In the Business of Flipping Businesses - with Blake Hutchison of Flippa

Have you ever thought about what will happen when it's time to sell your business? This could happen for a range of reasons. Perhaps it's no longer viable commercially, or maybe you’d just like to pursue another interest. It's a common scenario with 60% of solo run businesses closing in the first three years.

Now you've heard the saying as one door closes, another one opens. Knowing when and how to say goodbye to your business is as much part of the journey as starting and running your idea in the first place. It's essential to be mindful, to take the lessons as every step will set you up for future success. Carrie and Lucy are speaking with Blake Hutchison, the CEO of Flippa, a global marketplace for buying and selling online businesses based in Melbourne, Australia.

Can you please tell us who you are and what do you do?

“My name is Blake Hutchison, I'm the CEO of Flippa, a marketplace to buy and sell online businesses. I've been around the digital space now for all of my career. I now have the very lucky opportunity each day to witness business owners from all over the world exiting on our platform. As well as the good news is a bunch of new entrepreneurs buying to start and buying to grow. So it's a great opportunity, I take my job very seriously and we've got a wonderful team all over the world.”

If you could ask for an introduction for anything right now, and it might be in business or in life, what would that be and why?

“How about the largest network? Whoever knows the largest network of online business owners all over the world? So that would be so Flippa has an insatiable demand side. So that's all the buyers and investors all over the world. What we struggle with, just to be transparent and candid, is the supply side. So that's all the great business owners, all over the world because most are not aware that they can sell. So if I was to be really selfish Carrie, I would say give me an introduction to whoever or who may know the largest network of online business owners the world over.”

If we stepped into your shoes for the day, how would you describe the shape of a perfect life for you?

“The shape of a good life for me is a bit of time hearing my two year old daughter run up and down the corridor in the morning yelling out “Daddy!” as I'm working from the front room, it's the most heartwarming, enlightening thing you'll hear each day.

Then a glass of wine with my wife on the couch at the end of each day is about as good as you can get between those two moments. It's pretty wild. 6 a.m. starts on podcast with people in the US all the way through to late night calls with potential customers and partners in the UK. So it can be long, but it's fun. We've got a great platform, we've got a wonderful team globally and I do really enjoy it.”

Want to know more about how Blake Hutchison can help you sell your business?

Looking to sell your business but not sure where to start? Do you want to future-proof your business by preparing for its sale now, even though it may be a while away? Curious about what your business may be worth in today’s market? 

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