methods to sell a profitable business

[cncltd1973]

After an initial google search and reading reviews, business brokerages look sketchy. Has anyone had a good experience buying or selling a business through a Thai brokerage or other means? Or recommend a website? My wife and I have a convenience store with a gold shop on a highway intersection in a desirable country area near Pattaya Club, comes with 3-story prime real estate (2.5 units). It always made a good profit for Thailand, but we are wanting to pull back to the US for a long hiatus. If it's a country Thai  girl's dream to be the classy shop owner in town, then there isn't one better than this. I'm thinking the standard rate would make it around 20m bhat +inventory, to give you an idea; so you can hopefully point me in the right direction. I normally read the news forum so I'll be curious to see the replies here, thanks i advance.

[blackcab]

Make your own website with all of the details on it. Definitely put the asking price on the website, along with photos, location on Google maps, exactly what is being sold in terms of land, buildings and the business itself. 

 

Is a limited company included in the sale? What are the annual accounts like? If you are selling the business you will need to make the accounts available to qualified buyers.

 

It doesn't have to be an expensive website. One of the more popular free websites would probably do, such as wix.

 

Once you have done this list the business on as many of the free business for sale sites as you can. If possible, try leaving a link to your website.

 

As an extra consider buying Google ads targeted at business for sale in Thailand. I saw a pub in Bangkok marketed on Google ads, and it sold.

 

My best advice would be to include as much detail as you can, otherwise you will be called by people asking for the information.

 

Also, make it very clear if you are accepting agents or not, and what commission you see willing to pay. If you say no agents, you will still get agents calling you. Unscrupulous agents will tell you they have a firm buyer, and ask what is the best price you can give. The agent will then try and sell the business as high as they can and find a way of keeping the difference.

[scubascuba3]

Facebook marketplace 

[cncltd1973]

1 hour ago, blackcab said:

Make your own website with all of the details on it. Definitely put the asking price on the website, along with photos, location on Google maps, exactly what is being sold in terms of land, buildings and the business itself. 

 

Is a limited company included in the sale? What are the annual accounts like? If you are selling the business you will need to make the accounts available to qualified buyers.

 

It doesn't have to be an expensive website. One of the more popular free websites would probably do, such as wix.

 

Once you have done this list the business on as many of the free business for sale sites as you can. If possible, try leaving a link to your website.

 

As an extra consider buying Google ads targeted at business for sale in Thailand. I saw a pub in Bangkok marketed on Google ads, and it sold.

 

My best advice would be to include as much detail as you can, otherwise you will be called by people asking for the information.

 

Also, make it very clear if you are accepting agents or not, and what commission you see willing to pay. If you say no agents, you will still get agents calling you. Unscrupulous agents will tell you they have a firm buyer, and ask what is the best price you can give. The agent will then try and sell the business as high as they can and find a way of keeping the difference.

That is all solid advice, thank you so much!

Being on the intersection of route 331 and 3240, I was thinking a business for sale banner would get the word out quickly also. Do you have an opinion on this?

 

The business nets 200,000+ per month and the real estate was purchased for 14m, 7 years ago. Then there is improvements to the building, which I don't know if it's realistic to add that into the price with this current real estate market? It's in a developing area, here's the google link:  https://goo.gl/maps/soVBe6HtP7WnLiqN7

 

Thanks again, I'm looking to retire and this will be a good business for someone that will continue to grow, I just need to find the future owner in the coming months, so this helps out quite a bit

[Mac Mickmanus]

You could try advertising the business here on ASEANNOW ?

There is a section for adverts where you can pay to advertise your highly profitable business in a superb location which makes 200 000 Baht per and would be an ideal investment for someone ?

[blackcab]

49 minutes ago, cncltd1973 said:

Do you have an opinion on this?

 

It's a very good idea. Quite often businesses are sold to people from the local area. Put a link to the website on the banner otherwise you will be hammered with calls from the curious as to what you are selling and every juicy detail.

 

Your banner has to be big enough to be seen by cars travelling at speed on the highway. Work out what size you need then work out the sign tax!

[BonMot]

2 hours ago, blackcab said:

Make your own website with all of the details on it. Definitely put the asking price on the website, along with photos, location on Google maps, exactly what is being sold in terms of land, buildings and the business itself. 

 

Is a limited company included in the sale? What are the annual accounts like? If you are selling the business you will need to make the accounts available to qualified buyers.

 

It doesn't have to be an expensive website. One of the more popular free websites would probably do, such as wix.

 

Once you have done this list the business on as many of the free business for sale sites as you can. If possible, try leaving a link to your website.

 

As an extra consider buying Google ads targeted at business for sale in Thailand. I saw a pub in Bangkok marketed on Google ads, and it sold.

 

My best advice would be to include as much detail as you can, otherwise you will be called by people asking for the information.

 

Also, make it very clear if you are accepting agents or not, and what commission you see willing to pay. If you say no agents, you will still get agents calling you. Unscrupulous agents will tell you they have a firm buyer, and ask what is the best price you can give. The agent will then try and sell the business as high as they can and find a way of keeping the difference.

This won't work. It will be buried ten pages deep. What Thai is searching for such a business in such a location? None.

 

Facebook might be a help.

 

I'd post locally and put the word out.. approach similar businesses.

 

The op smacks of an ad itself.hmmmmm

[cncltd1973]

1 hour ago, BonMot said:

This won't work. It will be buried ten pages deep. What Thai is searching for such a business in such a location? None.

 

Facebook might be a help.

 

I'd post locally and put the word out.. approach similar businesses.

 

The op smacks of an ad itself.hmmmmm

I am motivated to give details to frame the business so the replies would be relevant, and yes the language of the op may have swerved in the direction of an ad. My point was, this business isn't for everyone, however it is ideal for a specific type of person - like a manager that wants to be between Pattaya Country Club and Rugby School.

Starting to sound like an ad again, so I'll leave it there...

 

I like the idea of a website that has all the info, and see it could be helpful to link it to Facebook and a banner sign, etc.  It might be a  helpful way to weed out the time wasters with endless questions at least. I agree relying solely on a website would be pointless

[blackcab]

1 hour ago, BonMot said:

This won't work. It will be buried ten pages deep. What Thai is searching for such a business in such a location? None.

 

You make good points. To clarify, the point of the website is to put all of the information in one place. You then create listings on business for sale websites, linking to this page. I can assure you that if you do not have the most germane information ready for people to read you will be dealing with inquiry after inquiry from people who want to know more but have no intention of buying the business.

 

The aim is not to get the website promoted to page 1 of google.

 

Google ads, Facebook, etc can all be used to elicit a response and funnel people to the page with information on it. In this way your Facebook posts, google ads, etc do not have to have all the details. Instead they can attract attention from interested parties.

 

I mentioned this because I have similar experience. One of the many mistakes I made in Thailand was when I was responsible for marketing a piece of land in Bangkok. One of the things I did was have a vinyl banner put up outside the property, with For Sale, Land SIze and Telephone/Line details.

 

The phone went mental for about a week because a lot of people from the neighborhood called/messaged to see how much the land was being sold for because they wanted to gauge the value of their land. Now we put the price on vinyl signs and the phone doesn't melt!

[1FinickyOne]

put a sign out front - yes, you will get the curious non-customer but you probably will have your best shot amongst current customers... 

[patman30]

kaidee.com
bahtsold.com
facebook

[scorecard]

14 hours ago, blackcab said:

Make your own website with all of the details on it. Definitely put the asking price on the website, along with photos, location on Google maps, exactly what is being sold in terms of land, buildings and the business itself. 

 

Is a limited company included in the sale? What are the annual accounts like? If you are selling the business you will need to make the accounts available to qualified buyers.

 

It doesn't have to be an expensive website. One of the more popular free websites would probably do, such as wix.

 

Once you have done this list the business on as many of the free business for sale sites as you can. If possible, try leaving a link to your website.

 

As an extra consider buying Google ads targeted at business for sale in Thailand. I saw a pub in Bangkok marketed on Google ads, and it sold.

 

My best advice would be to include as much detail as you can, otherwise you will be called by people asking for the information.

 

Also, make it very clear if you are accepting agents or not, and what commission you see willing to pay. If you say no agents, you will still get agents calling you. Unscrupulous agents will tell you they have a firm buyer, and ask what is the best price you can give. The agent will then try and sell the business as high as they can and find a way of keeping the difference.

"Is a limited company included in the sale? What are the annual accounts like? If you are selling the business you will need to make the accounts available to qualified buyers."  Good point, in fact for your own purposes and for the inspection of any serious buyers, suggest you prepare a list of Due Diligence items with full complete details for each item.

 

 

[scubascuba3]

22 minutes ago, scorecard said:

"Is a limited company included in the sale? What are the annual accounts like? If you are selling the business you will need to make the accounts available to qualified buyers."  Good point, in fact for your own purposes and for the inspection of any serious buyers, suggest you prepare a list of Due Diligence items with full complete details for each item.

 

 

Do buyers trust annual accounts here? I'm sure it's pretty easy to fudge the accounts, businesses always claim they are making money, pretty much every ad on Facebook marketplace 

[Cake Monster]

13 hours ago, cncltd1973 said:

That is all solid advice, thank you so much!

Being on the intersection of route 331 and 3240, I was thinking a business for sale banner would get the word out quickly also. Do you have an opinion on this?

 

The business nets 200,000+ per month and the real estate was purchased for 14m, 7 years ago. Then there is improvements to the building, which I don't know if it's realistic to add that into the price with this current real estate market? It's in a developing area, here's the google link:  https://goo.gl/maps/soVBe6HtP7WnLiqN7

 

Thanks again, I'm looking to retire and this will be a good business for someone that will continue to grow, I just need to find the future owner in the coming months, so this helps out quite a bit

I know the location of your Business that you wish to sell, and when the new 331 route from Bowin to Sattahip is fully constructed and open, the trade will drop by around 60 %, and the Business would then only command a very heavy reliance on local trade.

A more realistic figure would be asking around 10 Million with the current real estate market place, and possibly having to accept about 8 Million

As has already been pointed out by some members, a fully audited set of Accounts for the previous 3 Years at least would have to be made available for inspection to any potential buyer.

Sorry for being so negative, but you have to be realistic

[blackcab]

38 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Do buyers trust annual accounts here? I'm sure it's pretty easy to fudge the accounts, businesses always claim they are making money, pretty much every ad on Facebook marketplace 

 

The accounts are a starting place. It's pretty easy to see if a business makes money by asking for secondary documents. It is, of course, possible to fake the whole thing, but if someone was to put that amount of effort in for multiple years and get it right they would be better off trading with a real business.

[cncltd1973]

5 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

I know the location of your Business that you wish to sell, and when the new 331 route from Bowin to Sattahip is fully constructed and open, the trade will drop by around 60 %, and the Business would then only command a very heavy reliance on local trade.

A more realistic figure would be asking around 10 Million with the current real estate market place, and possibly having to accept about 8 Million

As has already been pointed out by some members, a fully audited set of Accounts for the previous 3 Years at least would have to be made available for inspection to any potential buyer.

Sorry for being so negative, but you have to be realistic

That's a good point and has been a source of concern, but nearly all our profits come from locals and factory workers in the area. The highway traffic and tourists buy sodas and snacks which has hardly any markup and contributes a net zero. This is more a market that services local demands, and has a gold shop which the pawn interest contributes to significantly. We could lose the out of town customers and not see a difference in the bank account, thank gods. As long as there is factory work then we have customers.

[BonMot]

On 8/3/2022 at 3:01 AM, blackcab said:

 

You make good points. To clarify, the point of the website is to put all of the information in one place. You then create listings on business for sale websites, linking to this page. I can assure you that if you do not have the most germane information ready for people to read you will be dealing with inquiry after inquiry from people who want to know more but have no intention of buying the business.

 

The aim is not to get the website promoted to page 1 of google.

 

Google ads, Facebook, etc can all be used to elicit a response and funnel people to the page with information on it. In this way your Facebook posts, google ads, etc do not have to have all the details. Instead they can attract attention from interested parties.

 

I mentioned this because I have similar experience. One of the many mistakes I made in Thailand was when I was responsible for marketing a piece of land in Bangkok. One of the things I did was have a vinyl banner put up outside the property, with For Sale, Land SIze and Telephone/Line details.

 

The phone went mental for about a week because a lot of people from the neighborhood called/messaged to see how much the land was being sold for because they wanted to gauge the value of their land. Now we put the price on vinyl signs and the phone doesn't melt!

This is the way to go although signs outside a business look tacky and desperate.

 

Believe me. Thais don't know how to search or use the web. Even if you SEO it to death in Thai no less it's a waste of time and money.

 

I won't comment on what will work I just know that even my well educated, monied Thai students don't know anything about search.

 

Moreover, I bought three domains and one of my students now at Columbia just laughed and told me never work. Thais use FB, Insta and TikTok. That's their entire world. I thought students might search information for university entrance exams. Apparently not lol.