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scared to even write this. but how does one thinking into retirement list or sell an office machine company? 32 years and I am tired. my dad had it since 1987 ish.
craigslist lol any thoughts on this also I seen another thread but it didnt say too much
Contact a business broker or two before you sell your business to make sure you know what it's worth because if you go to a competitor in the area they will offer you pennies on the dollar. You are selling your contract customers, basically, nothing more nothing less. Know the numbers of your business gross, net, losses, etc.. Also, it would not hurt to hire a good business attorney as well, so if competitors are interested and have questions your attorney will handle all of that, basically keep your mouth shut about territory, amount of employees, and the size of your business, etc. In the world of business you will be picked apart by what may seem like harmless questions, but it will bite you in the ass if not handled by your attorney and the proper legal paperwork, especially a good confidentiality agreement. Be smart, know your #'s and remember the old saying, " loose lips sink ships", that ship is your business and your future so any money you spend on attorneys and business brokers is well worth it.
Years ago I was approached by a large dealership about buying my company. The dealership was in Baton Rouge, La., which is a couple of hundred miles away. They were mainly interested in our customer base. Eventually we made a deal but it was a pain in the ass.
It's been a while but some of the things they needed were:
- Profit./loss report
-- Customer List
Rental Report
Service Contract List
Current inventory report
Adversity temporarily visits a strong man but stays with the weak for a lifetime.
The real questions are, what do you have to sell and who will buy it?
25 years ago the company I work for had three strong local competitors. One sold to Icon for $20 million at the peak. The second got into trouble and sold to a conglomerate of Toshiba dealers.
The last one was located about 10 miles from us and the owner died suddenly in his late 50s about 4 years ago and his sister was left to deal with the estate from 200 miles away. The employees tried to keep things going the best they could without leadership. We would have been interested in buying the business initially but as a year or more drug on their customers were already abandoning them and coming to us as their service response declined. After quite some time their business broker reached out to us and we looked at their facility, inventory, and book of business and it honestly the book of business wasn't even worth $150k to us and we had no interest in their facility or dwindling inventory. Ultimately we didn't even make them an offer, the business was shuttered and the majority of their customers have come over to us. Had they reached out to us to buy it right away we probably would have been a buyer.
When we looked at that business the key things we looked at were who the customers were and the age of the fleet of machines. What we found was they had few multi-machine accounts that we considered desirable who we weren't confident would come to us over time anyway. Worst of all, most of the remaining accounts were bottom feeders with ancient equipment we wouldn't want the service contracts on anyway.
My suggestion would be to reach out and work with a nearby dealer, reach out to a young IT guy in your area who might want to get into the business. Lastly you might want to work out a way to sell it to an employee if you have a manager or sales rep competent enough to run the business and if you own the commercial real estate, keep it and collect rent..
The real questions are, what do you have to sell and who will buy it?
25 years ago the company I work for had three strong local competitors. One sold to Icon for $20 million at the peak. The second got into trouble and sold to a conglomerate of Toshiba dealers.
The last one was located about 10 miles from us and the owner died suddenly in his late 50s about 4 years ago and his sister was left to deal with the estate from 200 miles away. The employees tried to keep things going the best they could without leadership. We would have been interested in buying the business initially but as a year or more drug on their customers were already abandoning them and coming to us as their service response declined. After quite some time their business broker reached out to us and we looked at their facility, inventory, and book of business and it honestly the book of business wasn't even worth $150k to us and we had no interest in their facility or dwindling inventory. Ultimately we didn't even make them an offer, the business was shuttered and the majority of their customers have come over to us. Had they reached out to us to buy it right away we probably would have been a buyer.
When we looked at that business the key things we looked at were who the customers were and the age of the fleet of machines. What we found was they had few multi-machine accounts that we considered desirable who we weren't confident would come to us over time anyway. Worst of all, most of the remaining accounts were bottom feeders with ancient equipment we wouldn't want the service contracts on anyway.
My suggestion would be to reach out and work with a nearby dealer, reach out to a young IT guy in your area who might want to get into the business. Lastly you might want to work out a way to sell it to an employee if you have a manager or sales rep competent enough to run the business and if you own the commercial real estate, keep it and collect rent..
There's a lot of good stuff in there. You're either a manager or owner.
One thing I would add, if you're unable to find a buyer and you plan on going out of business, I would suggest trying to find another dealer to take care of your existing customers. And work with your customers to help make the transition.
Adversity temporarily visits a strong man but stays with the weak for a lifetime.
First off, there¡¯s absolutely no shame in feeling this way¡ª32 years is a long time, and it¡¯s completely okay to feel tired. You¡¯ve built something meaningful, and thinking about retirement is a big step, especially when it¡¯s been in the family since the ¡¯80s.
As for selling, Craigslist probably won¡¯t get you the serious buyers you¡¯re looking for. You might want to look into a business broker who specializes in small to mid-sized companies¡ªthey can help with valuation and finding the right buyer. Also, listing on sites like BizBuySell or reaching out to competitors or local business networks could be a good place to start.
It¡¯s a tough decision, but you¡¯re not alone. Others have gone through it too, and there¡¯s a path forward when you¡¯re ready.
Wishing you clarity and peace of mind in the process.
I've been on the flipside. I was an accountant and auditor for private sector and corporate tax auditor by trade way back when for the government. You may find this helpful b/c this is what I and probably many consultants would tell the BUYERS:
To the Buyers:
1)If you already have an established company and in general, don't bother buying the other company and don't bother with any type of legal mergers, they are costly and not worth it. Just buy any assets you may want (and you don't have to buy them all) and buy the customer base, or more accurately the revenue streams of those customers. This saves so much money and paperwork for all parties involved. Mergers might be sexy in old movies but they aren't in real life.
2)Ignore any and all financial statements the seller gives you and ask for several years back tax returns. That's right, it's amazing how much variance there can be when in one document you want to hype the numbers and in another you want to look like a pauper. This is where as the owner or seller, if you were being generous with deductions and expenses you won't look as good on paper. It doesn't mean it was illegal activity but if you were using company funds to go out to eat all the time and buy unnecessary toys then your business might not look as valuable, especially if those things don't go along with the sale. I've consulted quite a few couples in life that wanted to start their own first business and the husband always had this justification in his mind that he needed a brand new pickup truck for his business. I remember one quite vividly. They or he rather was going to buy a $60,000 pickup truck to haul his $10,000 commercial mower for his new mowing and landscaping business. I said you can do that and it's over 6,000 pounds so you can write it off quicker but if you're going for any business loans in the first few years that truck is going to make your business look bad the first few years with all the depreciation. So always go by the tax documents and request official transcripts. If a business seller just spent $60k on a new truck it should be on the books and part of the assets for sale if the buyer wants it otherwise the price of the business needs lowered to remove the truck, as just an example.
3)On the business valuation. What you must know is that there are several different business valuation methods and they are subjective. If there were to be a "right" method, I'd go with the simplest and that is the IRS method. Selling price = no more than the asset value and assets = liabilities plus owners equity. I'd never advise a buyer to assume the liabilities unless it was necessary. As for the owners equity this is what you as an owner put into the business plus or minus any profits or losses minus any withdrawals. Often used business valuation methods are some number times revenue, net liquidating asset value, some number of years of profits or revenue streams, if publicly traded market cap...so there's no one single method. In short, it's a best guess calculation or various methods and agreeing on a sales number.
There's so many factors, if you're not very profitable or hemorrhaging money then don't expect much. If a lot of your contracts are about to end and those revenue streams aren't removed then your business is worth less. So you have to be realistic but also decide what it is worth for you to walk away and call it quits. Also, you might want to consider negotiating being some advisor or help with the transition of ownership especially if it's a younger person buying you out.
scared to even write this. but how does one thinking into retirement list or sell an office machine company? 32 years and I am tired. my dad had it since 1987 ish.
craigslist lol any thoughts on this also I seen another thread but it didnt say too much
thanks
If you are interested in a guy who evaluates businesses worth and can broker a sale, let me know I will get you his info. He also has buyers has can reach out to.
If you are interested in a guy who evaluates businesses worth and can broker a sale, let me know I will get you his info. He also has buyers has can reach out to.
scott I sent you a private message thank you
brent
Prosperity Plus can do a valuation for you. We used them to determine the value of our business so we could get an accuarte dollar amount for life insurance (buy-sell agreement) in the event of my death. The valuation could also be a starting point to a sale. I think they can also help with a sale. I had to provide a lot of information for them to get it done.
We have met with delaers insterested in buying the business but I have no desire to sell for the next 10 years. One of them gave me a long list of the details they required. I will see if I can find it.
I can recommend starting with assessing the value of the company. This can be done through professional appraisers or even through conversations with potential buyers. If you decide to use sites like Craigslist, be sure to include all the important details in the ad. I will also come to this someday, but for now I am trying to only develop my service. For this, I found a business texting glossary, I have problems with SMS mailings and I am trying to fix it. But when the time comes to sell, I don¡¯t even know how I will prepare and implement all this. I will need to think about the transition period to transfer knowledge to the new owner.
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