Posted in Become a Business Owner, Buyers Articles

You’ve decided you’d like to buy a business, so you start a cursory business search. Listings are purposefully vague (see why here), so after you’ve signed the appropriate NDA you’re finally given the name and address of a potential business.

What’s the first thing you do? That’s easy. You Google it.

In the digital age, this is a natural first step. You want to know everything about this potential business – the good, the bad and the ugly. The internet will absolutely provide all three.

Have you thought about this? If you like a business and want to move forward with conference calls and meetings with the seller (the next step) – they find out who you are too.

Guess what they’re going to do? Google you.

A seller doesn’t just see their business as a building and some inventory. It’s their energy and money, their passion and time spent, it’s employees and customers they consider friends. Simply put, their business is their baby – and they aren’t likely to hand over their baby to someone they don’t feel is up to the job. They want to know that the person who takes the reins is capable, mentally stable and likely to succeed. Does the you that exists online look like that?

Does your online persona appear professional, or do you exist on the internet as someone who you would think twice about hiring as an employee?

It’s easy to get sucked in to the darker side of social media by going on long political rants, engaging in heated comment arguments, by posting funny memes, pictures and videos that even on a good day are problematic. Engaging with friends and strangers through a screen tends to remove the socially acceptable filters that you would normally have during in-person interactions.

While it might be fun to be able to do and say things you normally wouldn’t – it can be a huge problem when people who are deciding if they’d like a professional relationship with you (think business sellers, commercial landlords and the like) find the pseudo-anonymous social media you.

Here’s how to keep your online persona from derailing your chances of buying a business. Look yourself up, before anyone else does.

Throw your name into a search engine and see what comes up. Scroll through your social media feeds and have a look. Pretend you’re an employer researching a potential employee.

If the online you is less than professional, take some time and clean up your feeds. Delete posts, comments or accounts. Remove problematic profile pictures. Add back in professional accounts that show your accomplishments.

You wouldn’t show up to a job interview in dirty pajamas yelling about the news. Treat your online existence the same way.

Are you considering buying a business and haven’t considered how you look on the other side of a Google search? Do you have questions about when and how business sellers find out who you are? Would you like to know more about the process to buy a business? Ask us! Please leave any questions or comments, we would be happy to help.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

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Posted in Buyers Articles

The root of this question is a mistaken assumption that any business that someone is willing to sell is obviously a business on the brink of failure. People hear a business is for sale and they immediately conjure images of giant, yellow liquidation signs and lost jobs.

The truth is businesses large and small are bought and sold every day, and for the most part businesses on the market – especially those with the best chance of selling – aren’t just good businesses, they’re great. A business with great prospects to sell has solid numbers backed up by years of steady growth. It has a well-trained staff and a large customer base. It has established name recognition in the community and a well-implemented marketing strategy.

So why would anyone in their right mind sell a business like that?

Retirement.

No one lives forever, and successful businesses are bound to outlive their founders. A seller looking to retire is probably selling in order to fund their retirement plans.

Personal reasons.

Health or family issues sometimes mean that you can’t continue doing the job you are currently doing – either because you physically can’t or because your family obligations mean moving somewhere else. When a business owner has to leave town or take a protracted leave of absence, the best path is usually to sell the business. 

A serial entrepreneur.

Some entrepreneurs buy a business and then build it to a pre-planned metric of some kind – be it size or profits, and then sell to move on to the next business project. Think of it like flipping a house, only they’re doing it with businesses instead.

Burn out.

Doing the same thing for extended periods of time can cause some business owners to burn out a bit, not on the idea of entrepreneurship but of the specific business they currently own. These sellers are looking to take the profits from this sale and move to another industry. They’re a bit like serial entrepreneurs – except the initial motivation for owning the business was different.

See a trend among these categories of sellers? Not one is motivated by the desire to get off a sinking ship. They all have different motives for getting the most out of the sale of their current business – and that motivation means they are working hard to make the business as strong as possible so they can get the best return on their investment of time, money and energy.

These types of sellers and the businesses they run are good news for business buyers. You can be assured that a business you buy from someone like this is in pretty good, if not great shape.

Have you thought about buying a business but wondered why anyone would sell? Would you like to know what businesses are currently on the market in your area? Please feel free to leave questions or comments, we’d be happy to help.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

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Posted in Become a Business Owner, Buyers Articles

Here’s one we see all the time. We get a call or an email from a buyer who wants to sign 15 NDA’s on 15 different types of businesses so they can see where each is located and then decide which ones they like.

First of all, any business broker worth their salt is not going to disclose that many listings to a buyer all at once. Why? A buyer looking at 15 different types of business hasn’t narrowed their search, so disclosing all of those businesses puts the confidentiality of those businesses at risk unnecessarily. It is also a colossal waste of both the buyer’s and broker’s time to fill out all of that paperwork for nothing.

You might enter the business marketplace with only a vague idea of the kind of business you want, but you really need to narrow the focus of your search right away if you want to have any kind of success with finding businesses that will actually help you achieve your goals. There are hundreds of potential listings out there, and it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the choices.

How do you narrow your search?

Talk to a business broker first.

We will ask you about your goals for business ownership. What do you hope entrepreneurship will bring to your life? The freedom to make your own schedule? More money than you make at your current job? More time to spend with your family? The ability to grow a business to sell a few years later? These goals will be very helpful in eliminating businesses that don’t fit the bill.

We will ask you about your prior knowledge and experience. What industries have you worked in? What did you go to school for? Taking over a new business is hard enough, you probably don’t want to add learning a whole new industry to the mix at the same time.

We will ask you about your financial situation. How much do you have to invest? Are you looking for financing? Knowing from the very beginning exactly how much you have to work with will be instrumental to ensuring you end up with a business you can afford.

After having this type of discussion with your business broker, you can focus on businesses that will fit all of your needs and not waste any of your time looking at businesses that don’t. Narrowing your focus early also helps you keep from feeling like your search never ends.

Are you starting your business search and need help with narrowing your focus? Are you curious about what businesses are available in your area? Do a cursory business search by clicking here or leave us any questions or comments below.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

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Posted in Become a Business Owner, Buyers Articles

It’s all over the news. A mass exodus of employees from the workforce in the last 18 months. Sure, the pandemic was largely to blame – but many of those who left or lost jobs during the pandemic haven’t returned to those same jobs now that the economy has rebounded. While some of this exodus and failure to return has been blamed on stagnant wages and working conditions there’s a portion of this exodus that can be very important of you are considering buying a business.

That portion? Baby Boomers.

Many Baby Boomer business owners had plans to close up shop, sell their businesses and retire in the pre-recession era of 2007  – but the economic collapse in 2008 meant many of those business owners had to stay in the workforce and wait for a better time to cash out.

Guess what? Now is that time. The Baby Boomer generation isn’t getting any younger, and many are well past the age they had hoped to retire. With the economy in a good place any smart business owner on the threshold of retirement isn’t going to waste the opportunity to sell while the selling is good.

What does that mean for you as a business buyer? There are going to be a lot of really great businesses hitting the market. Long-term businesses that not only survived the recession – they were strong enough to weather the pandemic as well. Businesses with good reputations and staying power. Businesses with experienced ownership and a devoted clientele. The kinds of businesses any prospective buyer hopes to find. A bonus? There will be a lot of them.

This influx of businesses to the market can change the game in your favor. The large supply of listed businesses means we’ve shifted to a buyer’s market – one where you will have more choices and a bit more negotiating power.

What should you do if you think you might want to try and buy one of these great retiring-Boomer businesses? Don’t wait. Once the Boomer businesses have all changed hands we’re likely looking at a shift to a seller’s market and fewer choices in terms of long-standing businesses out there for sale. Talk to a qualified and experienced business broker today about your goals for business ownership, the capital you have to invest and the industries you think might work for you. They can help you find great businesses to consider so you can get on the path to your entrepreneurial dreams.

Have you recently considered business ownership and want to know what businesses are currently listed on the market? Do you have questions about the benefits of buying a long-standing business instead of a brand new one? Ask us! Leave any questions or comments and we would be happy to help.

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Posted in Become a Business Owner, Buyers Articles

So you think you want to buy a business and start off on a career as an entrepreneur?

Before you spend too much time daydreaming of becoming the next Branson or Zuckerberg you need to consider some very big trade-offs that your new life as a business owner will require.

Controlling Your Time Versus The 8 Hour Workday:

You may have hated your 9 to 5 job, but working for someone else offers you the opportunity to have something many entrepreneurs don’t – time off. If you are buying a business so you can have more control of your time, the good news is you will. Your work schedule will absolutely be up to you. The caveat here is that work schedule is going to have to cover more hours than your traditional job did, so you need to be mentally prepared to work nights, weekends and take working vacations (if you are able to take vacations at all).

The Need To Reinvest Versus A Standard Paycheck:

One of the best ways to grow a small business is to reinvest your money in every way you can. What this means from a trade-off standpoint is you may end up making far more owning your own business than you ever did working for someone else, but that money really belongs back in the business if you want to be successful. You should also be prepared to go without paying yourself in the very beginning because you will need working capital available for things like inventory and payroll when you first take over.

Your New Priorities Versus Punching A Clock:

Working a traditional job means that you have to punch a clock, but the time when you aren’t at work belongs to you – and you can use that time for your family, your friends and your hobbies. When you own your own business, that business becomes your baby, and as such it will require you to make sacrifices in terms of the time you were once able to dedicate to the non-working parts of your life. The good news is you won’t have to ask your boss and hope that you can get the day off for your daughter’s ballet recital, you will be able to accommodate those all-important things in your non-working life. You will just have to find a way to balance the needs of your business and the priorities in your life.

Should these trade-offs scare you away from buying a business? Absolutely not! Owning your own business means that every expenditure of time, energy and money comes right back to you instead of going to someone else. The rewards of flexibility and control over your own destiny make any trade-offs worth it in the end. You just need to be aware that these trade-offs will be necessary so you can be prepared for business ownership.

Do you have questions about the trade-offs business ownership requires? Would you like to know what the schedule looks like for a business owner in the industry you are considering? Please feel free to ask questions or post comments here. We would be happy to help you on your journey to entrepreneurship.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

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