For every parent, their baby is gorgeous. It is preprogrammed into humans to love and cherish their children. That’s why you will never meet a parent who says their baby is ugly. Of course, this magic spell doesn’t work on others. You have probably been introduced to a new parent’s baby and immediately thought, “That baby is ugly.” No matter how ugly we consider the baby, however, we would never share that sentiment with the parent. Social norms and all that.
In a similar vein, business owners think their business is beautiful—it is their baby after all. And because it is beautiful, everyone and anyone will want to buy the business. What’s there not to like? But buyers rarely see what the vendor sees. To the buyer, the business has numerous faults—in other words, it is ugly. It may be so ugly, the buyer runs away. The owner is left confused as to why this happens.
The Ugly Baby concept was discussed in my Certified Exit Planning Advisor course. In Exit Planning, an advisor needs to be willing to have a difficult discussion with their client explaining that others will not view their business through the same lens as them, and to be prepared for that. I also highlight to my clients the aspects of their business that buyers will probably not like.