Chapter 11 - Confidentiality Matters
When a Seller agrees to engage a Buyer there is a huge leap of trust that is taken as they will be disclosing not only the fact they are for sale but details about the business that could be used by a competitor or just inadvertently shared with the community which would impact their relationship with customer, employees and supplies. It is therefore critical for a Buyer to honour this trust and the Non- Disclosure terms that were signed before engaging with a Seller. When most people decide to sell a major asset like a house or a car there is generally an advertising process to make as many people aware the item is for sale as possible. This can even include putting a for sale sign in front of the house or a notice inside the car windshield for example. In the case of selling a business, this community advertising approach would have many negative consequences. Because of this, the normal advice is to tell as few people as possible the business is for sale and only reach out anonymously. The following are some of the groups and reasons for this anonymity: Customers - If customers know a business is being sold, they might make many negative assumptions like there is a problem with the business and better to find another supplier as quality might go down, etc. They could lose money if you suddenly go out of business and
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