issues.

Unfortunately by the time we have been engaged as web designers, the scope of a project has already been set and it is hard to contribute ideas. This is because the way clients commission websites is fundamentally broken.

4. Sites should evolve

A typical website goes through a constant cycle of redesign. After its initial launch, it is left to slowly decay. The content becomes out of date, the design begins to look old fashioned and the technology becomes obsolete. Eventually staff stop referring customers to the site and it is perceived as a liability rather than an asset. In the end, senior management intervenes and assigns somebody to ‘sort out the website’. This inevitably leads to the site being replaced by a new version, and the cycle repeats itself.

This problem primarily occurs because there is no real ownership of the website within the organization. Often the client you deal with is only assigned to it for the duration of the project. Afterwards, the site is left to stagnate.

This cycle of redesign is wasteful for three reasons:

· It wastes money because the old site is replaced, and the investment put into it is lost.

· It is bad for cash flow, generating large expenditure every few years.

· For the majority of its life, the site is out of date and not being used to its full potential.

We need to start encouraging our clients to invest regularly in their websites. They need a permanent website manager and an ongoing relationship with their web design agency. Together they need to keep content up-to-date, improve the user interface and ensure that the technology keeps pace with change. Ultimately this is more cost effective than replacing the site every few years.

The ongoing management of content is an area that needs particular attention. Unfortunately it is often massively under resourced and generally neglected.

5. Content is king – Act like it!

I am constantly amazed at the difference between what clients says and what they do. Take, for example, content; most clients fully accept that content is king, yet few are willing to spend money on ensuring its quality. This is all the more absurd considering the amount they spend on implementing complex content management systems.

Most clients that I encounter feel that hiring a copywriter to ensure the quality and style of their content is unnecessary. Perhaps this is because they feel they are capable of writing copy themselves, however writing for the web is not like writing for any other medium. It presents some unique challenges that cannot be under estimated.

It is strange because clients are perfectly happy (well… maybe not quite ‘happy’) to pay for design. They realize that they cannot do the design without a professional designer, so why then do they believe that they can write good copy themselves?

Often when clients do write copy, it ends up being verbose and inaccessible. Stuffed with sales copy and jargon, which is largely ignored by most visitors to the site.

However, in many cases the reality is even worse than poorly written copy. In my experience, clients under estimate the time involved in producing copy for the web and resort to copying and pasting from a wide variety of offline printed material. This leads to Frankenstein copy, using a mix of styles that are often entirely inappropriate for the web.

It is our role as web designers to educate our clients about the importance of copywriting and explain the size of the task, if they choose to take it on themselves. Without previous experience most clients will significantly underestimate this task.

Conclusions

This is far from a comprehensive list. I have not mentioned success criteria, usability, accessibility, online marketing or subjective design. In fact I have hardly begun to touch on any of the things a website owner should know, however I do believe that if our clients were only to adopt the 5 points above, it would make a profound difference to the success of their website. Now it falls on you to persuade them.

Written exclusive for WDD by Paul Boag. He is the founder of UK Web design agencyHeadscape, author of the Website Owners Manual and host of award-winning Web design podcast Boagworld.com. He is also addicted to Twitter.

Retrieved on 11^th November 2009 from http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/03/5-things-your-clients-should-know/

What You Shouldn't Do In The Freelance Business?

written by Jessica Mousseau

While the importance of knowing what to do correctly within one's home business is important, knowing what not to do can be just as valuable. There are many mistakes that freelance writers can make that will end up costing them large amount of money. This in turn is a result of bad decisions when running their business, whether big or small.

Keep a positive attitude
Most bad decision-making is a result of an attitude that tells someone they are not good at what they do. Perhaps you're been there before, you work hard on an article, essay, anything; you can't stop thinking about it. Then you step away from the assignment and come back to it, and begin thinking, it's not good enough. You think you will look ridiculous if you turn this in the way it is. This type of mindset will ruin a freelancer. By overcoming this mind in your head, you will be able to stay more focused and assure yourself that you will make every deadline. Confidence is key.

The importance of deadlines
Missing a deadline is a big business mistake as well. This is ultimately your business, people expect work on time, this is your only job for them. If you want to continuously receive work from various clients, you have to be on time. If you were to hire someone, if they repeatedly didn't fulfill their obligations, you wouldn't hire them again either. Remember that you are the professional in this situation. If there is a substantial reason why work cannot be finished on time, then so be it. However, if these reasons add up, you will likely lose business repeatedly. Make sure to be firm with your writing schedule and allot time for any emergencies that may arise so that your work will not be on time. Being responsible will get you EVERYWHERE in this business. By being an accountable writer, you will help your business to soar.

Make a work schedule
Keeping your business going after finding work online from places like project4hire.com is vital for your ultimate freelance writing success. Ultimately, you have to be obligated to follow a work schedule, just as much if you were leaving home to go to the office. A home office is a great way to keep things settled and fixed in your home business. Be sure to make a to-do list of what you need to accomplish during a day. It is hard to not have a specific time frame of when you “have” to work. However, creating a “have-to” work schedule for yourself will help that struggle. Don't be afraid to be firm with yourself, ultimately you're your only boss. Only good things can come from a strong business mindset and dedication to your clients. Don't let all your hard work in getting your freelance business together fold because you do not make great business decisions.

Working from home has its perks and also its disadvantages. By taking time to invest much time into a business, the overall results of the hard work will pay off. A firm work schedule, dedication to deadlines and a positive attitude all will lead a freelance writer to great success in the near future.

Retrieved on 16^th September 2009 from http://www.project4hire.com/articles/What_Not_To_Do_In_Freelance_Business.html

Too Small To Fail

While the big boys wait for bailouts, small businesses remain essential to the nation's economic and social fabric.

written by Mark Pawlosky

Over the past 18 months or so, the phrase "too big to fail" has become nearly as universal as "In God we trust." But what about the flip side--is there such a thing as "too small to fail"?

Talk to independent business owners and civic leaders from one end of this country to the other in places like Thomasville, Ga., Columbus, Ind., and Gearhart, Ore., and they'll tell you with certainty that the answer is yes. They'll quickly point out that beyond creating jobs and generating tax revenue, small businesses are essential to the social fabric of towns and cities and foster, in essence, a sense of community. Small businesses, they will argue, support local civic initiatives and open their doors and wallets to charitable events. "They are always the first ones to step up to the plate," says Karen Smith, director of Thomasville's Main Street program, which aims to rehabilitate historic downtown buildings with the assistance of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

In downtown Thomasville, Dana Davidoff Abernathy, co-owner of specialty kitchen store Relish, has created what she calls a community "hangout," with overstuffed seating and roomy kitchen tables for morning coffee. "You could sit here for five minutes or five hours, there will always be someone to chat with you. Everybody wants to feel part of a community."

But as the recession continues to bite, independent business owners, experts say, are the ones most at risk of failure because, unlike large corporations, they have fewer cost-trimming options left. And when it comes to additional financing, they have not received either the attention or the money the federal government has lavished on big corporations.

"It's crazy," says Jose Gonzales, co-owner of At Home in Thomasville, a specialty retailer in downtown Thomasville. "If big corporations can't keep themselves alive, why should we foot the bill? I mean, who's going to bail us out, the small-business owner?"

Adds Jerry Osteryoung, who has mentored entrepreneurs and independent business owners for the past 14 years at the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship: "All you hear about is the problems big businesses are facing, but I'm here to tell you small business is getting hit hard. And if you look at who really supports their local communities, it is small businesses."

If you want to see firsthand the big impact small business can have on a local community you need look no further than Columbus, Indiana. That's where local entrepreneur Anthony Moravec has embarked on a two-year, multimillion-dollar odyssey to restore Zaharako's Confectionery. The landmark fell into disrepair after the Greek family that operated the business since the early 1900s was forced to close its doors because of personal and business setbacks.

"It is an investment in the future of the community," says Moravec, CEO of Applied Laboratories, a small manufacturer of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals that has about 100 employees. "The immediate goal was never about profits."

That's a good thing, as it turns out, since Moravec has put more than $3 million of his own money into the Zaharako's project. "I had no idea how expensive restoration could be. It's twice what I estimated. And if I had a partner, they would have thought I was nuts."

Moravec committed to restoring Zaharako's in 2007 when his pharmaceutical business was booming. His goal was to restore the ice cream shop to its original grandeur, right down to the maple floors and the century-old Welte Style 3 Cottage Orchestrion, a self-playing pipe organ that sounds to the ear like a full-bodied orchestra. In order to achieve his goal, he had to repurchase the Welte from a private collector who snapped it up when Zaharako's had closed.

"It cost me an arm and a leg, but I was determined to have it," says Moravec, who also bought an old-fashioned ice cream parlor in New York and had all of its contents shipped to Indiana. "I became collectible-obsessive," he admits.

Zaharako's Ice Cream Parlor and Museum held its grand reopening on June 9. And thanks to publicity in Chicago and surrounding areas, crowds streamed into town all day and waited in line for hours to glimpse the renovations, sample the ice cream and dine in the restaurant, which Moravec added to create revenue opportunities.

"Before it opened, I told him it was a great gift he was making to the city. I also told him he'd never make a dime on the place," says Jack Hess, president of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce. "I'm now starting to think I was wrong. I took my family there a week after it opened and it was standing-room only."

Hess says Moravec follows in a long line of Columbus entrepreneurs who have taken it upon themselves to reinvest in the community.

"It's not just about jobs," Hess says, "but about social capital and the positive ripple effect it has in a place like Columbus."

For his part, Moravec thinks he might have stumbled upon a successful new enterprise, which is OK for now since he's finding it difficult to convince bankers to lend him money at a reasonable rate to expand his pharmaceutical operations.

"It's kind of ironic. We've never been in better shape financially with less debt, but bankers have grown extremely conservative. Any talk you hear about government supporting small business is, quite frankly, lip service," says Moravec.

A half a country away in the tiny seaside hamlet of Gearhart, Ore., John Allen, operator of the Pacific Way Bakery & Cafe, echoes Moravec's sentiment. The cafe, praised by the late gourmand James Beard for its fine food and atmosphere, is a local icon and hub of community activity.

"We try to provide a personal experience at the cafe and our customers have responded by supporting us," Allen says, but admits the slowing economy has forced him to trim employees' hours. When asked if the bailout programs have helped small businesses like his cope with the recession, he responds, "Nope. Absolutely nothing."

Mark Pawlosky is a West Coast-based digital media consultant who during a 20-year career has written extensively about entrepreneurs, startups and small business.

Retrieved on 16^th November 2009 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/successstories/article204020.html

Freelancing and the Power of Partnering

written by Jim Lodico

When a business decides to outsource, it is looking for a solution.

It has a pressing project but lacks the internal resources to do it itself.

Chances are, some poor marketing director has walked out of a boardroom meeting, faced with a recurring problem: the deadline has been set, the work laid out in front of him andhe has no way to get it done.

At this point, our poor marketing manager doesn’t want to spend hours searching the Internet for the right web designer, review another pile of résumés for the perfect copywriter and plow through stacks of portfolios for a graphic designer…

In this article we’ll review 5 useful tips that you can use to harness the power of partnering.

Our marketing director wants to pick up the phone, find a solution and put his mind at ease.

As the independent freelancer, you want to be the guy at the other end of the phone. Solve the marketing manager’s problem this time, and chances are he’ll call you again.

But how can you be sure he chooses you for the job? Odds are you can’t do everything.

You’ve spent years honing your skills as a graphic designer, and the last thing you want to do is write web copy.

The same goes for the copywriter, who doesn’t want to waste time struggling with HTML code.

1. Be the Solution

Even though you can’t do it all, you can provide a complete solution by partnering with others to fill in the blanks.

For example, a web designer who partners with a copywriter can offer a turnkey solution that moves a website from initial concept to finished product.

When providing a turnkey service, you suddenly make the jump from “freelancer” to“consultant”. You are no longer providing a service, but rather are providing a solution.

The more problems you solve, the easier you will find work and, ultimately, the higher your fee will be.

2. The Process in Action

Let’s suppose our marketing director suddenly finds out he needs a website for a new product launch.

He’ll need artwork, web design and compelling copy to sell the product.

Unfortunately, due to a recent “corporate restructuring”,he has no in-house staff to turn to in order to get the job done.

He picks up the phone and calls a local web designer, who tells him he’d be glad to take on the project, but that he can’t help with the logo’s design and that the marketing manager will need to provide the copy.

Sure, our marketing manager has solved part of his problem, but he still has his work cut out for him.

So he calls a second web designer and describes the project. The web designer tells him that he’d be glad to help. He asks the marketing manager if he needs web copy and graphics.

When he says that he does, he replies, “No problem. I partner with a number of graphic designers and copywriters. If you’d like, I can contact them and put together a bid for the entire project. When we’re finished, you’ll have a complete website, ready for your product launch.”

Who do you think will get the job? At this point, the second designer is in control and in a position to make a much higher bid.

3. Form Partnerships Now

Don’t wait until you need partners to seek them out. Otherwise, you’ll be in the same position as the first web designer. Instead, seek them out in advance.

Determine who you can trust, who you can afford and who will help you deliver the best product possible.

Even more importantly, be sure you are comfortable working with these partners.

As you look for partners, ask yourself some basic questions. Is this person reliable? Will he or she respond to the client’s needs or fight every edit and revision?

Does this person complement my services? Do we communicate well? Can I rely on him or her to meet deadlines? Ascertaining these details in advance will help prevent many headaches when working with clients.

4. The Win-Win-Win Situation

Ideally, a partnership creates a mutually beneficial relationship.

For example, if a copywriter were to form a partnership with a web designer, he now solves a problem for the web designer.

The web designer wants her websites to look as good as possible, which is difficult if clients provide poor copy.

Thanks to this new partnership, our web designer can use the copywriter’s services to improve the client’s copy.

The copywriter picks up a new client, the web designer delivers a better product and the client gets a much better website with little or no extra effort. A win-win-win situation for all.

5. Be Everything You Want in a Partner

When you work with a partner, consider it like working for a client: do your best work every time.

Provide the level of service you would want to receive, and chances are you’ll be working with them again.

Provide a “solution” for your partner, and that partner will return again.

Do that often enough and work will start seeking you out, rather than the other way around.

Written exclusively for WDD by Jim Lodico. He is an independent copywriter and marketing consultant and is always looking to form new partnerships. You can learn more about his services at www.jalcommunication.com

Retrieved on 11^th November 2009 from http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/08/freelancing-and-the-power-of-partnering/

Sell Your Business With Confidence

Don't lose leverage by appearing desperate in trying times.

written by Domenic Rinaldi

The worst time to sell a business is when you absolutely have to sell. Most buyers can sense fear and desperation, so if you don't come across as level-headed and under control, they will likely exploit every weakness to gain leverage in a transaction. Unfortunately, this is a rather common scenario in today's market; many business owners are struggling financially and are anxious to sell their businesses, but are having a tough time doing so.

It's equally harmful when an owner assumes a persona of empty bravado; this only masks the desperation--and not very well. This false bravado can send the owner into a state of denial, refusing to acknowledge that her business is on a downward trend and losing value. This is the most critical time for an owner to heed the advice of advisors. There's nothing more frustrating for a professional than to see a client in a downward spiral continue to do everything that led to the state of desperation in the first place.

So if you need to sell your business, what can you do to encourage success and avoid losing leverage by appearing desperate? Here are some important strategies to follow when navigating a business sale under difficult circumstances.

Listen to your advisors
Now is the time to ask lots of questions and to seek professional advice. Your business broker, accountant, attorney and wealth manager have probably all seen your situation before and will know how to handle it for the greatest success.

Establish a plan
Much of the desperation we see from business owners could've been avoided with proper exit planning. Planning, even in urgent situations, can help you gain understanding and clarity about your situation. A properly formulated exit plan should involve all of your key advisors, with primary and contingent plans carefully and comprehensively laid out. The creation of the plan alone can give you the power and freedom to think clearly even when times are tough.

Maintain confidentiality
Unless your situation is dire, you should tell no one outside of your immediate family and trusted advisors that you're seeking a third-party sale. Your instinct may be to take a shotgun approach and tell everyone in the hope that someone will come along and make you an offer. That could happen, but it's far more likely that, once word is out, employees, clients and vendors will start to scramble for a new employer or partner. This will only make matters worse and wreak havoc on your business. Chances are you're already under a lot of stress; there's no need to add more. Consider the benefit of working with an experienced business broker who can help safeguard the confidentiality of your business.

Stay focused
The moment you make the decision to sell your business is exactly when you need to ensure that all your efforts are focused on running the business. It can be hard to avoid pulling back from day-to-day operations or putting all your time and energy into the sale, but it's essential to stay committed to everyday tasks. Buyers like to see that a business has future prospects, even if the situation is dire.

Psychologically, you'll be in a much better position if you keep yourself and your employees fully engaged. You may be surprised at what your renewed efforts might yield in the way of business performance, which will only give you leverage when a buyer does come knocking.

Understand the need for multiple buyers
A surefire way to mitigate a desperate situation when selling your business is to have multiple interested parties. Our brokers constantly remind sellers that having only one buyer is like having no buyers. A good business brokerage firm has the marketing muscle to generate heavy buyer interest even if the business and owner are not in top form. A brokerage firm should have a large, existing database of buyers who may be interested in your business, an internet presence that attracts buyers and a trained, professional staff that knows how to manage a difficult situation. Engaging multiple buyers will enable you to get the best price and terms possible.

Price the business to sell
Now is not the time to overprice your business hoping someone will take the bait. The marketplace knows what a fair price looks like and, given your situation, you should be prepared to peg the price of the business at the low end of reasonable. This may sound counterintuitive, but the right price will actually help you attract more buyers and keep the price and terms at the highest level possible. We normally recommend a third-party valuation coupled with pre-approval from a bank so that we have as accurate a picture as possible.

Know how to meet with buyers
Business owners typically sell a business only once in their lifetime, so they're often unfamiliar with the nuances of meeting with buyers. These meetings typically determine whether a buyer is going to submit an offer, as well as the terms of the offer. There are key questions that can either reveal your desperation to the potential buyer or, if handled properly, communicate that you're motivated but won't be manipulated in a negotiation. A good business brokerage firm is able to anticipate these questions and help you rehearse how to respond in a truthful, level-headed manner.

Have multiple contingency plans
Realize that not all business-for-sale deals close successfully, especially in distressed situations. That is why it's important to have a thoughtful and credible plan B (and ideally, plan C) that can give you the additional confidence to maintain control. Make sure you can answer the question, "What will I do if I can't sell my business when I need to?" An experienced team of advisors can be an invaluable help with this and give you the peace of mind of knowing there are other options.

When you're suddenly faced with a situation that requires you to sell your business, it's difficult to avoid appearing distressed and desperate. It's absolutely essential that you don't, though, both for your ability to attract buyers and close a deal, as well as for your personal well-being. Keep these points in mind and seek the help of an experienced team of professionals.


Domenic Rinaldi is president and managing partner of Chicagoland Sunbelt, a business brokerage firm that focuses on helping people buy and sell businesses. Rinaldi is a Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) from the International Business Brokers Associatio. He brings more than 24 years of experience in merger/acquisition, sales, service, marketing and operations to the business brokerage arena.

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