Cellphones…everywhere.  But do you remember Blackberry?  They were #1.  They had world-class enterprise security, best-in-class features such as ergonomic physical keys, and they were a status symbol of professional business acumen and success.  And then the market moved without them. 

        You can wait too long to get out, too long to sell a business – most owners do.  Business and life cycles go in waves – a law of nature – sell as you’re moving toward the crest, or while you’re at the peak.  The best time to sell is while you’re growing, or while everything is firing on all cylinders.  Your growth and success story attracts buyers willing to pay a premium to acquire the incredible machine you’ve built.  When you wait until you’ve missed the market, or your glory days might be in the rearview mirror, buyers see potential in the discount they can get for what they can return to prosperity.

        Blackberry was a company that dominated the cellphone market due to having a highly secure operating system and an efficient functional interface that served businesses and business people very well – for a short period of time.  While initially having great success the company missed an industry that pivoted to the adoption of smartphones by the everyday consumer, not just the business class. 

        What the larger market wanted changed.  Blackberry maintained their secure business platform outlook and never developed a product for a more contemporary audience, eventually leading to a massive loss of market share as people replaced Blackberry’s with the personal-oriented phones of today.  Those phones grew in functionality, style, and became the new must have, leaving Blackberry a company that didn’t keep up with what the customer wanted. 

        Blackberry still exists today, having shifted to focus on their core competency of enabling secure business platforms through software, but they don’t command the revenues they once did.  Their dominance, and value, is a fraction of what it once was.  

        Current success, future growth and the awesome opportunity that awaits is an exciting proposition for a motivated buyer.  Go out on top.  Don’t wait too long to sell your business.

“You can wait too long to get out, too long to sell a business – most owners do. “