這6件事 賣(mài)出公司前你一定要聽(tīng)清楚

Selling a business is never an easy or simple process.However, the rewards can be great, and ultimately,life-changing, so if you do decide to sell there are sixkey things you need to be aware of that will help youprepare and maximize your chances of success.Getting it wrong before you start can ruin any hopesof a sale and can mean many months of your timewasted.

賣(mài)掉公司，過(guò)程絕不輕松，但回報(bào)也是巨大的，足以改變你后半生的生活。所以，如果你真的決定賣(mài)出自己的公司，務(wù)必要先搞清楚六件事。它可以幫你做足準(zhǔn)備，最大限度地提高成功幾率。而在這些事上行差踏錯(cuò)，很可能會(huì)令你出售公司的全部希望盡毀，數(shù)月時(shí)間白白浪費(fèi)。

 

 

While I specialize in the sale of online businesses and refer to those as examples, these pointsstill apply to business sales whether offline or online. Experienced buyers will see straightthrough you and the business you are selling and will quickly pass over your offering if they seeany red flags.

我的專(zhuān)長(zhǎng)是網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司的轉(zhuǎn)讓出售，本文引用的案例也將來(lái)自這類(lèi)公司，但其中要點(diǎn)同樣適用于非網(wǎng)絡(luò)公司的轉(zhuǎn)讓。有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的買(mǎi)家對(duì)你和你要出售的業(yè)務(wù)一眼就能看穿，一旦看出任何危險(xiǎn)信號(hào)，他們根本就不會(huì)再理睬你的報(bào)價(jià)。

1. Buyers won’t pay more for potential.

1.買(mǎi)家不會(huì)為了“潛力”多付錢(qián)。

I regularly speak to business owners who believe they have a potential gold mine and expect tocommand a high selling price based on perceived potential alone. This isn’t how it works. If abusiness is simply a concept without a proven revenue stream then there isn’t any value in theeyes of the vast majority of potential buyers.

對(duì)那些認(rèn)為自家公司是一座潛力無(wú)限的“金礦”，光憑這點(diǎn)就該賣(mài)個(gè)高價(jià)的老板們，我要一遍遍地說(shuō)：這套想法是行不通的。如果一門(mén)生意只是個(gè)理念，沒(méi)有已經(jīng)證實(shí)的收入流，在大多數(shù)潛在買(mǎi)家眼中，它就沒(méi)有任何價(jià)值。

If they were interested in developing their own business from the ground up there arenumerous resources to help them get started and they would not be looking to buy somethingalready established in the first place. Buyers want to acquire something that is alreadysuccessful, not an unproven concept.

如果買(mǎi)家有意從頭做起打造自己的業(yè)務(wù)，他們有很多啟動(dòng)資源，無(wú)需花錢(qián)去買(mǎi)一家剛起步的公司。買(mǎi)家希望收購(gòu)的是已經(jīng)成功的公司，而不是一個(gè)未經(jīng)證實(shí)的理念。

2. Buyers are interested in profits, not revenue.

2. 買(mǎi)家感興趣的是利潤(rùn)，不是收入。

Another common misconception is that buyers are impressed with revenue figures. Sure,they can sound good, but when it comes down to it the only number that matters is the profita business turns (see last week’s column for more on why revenue is a vanity metric). Take alook at these two scenarios:

另外一種常見(jiàn)的誤解是買(mǎi)家會(huì)被公司的收入數(shù)據(jù)所打動(dòng)。確實(shí)，收入可能聽(tīng)起來(lái)很美好，但歸根結(jié)底，真正重要的數(shù)據(jù)是一家公司的利潤(rùn)。不妨看看以下兩例：

o Business A: $30,000 monthly revenue, $25,000 monthly expenses, $5,000 monthly profitand $60,000 annual profit.

o 公司A：月收入30,000美元，支出25,000美元，利潤(rùn)5,000美元，一年利潤(rùn)60,000美元。

o Business B: $10,000 monthly revenue, $1,000 monthly expenses, $9,000 monthly profit and$108,000 annual profit.

o 公司B：月收入10,000美元，支出1,000美元，利潤(rùn)9,000美元，一年利潤(rùn)108,000美元。

The monthly revenue for the first site is three times more than the second business, but theactual profit is almost half. Experienced business buyers want to see profit numbers, notrevenue.

第一家公司每月的收入是第二家的三倍，但實(shí)際利潤(rùn)差不多只有后者的一半。有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的買(mǎi)家希望看到的是利潤(rùn)數(shù)據(jù)，而不是收入。

3. Buyers expect verifiable financial claims.

3. 可檢驗(yàn)的財(cái)務(wù)聲明才符合買(mǎi)家預(yù)期

If you are going to claim revenue from a specific source, you need to have verifiable proof.For example, if you are selling advertising space directly, be prepared to show invoices as well asbank statements that show matching deposits. If you are generating revenue through affiliateoffers or third-party ad networks with an online business, be prepared to show deposit recordsand even access to your accounts online so both parties can see the accounts live. I adviseclients to use TeamViewer or Skype as a practical way to verify financial claims on smallerbusiness sales where using an accountant is not always practical or cost-effective.

如果你要宣稱擁有一筆特定來(lái)源的收入，就要拿出證據(jù)。比如，要是你在直接出售廣告位，準(zhǔn)備好出示發(fā)票和能顯示相應(yīng)收款的銀行對(duì)賬單。要是你的收入來(lái)自會(huì)員服務(wù)或第三方廣告網(wǎng)絡(luò)，準(zhǔn)備好出示收款記錄，甚至是在線登入你的賬戶，以便讓雙方都可以看到你賬戶上的實(shí)時(shí)情況。在規(guī)模較小的商業(yè)交易中，聘用一位會(huì)計(jì)師往往既不方便也不實(shí)惠，我建議客戶用遠(yuǎn)程軟件TeamViewer或Skype來(lái)證實(shí)財(cái)務(wù)狀況。

4. Don’t live in the past.

4. 不要活在過(guò)去。

The previous success of a business is largely irrelevant at the time of sale, especially if it hasbeen struggling lately. Buyers are interested in recent performance (usually the last 12months) and future sustainability and viability, especially if you operate in a dynamic space(such as with websites). I commonly hear sellers talk about how successful their business wasin the past after a recent drop and “all it needs is a little work to get back on track”.

一家公司過(guò)往的輝煌歷史在出售時(shí)往往沒(méi)有多大意義，尤其是如果它近來(lái)已經(jīng)身陷困境多時(shí)。買(mǎi)家感興趣的是公司近期的表現(xiàn)(通常為過(guò)去12個(gè)月)和未來(lái)的可持續(xù)性與生存能力，特別是當(dāng)你的公司處于一個(gè)不斷變化的領(lǐng)域的時(shí)候(比如互聯(lián)網(wǎng))。我經(jīng)常聽(tīng)到賣(mài)方說(shuō)，盡管最近業(yè)務(wù)下滑了，但自己的公司過(guò)去是多么成功，“只要輕微一點(diǎn)努力便可以讓其重回正軌。”

Unfortunately, buyers don’t see it this way. They aren’t interested in fixing and recovering yourbusiness, especially if you are expecting them to pay a premium. However, don’t be afraid toshow previous years if the business has been growing steadily. Buyers love to see growingrevenue and profit figures, especially if you have already made future plans for the businessthat seem realistic based on past performance.

可惜的是，買(mǎi)方并不這么看。他們沒(méi)有興趣對(duì)你的公司修修補(bǔ)補(bǔ)，更別指望他們會(huì)為此支付溢價(jià)。但如果你的公司一直在穩(wěn)定增長(zhǎng)，大膽展示之前的成就吧。買(mǎi)方喜歡看到不斷上升的收入和利潤(rùn)數(shù)據(jù)，如果你還根據(jù)之前的業(yè)績(jī)制定了看上去可行的未來(lái)規(guī)劃，那將對(duì)買(mǎi)家更有吸引力。

5. Honesty is the best policy.

5. 誠(chéng)實(shí)是最有效的策略。

The truth is going to always surface, so be upfront about everything from the beginning.Experienced investors understand that every business is going to have positives andnegatives. There is no such thing as a perfect business.

真相總有水落石出的那天，所以從最開(kāi)始就要將所有事情說(shuō)清楚。有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的投資者能理解每門(mén)生意都有優(yōu)缺點(diǎn)。世界上不存在完美的生意。

If you are honest and transparent from the start there is less risk of a deal going sourbecause the buyer uncovered something during due diligence that wasn’t accurate or aninstance where the truth was stretched. Honesty is the best policy in all business transactionsand selling any business is no different.

如果你從最開(kāi)始便能做到誠(chéng)實(shí)透明，便可以大幅降低買(mǎi)家在盡職調(diào)查時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)事實(shí)不準(zhǔn)確或被夸大，從而導(dǎo)致交易失敗的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。在任何商業(yè)交易中，誠(chéng)實(shí)都是最有效的策略，轉(zhuǎn)讓公司也不例外。

6. Expect to answer a lot of questions.

6. 準(zhǔn)備好回答許多問(wèn)題。

Businesses — especially those run 100 percent online — are forever becoming more popular,with so many people looking to become independent and quit their nine-to-five jobs.Consequently, it has lead to a lot of inexperienced buyers inquiring about businesses for sale,which can be a significant time drain, unless you use a broker whose job is to handlequestions and vet buyers for you. Selling yourself will lead to a lot of questions — and you needto be prepared to answer them all, regardless of how simple they may sound.

做買(mǎi)賣(mài)，尤其是互聯(lián)網(wǎng)領(lǐng)域的買(mǎi)賣(mài)會(huì)越來(lái)越熱門(mén)，有太多人渴望不受約束，告別朝九晚五的生活。最終，這將導(dǎo)致許多經(jīng)驗(yàn)不足的買(mǎi)家打聽(tīng)待售的公司?；卮疬@些問(wèn)題會(huì)耗費(fèi)大量時(shí)間，除非你聘用經(jīng)紀(jì)公司負(fù)責(zé)處理這些問(wèn)題，幫你審查買(mǎi)家。賣(mài)掉公司本身會(huì)帶來(lái)很多問(wèn)題——你需要做好回答這些問(wèn)題的準(zhǔn)備，不論它們聽(tīng)起來(lái)可能是多么簡(jiǎn)單。

Never judge a buyer. You never know whom you are dealing with or the buying power theypossess. Someone asking what appears to be a simple question could potentially be a buyerthat is new to the specific industry and have deep pockets for investing. Experienced buyerswill often hammer the seller with questions in an attempt to turn up inconsistencies and redflags.

不要對(duì)買(mǎi)家指指點(diǎn)點(diǎn)。你永遠(yuǎn)不知道與自己打交道的是誰(shuí)，或他們具備怎樣的購(gòu)買(mǎi)力。問(wèn)著看起來(lái)很簡(jiǎn)單問(wèn)題的人，或許是對(duì)某個(gè)行業(yè)不夠了解但財(cái)力雄厚的大買(mǎi)主。有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的買(mǎi)家常用的一招——就是用反復(fù)提問(wèn)轟炸賣(mài)方，以圖找出你回答中的前后矛盾之處和那些危險(xiǎn)信號(hào)。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))