Small Business Dilemma for Positioning the Firm Resale: Sales, Profit, Valuation and More

Abstract

Serial entrepreneurs and small business owners make up a substantial portion of the economy by percentage and are generally known for starting firms, developing their capabilities and subsequent sales, then looking to exit. Commonly, the end game is to sell the enterprise and potentially start a new firm, or at some point retire. Regardless of whether this is a one-time resale, or an entrepreneurial pattern, the reselling process can be mired in issues related to achieving a maximum selling price. Although there are firms to aid in this process, there is little research that supports the optimal variables and structures for supporting the final sold price. This paper examines some common variables associated with selling a small business in an attempt to understand, and potentially maximize these transactions. Although there is a great deal of literature on small business behavior and performance including drivers for sales and growth, and drivers for success, there is much less research examining the resale of small businesses. This study investigates five firm level variables and their relationship to the sold price. These are sales or profit maximization, business valuation method, business type, years in business, and franchise orientation. A dataset that examines 8,569 small business firms sold over a 10-year period is employed to support the study’s regression and analysis of variance. Results support that there are unique relationships and significant differences between the variables examined in this study.