Negotiate Better Deals

Top 10 Reasons You Can't Sell Your Franchise

 

Business owners are coming out of hibernation--franchise owners have been asking if they can sell their franchise now.

What will keep you from selling your franchise?

Based on the franchise agreements we've seen, the experience of franchisors and franchisees, the typical fights in unraveling a franchise relationship, and the lack of business loans by banks, franchisee business owners need to know the top 10 reasons they can't sell.

• Franchise contracts prohibit transfer, assignment or sale either outright or through draconian language, e.g. financial requirements, etc.. Look for consent not to be unreasonably withheld or similar other wiggle language.
• Franchisor can dictate to whom you sell the franchise.
• Franchisor can require you to sell the franchise for some specified amount or greater. 
• Franchise transfer fees are way out of line.
• Franchisee fees are high, percentage based,
• The franchisor allows such a sale but the franchise fees and royalties will be renegotiated. Buyers don't like that uncertainty.
• No one wants your services or products. If technology has passed you by, cautious consumers aren't buying in uncertain times, or your franchisor has let the service or products go into a death spiral, you may not even get to the issue of what your franchise contract allows.
• You failed to negotiate unreasonable contract provisions out of the contract (you can negotiate with smaller franchisors, the bigger ones usually figure out to exclude heinous provisions).
• Your franchisor has buy back rights allowing him/her to buy back your franchise at a low rate and sell for more money to someone else.
• Your franchisor has a poor track record with its franchises, i.e. problems with finances, lawsuits and training/support.

Smart franchisees look at these issues up front before signing on. If you're stuck with some of the above issues, talk to a franchise attorney, particularly if you have a personal guarantee. Then, sit down with the franchisor and see what you can work out. Franchisors don't make money if you can't sell the franchise or you walk from the franchise.

Sell Your Business--Inside Information on Value of Business, Business Appraisal

What's my business worth? What do I need to do to get it sold? We're getting lots of these questions as business owners think about retirement, decide the economy may be improving, and look for buyers. Our most recent client decided the universe was telling her to sell due to numerous health issues.  She's smart because she's planning ahead and not acting out of desperation.

Whether you are a small or mid sized business owner, you need to get with your accountants to determine a preliminary value. We also recommend that you talk to a business valuation, business appraisal expert.

Whether you spend only an hour or two with that valuation expert (a quick verbal report may run $300-$500) or you get a full flung valuation, it's money well spent.

You'll get a healthy dose of reality on how your business stacks up to similar businesses from an industry, geographic and niche market standpoint. Your sales price will be founded on something more than guesswork.

How do you get an accurate business appraisal, valuation? Where do you find a competent expert, whether it's just for a few hours or a total valuation?

Three Key Tips Insiders Use to find a Good Business Appraiser:

• Get an Accredited Senior Appraiser with American Society of Appraisal Designation.
• Ask what's their experience--how many years, references, size of businesses appraised.
• Have they testified in court? If so, they've been vetted by trial counsel questioning them.

How to value your business is not a DIY (do it yourself) project if you want serious money. Forget the online calculators, the business valuation multiple(s) you hear tossed around at business gatherings--your business deserves some serious analysis. 

Termination of Contract--Why Small Businesses Want Termination Clause

Negotiating contracts for the small to medium sized business is tough. Business is hard to come by, hours are spent landing and closing the sale, and signing the contract takes forever. So why, you ask, do we care about termination of this contract when we fought so hard to get paying business?

Here's one reason why, offered recently by a client in an email:

"We wish to terminate because they are wholly unreasonable with all business dealings. The principal of their company sucks the life force out of every person here."

Case closed.

Information Levels the Playing Field in Negotiations

Negotiate Better Deals is about dealing from strength in business negotiations.
Not the adversarial, face off, posturing, threatening, deceptive, dishonest type of negotiation process where everyone is shouting. Nor is it about avoiding negotiations or giving up because the other side holds all the cards.

Properly armed, we believe the small business owner, the founder, the entrepreneur, the consultant, the independent contractor can deal from strength every day in business negotiations. Strength is courage, clout, backbone, effectiveness, substance, security, stamina and power.

In a wired world, we believe that the most powerful card you hold in negotiating against Global Goliaths is knowledge. Anyone who’s suffered through a negotiation gone bad, capitulated on price when the other side’s hired guns pointed out problems or dealt with plummeting profits after a poorly negotiated contract knows that information is power. The accuracy, thoroughness, truthfulness and persuasiveness of the information you bring to the negotiating table determines your success.

Negotiating Salary, Women and Negotiation in Business

Negotiation for Women in businesswas the topic for my presentation yesterday at the University of Colorado Deming Center with women MBAs.  Women just don't ask or ask as effectively--whether it is research studies, anecdotal evidence or our years of experience in negotiating--the consensus is that women use negotiation less than men to get what they want in the workplace.

Ask, prepare and listen are the negotiation mantras we think are helpful to women, particularly as negotiations have become more collaborative than confrontational.

 Ask--get in the mindset to negotiate for what you want, don't assume your hard work will be rewarded and set higher goals.

Prepare--get a wide database, e.g. not just asking women for salary information, gather information from networks and mentors, get factual support and anticipate negotiating ploys and responses.

Listen--elicit needs of the other side through listening and asking open ended questions, silence and the taking of time can add dollars to salary offers,  understand both the relationships and the issues in negotiations through listening, careful listening that enables you to ask inclusive, open ended questions allows for a collaborative solution that satisfies both parties needs.

Some excellent resources we recommend to any woman about to embark on salary negotiations or any other type of negotiation, especially negotiating in the workplace:

Breaking into the Boys Club

Self Nurture Learning to Care for Yourself As Effectively As You Care for Everyone Else

Negotiating Your Salary How to Earn $1000 a minute

Getting Past No

As one woman MBA noted, you have to remember Gandhi's quote , "You don't ask, you don't get" .

Negotiation for Women in businesswas the topic for my presentation yesterday at the University of Colorado Deming Center with women MBAs.  Women just don't ask or ask as effectively--whether it is research studies, anecdotal evidence or our years of experience in negotiating--the consensus is that women use negotiation less than men to get what they want in the workplace.

Ask, prepare and listen are the negotiation mantras we think are helpful to women, particularly as negotiations have become more collaborative than confrontational.

 Ask--get in the mindset to negotiate for what you want, don't assume your hard work will be rewarded and set higher goals.

Prepare--get a wide database, e.g. not just asking women for salary information, gather information from networks and mentors, get factual support and anticipate negotiating ploys and responses.

Listen--elicit needs of the other side through listening and asking open ended questions, silence and the taking of time can add dollars to salary offers,  understand both the relationships and the issues in negotiations through listening, careful listening that enables you to ask inclusive, open ended questions allows for a collaborative solution that satisfies both parties needs.

Some excellent resources we recommend to any woman about to embark on salary negotiations or any other type of negotiation, especially negotiating in the workplace:

Breaking into the Boys Club

Self Nurture Learning to Care for Yourself As Effectively As You Care for Everyone Else

Negotiating Your Salary How to Earn $1000 a minute

Getting Past No

As one woman MBA noted, you have to remember Gandhi's quote , "You don't ask, you don't get" .

Why We Started Negotiate Better Deals

In our conversations with small business owners, independent consultants, founders of startups and countless other business owners, they tell us that they cannot afford to spend thousands on legal help in negotiating deals that may not come to pass. When we’ve seen problem deals, disputes and disasters, the cause is often poor negotiation by one side disadvantaged by lack of information.

How is the negotiating game played? How do you find the critical information before the negotiation about the type of transaction, benchmarks, inside intelligence about the other company and those negotiating the deal, value, comparables and market direction, key provisions, deal killers, plain English explanations of key agreements?

Business owners told us they needed immediate help on these negotiating issues for their specific transaction.

They surfed the web, talked to buddies, looked at some confusing forms and still didn’t have a clear idea of what to do. If only they had useful, affordable information, they could have saved themselves thousands of dollars, not lost the sale of the business, sold for far less than market price, made money not lost money on a consulting contract.

That’s the reason we started Negotiate Better Deals. We believe information is power. It is that information that empowers the entrepreneurial David in negotiating with the global Goliaths

Welcome to Negotiate Better Deals

 We are pleased to announce that Negotiate Better Deals is now up and running.

 Negotiate Better Deals offers negotiation guides full of useful checklists, online negotiation answers and negotiation consulting. For less than an hour of an attorney’s times, our e-books level the playing field for the entrepreneur, the small business person, the independent contractor.

 Negotiate Better Deals aims to be your rapid response negotiation team.