Points to Consider When You Buy or Sell Websites :: Sell Websites Buy Websites

Points to Consider When You Buy or Sell Websites Reprinted with permission of VotanWeb.com I've worked with many website sellers and many more potential website buyers over the years. I strongly believe that the best way for an entrepreneur to successfully get into an online business, or expand what they already have, is to buy an existing profitable website. To help those who are considering buying or selling a website, I offer the following overview of what I think are the most important issues when buying or selling a website. These have been excerpted in part from my book, How to Get Top Dollar for Your Website. Lawyers Can Kill Any Deal There certainly is an important role for a competent commercial law attorney to advise and prepare the legal structure of a website purchase and sale transaction. The problems arise when lawyers see themselves as business negotiators whose mission is to get the best deal for their clients. They frequently forget that the best deal has to involve both parties, the buyer and the seller, and that compromise is usually the best solution. Lawyers generally have a very difficult time with compromise in this type of situation because they often see their role as advising their clients on how to get the better deal. Usually, an attempt at a lopsided deal for either party will result in no deal at all. Trust Only What You Can Verify As a matter of basic principle (and law in most States), all website brokers dealing with the public are bound to be honest and forthright in their conduct concerning the website that they represent for sale. But they also have a fiduciary relationship (position of trust) to uphold between themselves and their clients (the business seller, in most cases). They must present a business for sale in its best light without misrepresenting any significant facts but at the same time not pointing out all of the potential business pitfalls. This usually establishes an adversarial relationship between the buyer and the broker as well as between the buyer and the seller. The best course of action for a buyer is to trust only what they can verify during a rigorous due diligence process and the best approach on the part of the seller/broker is full disclosure of all pertinent information. A Website Is Worth Only Whatever Someone Is Willing To Pay For It