Is Selling a Business Hard in the UK?

There are levels of difficulty when it comes to selling things. While selling an old pair of shoes requires little more than a quick eBay post, selling a business is a little more complicated – but how hard is it actually?

If you’re considering selling your business in the UK, this will likely be a question that’s on your mind. To help you navigate this process, we’ve expanded on a few factors that will influence the difficulty of the sale, from regulatory hurdles to the actual state of your business.

Regulatory hurdles

One factor that will influence how easy or difficult it is to sell your business is the kind of regulations that will govern the sale. Selling a school or medical institution, for example, will likely require a different kind of approach compared to selling a construction business.

A business broker such as Dexterity Partners should be able to point you in the right direction, whether that’s towards a solicitor or one of their own experts. All of this research needs to be done early on, so that you approach the rest of the sale in a confident and legally compliant manner.

Market conditions

Another important factor that will determine the difficulty of the sale is the market condition. If you’re trying to sell in the midst of an economic downturn, where everyone is trying to liquidate their assets, you’ll likely have a much harder time compared to selling during a period of economic stability or growth.

These kinds of conditions are subject to change, obviously, and it’s important that you pick the right moment to sell. Again, it’s worth seeking further advice on this kind of thing, especially if you’re not overly confident in navigating resources geared at economic analysis.

Your niche

Some businesses are simply much easier to sell than others, and this often comes down to which niche your business is in. If it’s overly saturated with competition, and brands have a high failure rate, then people are obviously much less likely to buy an existing business compared to one that’s operating in a fast-growing yet highly competitive niche. That doesn’t mean that businesses in the former category can’t be sold, just that it will take a little more time and effort.

The state of your business

Lastly, the state that your business is in will have a big impact on how hard the sale ends up being. This includes everything from how organised your accounts are to how much debt the business is in. Assessing these factors can take a little time, and many of them will also be subject to change and improvement, with a bit of work.

None of this should put you off selling your business in the UK. It can be difficult, but there’s also a lot that you can do to make the process much easier. Make sure that you get help from the right parties, including business brokers, solicitors and accountants, to ensure that you navigate the sale in as smart and efficient manner as possible.