Come for the Ride!

As of Friday, I have joined the ranks of web entrepreneurs who have built, grew and sold a successful Internet company. As someone who’s currently doing “non-profit” work waiting for the next pay-day, this was very welcoming news.

So what was learned from this experience? Well, a few things… but the top three were:

1. Know your competitors – While I was chatting it up with my potential buyers / former competitors, I learned that the larger, more successful brands all communicated freely with each other. Yes, we were all competitors and all wanted to be the leader in the space, but sometimes, certain things strike the industry that need the collective help of all involved parties. Prior to the negotiations, I really should have tried to communicate with them to establish a relationship. Had I done that earlier, the sale process probably would have happened a lot sooner.

Ultimately if your company isn’t absorbed into an investment firm, your current competition would be your next best bet at selling off the assets. Let’s face it, a lot of times we see people who are looking to sell their site on ebay or various market places but when push comes to shove, you probably won’t get your money’s worth if the buyer has no clue about your business or industry. On the other hand, your competition will easily recognize the value of your assets.

2. Create assets and sell at your peak – Unless you’re the next Amazon or Google, chances are the only viable exit strategy for you in the next 3-10 years will be to sell off its assets to a bigger brand. If you’re in this for the large payoff, that’s pretty much the only way. Therefore, as a startup, not only should your business plan include ways to get real money, there should also be a detailed section on how to get users and repeat visits. Ultimately your domain name by itself will only be worth so much. Without new content or new services, all traffic to any domain will eventually die off. Therefore if you are considering selling your business, make sure you get your money’s worth by selling at the peak of your game. Once you lose focus or interest in a property and let the web traffic deteriorate, it will be very hard to build it up again.

3. Go out with a bang! – Selling your business or site means two parties have benefited from the transaction so make sure you let the world know by throwing a press release out there! Your buyer will walk away with more customers and awareness of their brand and you will walk away a successful entrepreneur ready for the next big challenge.

Oh yeah, also remember to reward yourself! You worked hard and did a great thing. Before you dive head first on to the next project, take a little time off and buy yourself something nice.

If any of you have tips or other lessons learned from selling a business, we’d love to hear it!