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Priscilla’s personal experience in buying a business for sale:  Some years ago I was in a transaction with a business broker.  We identified the likely business to buy and I reviewed a lot of the business background.  At one point, the seller asked me “Are you interested in the business only because of the money?” Prior to this question, I had determined the key components of the proper business for me to buy.  [...]

What if you were the buyer of your business for sale?  What would you look at to determine whether it is a great buy? This is a great exercise to do prior to selling the business. This is a checklist you might use: Note:  This list does not pass judgment at all on the proper answers to the questions but merely suggests you should know the answers and change those that should be [...]

Over and over this year and last, the word has been to so many who would like to retire or merely move on to other business ventures “don’t sell your business now if you can wait.” The unfortunate piece of this message is that folks are tired.  They are not finding the energy they once had to find new solutions, take more cost out, do the jobs once someone did for them.  They [...]

The slow economic turn around has many owners having to make the tough decision of selling low, getting out through liquidation, or waiting to sell their business. If you have decided the best strategy for you is to wait until the economy and your business rebounds, don’t sit and wait.  It is hard but, in the situation where you want to sell your business but barely seem to have the energy to run [...]

How does a vending company as a business-for-sale secure the validation of its business. Eample:  Jordan had moved to the community after college and a brief stint working abroad.  He recognized the economy was not going to help him find a job.  He also knew that having sufficient money to pursue various dreams would not grow on trees.  So, he elected to build a business for sale, anticipating a profit in the sale. [...]

Imagine this:  You have just been successful in purchasing a business for sale or starting your own business.  You are busy:  New staff; New systems; Tight cash; Grumpy customers.  Certainly you can wait to plan the sale of the business.  Right? Wellllll, perhaps you are even a bit, but just a bit, behind the eight ball. Actually, it is never too soon to plan.  One never knows what might happen in life that [...]

Recently during the end days of a business-for-sale transaction, when it was becoming clear we might actually close the deal, the seller said to me “I have to give it to you for riding this bull so well.” We actually did close the transaction but it was not smooth sailing.  Often this is the case.  In this specific transaction, there were nuances that made, it seemed, everything challenging.   An usual deadline of one [...]

A business-for-sale or buyer broker has many, many guidelines to follow.   Knowing which ones to rely and which to relax in a given transaction becomes the art of the profession.  Here are three that are should rarely, if ever, be broken. A broker should Be clear with everyone in advance about her role and limits to knowledge & capabilities. Value businesses based on well-defined and known-to-be-valid methodologies. Present an honest picture of the [...]

Sue is a buyer of a business for sale.  She is looking at two businesses making stuffed ponies, and wants to know which one to buy.  How does Sue choose? The Case: Sales of both companies are $1MM.  The cost of goods (COG) for both companies is 25%, with the same definition of expense items within COG.  The age of the equipment is the same.  One company is making $100,000 cash to owner [...]

Some business-for-sale transactions are quick and simple, closing in a week or two.  Others take months, if no years, to close.  There are many factors to the speed of the transaction.  One of these is the winnowing away the disagreements eased or not by the temperament and flexibility of the parties. Take the home accessories store.   The purchaser loves the store.  It meets all of the husband and wife purchaser needs:  Right location, [...]