Financing is hard to get-banks don’t like your industry, your business or acquisitions in your industry. If you industry requires a high level of industry experience a buyer without that experience won’t get an acquisition loan. However, you may get a higher price by financing more of the deal.
No business or marketing plan-while a plan may not directly reduce the value of your firm (other than via the fact that companies with a plan have significantly higher profits), a business and marketing plan may add to the price a buyer is willing to pay.
Poor or no management team-buyers like to manage and lead; they don’t like to do. A poor team means a lower value.
Salary is not profit-an appraiser will want to know what is the fair market salary for the job of running the company. If you weren’t there you’d have to pay someone to be president and that salary is not profit (by a long shot).
Saturation-this is often a function of franchising and/or low barriers to entry. Eventually this leads to competition based on price and it’s hard to win in that situation.
Special skills or license needed-about 2/3 of all small businesses need an owner with general business skills and business common sense. Those are the types buyers like the most. If you have to be a PhD in an advanced scientific field to own the business, well good luck finding a someone with money who wants to own a business.
