I always find it odd when a seller tells me that an offer they received is “insulting”. Unless they have specifically told a buyer their exact bottom-line and non-negotiable purchase price, terms, deal structures and contingencies, why or how can they possibly be insulted?

Similarly, when a buyer looks at a business, if the asking price is outrageous relative to the company’s profits, should the buyer be insulted? Of course not.

The process of buying and selling a business is exactly that – a process. There are no hard rules, or unbreakable defined rules or parameters.>h1> Again, it is a process, a dialogue, a journey.

The goal is to locate a well qualified, highly motivated and serious prospective business buyer who has the resources and mental fortitude to get to the closing table.

Don’t let emotions dictate how you interact with the buyer. Don’t stand on ceremony. Just because a buyer offers you what you deem to be a low ball offer, does not constitute an insult. The bigger issue here is that you got an offer. Work with it. Negotiate. Engage the buyer. If you cannot reach a consensus then move on to the next one.

It’s understandable for any seller to be taken aback by an offer that’s below their expectations. After all, you have put years of sweat into the business so how dare someone walk in and suggest that your business is worth far less than what you believe it is. Well guess what? That’s their prerogative. Just as it’s yours to set an asking price and refuse an offer altogether.

Keep a level-head. Remember,

it’s all part of the game. If a buyer is completely unreasonable or just sending out feelers with low ball offers, you’ll figure it out soon enough and dismiss them

.