they have outstanding orders, deposits or you are about to become unreliable, etc. Suppliers - Similarly, some suppliers are strategic and may look for other outlets in the Sellers area. Also, they could try and poach staff or modify payment terms if they think there is a financial risk. Employees - This is generally the last group a Seller wants to know your business is for sale. In fact, we recommend not telling the employees until after the sale is made. The reason is that many business sales fall through and this can create all kinds of problems with staff morale. Just knowing a business is for sale can make people insecure and they will start looking for other jobs. After the sale is complete, this is a different story as we can generally position the Buyer as an investor and tell the story about how everything is now going to be bigger and better, etc. Competitors - Clearly if a competitor knows a business is for sale this is generally detrimental as they can use this in competitive situations with customers, they can poach employees and also go after strategic supplier relationships. Family members - Often business owners do not share the fact they are for sale with family members. One reason is that a family member can potentially let the cat out of the bag (often inadvertently) with all of the above people. There can also be a lot of fear and uncertainty with certain family members, which may not be helpful. Children also need to be treated with caution as they will often socialise with other children of companies in the above categories and inadvertently let slip the business is for sale.
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