Selling a social community was completely implausible a few years ago. But today there is great interest in social platforms for sale.
A community is a group of Internet users, who come together in a particular online place to talk about their shared interest. This can be a product, a brand or even a person. Social communities are meant for registering a profile on, then interacting with others through your profile.
Although all online communities act as meeting places and aim to connect people, this world of endless possibilities can be divided into various types of online communities. This is good to know so that you can properly identify the position of social platforms. These are the best-known online communities:
- Social communities (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). Networking and maintaining relationships is the main focus here;
- Action communities, where people with a common passion encourage each other to take action. For example, plans are made to organize a demonstration for women's rights at a particular place and time;
- Professional communities. Consider a particular online group where photography fans share their knowledge about lenses, shutter speeds and trends. LinkedIn is another such platform where knowledge is shared and you can expand your business network;
- Local communities are driven by local leaders. Think neighborhood WhatsApp or an online platform for your neighborhood association.
There is explosive demand for digital products, but the other side of the coin is also visible. Shortages in the labor market and a shift underway from hourly billing to other revenue models, such as subscriptions.
There are many ways to value a business. A common method of expressing the value of a business is "a factor x gross annual profit." This factor is also called multiple and another designation for gross annual profit is EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Taxes Depreciation and Amortization).
In the IT sector IT - the industry to which social communities belong - an indicative range of EBITDA multiple of 5.9 to 7.2 is currently applied, according to the Brookz Takeover Barometer. The average EBITDA multiple across all SME sectors is 4.90.
The valuation of a business is often the starting point for negotiations between buyer and seller. The outcome of these negotiations is the final sales price. So valuation and price are two different quantities. Besides valuation, the price is also determined by possible scarcity in the market, bargaining power of the parties, the strategic value of the business for the buyer and possible synergy effects for the buyer (cost savings, purchasing advantages).
Do the calculation
Want to buy a business or sell a business in the IT Services & Software Development sector? With this Brookz Sector Monitor, we want to present buyers and sellers with facts, figures and an outlook that provide insight into the number of transactions, the value development of businesses and the latest trends and developments in the IT Services & Software Development sector. Because in any buying or selling process, thorough preparation provides peace of mind, overview and structure.
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There is also a large group of startups, which do manage to build a busy social community, but decide to sell their social community for various reasons. Reasons cited for selling social community:
In figures, the number of social communities in 2024 looked as follows(CBS):
With this online training from Brookz you are optimally prepared to largely sell your business yourself: 25 Powerpoint videos, a comprehensive valuation report, legal model contracts, handy templates, checklists and expert support. Plus 50% discount on listing your business on Brookz!
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If you want to sell your social community or social platform, there are broadly three types of buyers. Each buyer has its advantages and disadvantages, depending on what your intentions are regarding selling your community. The buyers of a social community are:
There are many ambitious individuals who are all too eager to run a social community, but do not have the guts, knowledge or resources to start one themselves. It is a make or buy trade-off for this type of buyer: am I still going to invest to build a platform myself? Or do I buy a community so I already have traffic, engagement and brand awareness?
There are many online communities, from large to small. Is there a strategic buyer, interested in your niche? Then it may just be that this buyer will improve its market position by acquiring your existing social community. A url, a target group, social media channels, brand awareness and revenue that can be added directly to the existing platform. This can be a great opportunity for you, as often this buyer is willing to dig deep. The purchase price is recouped fairly quickly through cost savings and synergy benefits. For example, Microsoft attempted to buy Pinterest in 2021, but this acquisition was taken off the table.
Sometimes you want to sell your business, but your team members are completely in place. It is common for a staff member to take over the community. This has several advantages for both parties, because the buyer is familiar with the target audience, the value of the community and the way it works, so the transfer can go smoothly and quickly.
