How to Create a Business For Sale Ad

by 15th of July, 2013

Creating an eye-catching business for sale add is important if you want business buyers to notice your ad and contact you. Creating a business for sale ad that appeals to buyers will generate you more enquiries then a simple plain text, no photo ad, so its important to pay attention to your ad and content. Whilst you want to tell as much about your business as possible, you also want to entice buyers to contact you and not give away too much confidential information.

Top Tips on How to Create a Business for Sale ad:

Heading:

Make your business stand out, be excited!! A common mistake people write is "Sydney Cafe for Sale" - how does this make your cafe stand out over the other 40 on the page? People will most likely have come across your ad because they searched the Sydney Cafe section... so thats a given. Try headings like the following:

Successful Cafe Franchise under Full Management
Award Winning Thai Restuarant - Narrabeen
Fish And Chip Weekly Takings $7,000 To $8,000pw
Main Road Cafe with high foot traffic
Perfect Takeaway for Family or Couple

Numbers:

When buyers are looking at your business for sale ad, they want to know specifically about YOUR business. What can YOUR business provide them. By displaying an ad thats very vague or doesnt include much information it will not entice the buyer. For example, if they are looking for a cafe for sale in Sydney, there will probably be close to 50 cafes for sale at any one time. If your ad doesnt provide anything special, a buyer may bypass your ad and look at another.

The numbers dont need to be too specific or giving away too much financial information. They just need to provide some facts about your business, that a buyer can relate to.

Examples:

Vibrant Sydney Cafe sells 18kg of coffee per week
Under full management, owner earns $50,000 per year
Customer database of 12,000 clients
High repeat clientelle with 60% customers returning once a month.
20m to major bank, supermarket, restaurants
Over 300 products currently being sold.
Low rent $400 per week ($20,800 per annum)
Projected turnover 2013-2014 $450,000

You will find the ads with the highest enquiry rate, provide helpful numbers.

Subheadings:

Always, Always, Always... make your business for sale ad easy to read. Provide bullet points or sub headings. People who are searching for a business dont have time to read paragraphs of text. They want it simple and straight to the point. If those details suffice, they will contact you for more information. Which is why having numbers is important. make it easy on the buyer. They will be searching many websites and going through many ads. Help them out and keep it simple.

Location
About (products, services, inclusions)
Financials (some numbers to entice)
Local Developments (stats for the local area, improvements that may increase business)
Reason For Selling

Inclusions:

This section doesnt have to be long winded or include every item in the sale. But if your business has recently undergone renovations or improvements be sure to mention them. e.g. Recent shopfit of $70,000. You will also want to mention to what level of equipment you have. e.g. Cafe with a fully functioning kitchen currently serving over 20 different types of meals including grilled, baked and fried.

Local Developments:

What is going on in the area that could affect the future of the business. Buyers like to feel they are getting a business they can expand, grow and improve profits. If there is a new development (e.g. 20 new homes being built) new shopping complex (ALDI supermarket due for completion December 2013) be sure to include these details. It shows you are knowledgable about the business, and you monitor your business and local improvements that could affect it.

Photos:

I cant stress how important photos are. Read this blog: What Photos to use in a Business For Sale ad? to see the type of photos you should include.

Those are the top 6 content and formatting tips we have for anyone creating a business for sale ad. There are thousands of ads current on the market, please search our businesses for sale section to view some similar ads to get some ideas. If you have any questions please just contact the Bsale team!

Remember: You want the buyer to contact you! So you need to step into the shoes of potential buyers and imagine what they want to read...