150 | The Fatal Error When Selling Your Business | with Thomas Smale

Thomas Smale is the Founder and CEO of FE International. He is a serial business entrepreneur and M&A expert, having built the industry-leading firm in the $1-100M global technology sector.

With experience dating back to the early 2000s, Smale offers invaluable technical, diligence and negotiation advice to early-stage and seasoned business owners alike, which has resulted in over 1,000 successful exits.

Smale can be regularly found speaking at industry events where he enjoys meeting like-minded entrepreneurs and investors.

Alongside his duties at FE International, Smale is a sought-after author and keynote presenter for leading industry events worldwide.

He has been interviewed on top podcasts and blogs on a variety of topics, including business strategy, buying and selling businesses, negotiation tactics and more.

He writes a business column regularly on entrepreneurship, growth, and business management for Entrepenur.com and is a Young Entrepreneurs’ Council member.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:19] Thomas’ backstory
• [04:54] Reasons to buy or sell websites
• [06:25] 3 main buyer groups for websites
• [08:15] 3 types of websites that FE Intl buys
• [12:30] Setting up for selling your business
• [15:31] What makes FE Intl different
• [17:15] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io
• [17:35] Sponsor: Mesa apps.shopify.com/mesa
• [18:19] Sponsor: Gorgias gorgias.grsm.io/honest
• [19:46] Sponsor: Rewind rewind.io/honest
• [20:18] Sponsor: Klaviyo klaviyo.com/honest
• [21:06] Best practices for selling your website
• [22:23] Don’t sell your business when it’s declining
• [23:44] It’s easier to sell businesses now
• [25:30] Write down your processes
• [25:58] Consider an evergreen business industry
• [28:56] Does FE Intl help buyers?
• [29:55] Be careful in choosing advice
• [31:40] Should you raise money?
• [32:20] Consider your future early on
• [33:59] Where to find Thomas and FE International

Resources:

• Connect with Thomas @ThomasSmale linkedin.com/in/thomassmale
• Sell your online business with a Professional M&A Advisor you can trust feinternational.com
• Get a free valuation of your website feinternational.com/sell-your-website
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store apps.shopify.com/mesa
• Level up your customer support gorgias.grsm.io/honest
• Respond to any of Rewind’s welcome emails and mention HONEST ECOMMERCE to get 1 month free rewind.io/honest
• Get started with a free account at klaviyo.com/honest

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