I have an early stage start up. It's a subscription model business. All the software/website is fully operational and customer ready.
A sudden change in my health has made it necessary for me to either sell or shut down. I've spent the last year of my life building this company. Money is not much of an issue, I simply want to hand over the business to someone excited and capable. If I can recoup some of what it cost me to build this company, that's merely a bonus.
Is there a market for this? I would have been thrilled if someone dumped a primed and ready startup into my lap, but perhaps I am alone with that thought.
A fair amount of knowledge in our business domain is necessary, but any intelligent hacker can pick up the basics within a few months.
What are my options?
1) shut it down.
2) sell it. yes, you can sell it, although it will be difficult and/or won't sell for nearly as much as it would if it were fully established with paying customers.
3) find a partner and offer them a majority stake to take it over completely. you retain some reasonable stake in the company and act in an advisory role as much as you're capable of. or not, but realize that if you're totally hands off, you shouldn't expect to keep a big chunk of it.
4) keep working on it when you have the opportunity.
i mean, completely dependent upon what it is, i'd be interested in #2 or #3.