When do you share what?

Based on the description on our platform, potential buyers have become interested in your online business. They would like to find out more about the business and investigate whether a possible acquisition is possible. Then the next step is to get in touch. Via Businessforsale.eu buyers are first asked to confirm that the information they receive will be treated confidentially. Nevertheless, it is wise not to share all data right away. What information can you share and at what stage?
 

For buyers, it is important to get a good picture and research the necessary aspects. Nevertheless, we advise sellers not to immediately share all information during initial contact. On this page, we provide tips on how to handle confidential information. What are expected questions and which questions are suitable for a later stage in the negotiation?

Initial phase of negotiation

After a buyer signs the confidentiality agreement, they can see the domain name and details of the online business. This is generally sufficient to determine if there is further interest. If interested, a buyer will contact them through the platform.

Typical questions at this stage include questions about sales figures, the number of SKUs, whether a sales memorandum is present and whether reports are available from Google Analytics.

After a buyer has seen the details of the online store and has been able to ask the initial questions, it is a good time to get further acquainted. We recommend scheduling a face-to-face meeting at this stage. This may also be possible via video call.

In the knowledge base article "attention points when acquiring and E-commerce business" we give an overview of topics that we think are important when taking over an online business. These are typically questions that can be asked during the introduction.

Handling confidential information

Buyers may request access to the Google Analytics account. We advise against this in the early stages of the negotiation. Often, sharing reports from Analytics is sufficient.
Nor is it wise to respond to overly detailed information requests. Examples we still sometimes see come to mind are:

  • Who is the supplier?
  • What products do you sell the most?

Sometimes it happens that buyers suggest visiting right away. We recommend holding off on the visit until after an initial bid.

First contact through the acquisition platform

Finally, we would like to advise buyers to always make the first contact through the platform. It is especially unpleasant for the seller when buyers contact through other channels: Often the environment is not aware of the sales plans and employees have not yet been informed. Always ask the other party via chat if it is desirable to continue communication elsewhere.