Due to lack of time and a difference of opinion, Mariëtte van de Poppe and her business partner decided to sell their webshop in Middle Eastern products. They posted January 2024 a sales profile on Brookz, which was viewed 123 times and generated 2 responses. Barely two months later, the business had been sold.
What does your business do?
'Lekker Zeg is a webshop in Middle Eastern long-life products, based on the cookbooks of Yotam Ottolenghi. The founder had a problem finding the right ingredients to cook her Middle Eastern dishes. These are sometimes hard to find in supermarkets. If you do find them, the quality is not always as you like it. We also often lack the time to stop by here or there for the right product. Lekker Zeg makes finding these products a lot easier and by ordering them at the touch of a button. Me and my partner acquired this business in July 2022.
Why did you want to sell a business?
'There were actually two reasons for this. First, for us this was a project on the side. We both have regular jobs in which we work three days. We had known the webshop for some time and the interest in cooking was there for both of us. We took the step of entrepreneurship. We knew in advance that it would be a gamble, because we both have completely different backgrounds. Due to lack of time and the difference of opinion, we decided to call it a day. At the time, we also just wanted to get rid of our business as soon as possible. But we did see potential in the business, so we didn't think a final point behind the concept was a good choice. That's why we decided to sell the business.
How did you end up at Brookz?
'We first published the call that our business was for sale on our own Instagram channel and circulated it in our own network. But nothing came out of that. Then I quickly Googled and each time came across you as a reliable party for putting your business up for sale. After a pleasant consultation, we decided to take the step and use Brookz to sell our business.
What is your experience with posting a sales profile on Brookz yourself?
'That it works very simply. You just choose a package that suits you; bronze, silver or gold and then you can immediately start filling in all the information. And I did that as best I could. You do have to present your business as attractively as possible in the sales profile, but in a realistic way.'
How did the sales process go?
'We were surprised that we got immediate responses, we really didn't expect that. It was also a leap of faith for us. The buyer ended up being someone with experience in the food industry who saw this webshop as a good addition to his current business.'
How did you determine the value and price?
'We did a calculation of the stock value plus what we paid for it ourselves at the time plus the time we put in. That way we arrived at an asking price of 20,000 euros. We had to negotiate about that, because the stock value dropped due to an empty sale. But we quickly agreed on the price.
Do you have any tips for other selling entrepreneurs?
'It is a big, exciting step to sell your business. At first we didn't like it either, especially because it's the first time you enter such a sales process. But in the end it wasn't too bad and we had a deal quickly, by just doing it and being honest about the status of the business, the financial figures and the reason for selling.'
