Asia Business Investor Blog

The majority small and medium-sized business in Asia are family owned.

At some time in the lifetime of a business, the issue may arise of whether best option may be to sell the business. This may be the case in some instances, where family members no longer have a direct interest in continuing the family business that has been in family hands for a generation or more. Children may wish to pursue different interests, be they professional careers or a different business path altogether. One of the options worth considering is whether selling the family business may be in the best interests of all concerned, especially if it aligns with the interest of the children and those that have invested their hard work over the years to see a windfall gain for the whole family.

Common pitfalls for the family business owner who is considering selling the business include several of the following:

The most common approach in most of Asia, is to ask friends and family for an idea of what the business is worth and look at potential sale to a range of contacts of friends and family. This is one approach, but it does create a multitude of problems, often leading to a result where the sale does not meet the expectations of all concerned.

Given the large number of businesses for sale in Asia, instead of trying to sell the business to a range of friends and family contacts, the business should be valued by a professional and secondly advertised as widely as possible in places such as www.asiabusinessinvestor.com where potential buyers can look at opportunities 24hrs a day over a period of weeks or months as the buying cycle is weeks and months. A business broker should be engaged if the business seller would like a professional to handle the issue.

In Singapore and Malaysia especially, there are a very large number of small family owned businesses that are for sale as families change with the generations. Whether it is a small grocery store or a large manufacturing business there is a time to sell a business and it is essential to do it well both for the business itself and most importantly for the family.