Buying a business might seem like a monumental task – there’s paperwork, red tape, negotiations, money – but there are better ways to go about successfully completing a transaction than others.

One of the best ways you can be a more efficient business buyer? Ask questions.

Of course I’m going to ask questions! What do you mean?

The process to buy a business starts with looking at general listings and pairing down the list of possible businesses provided by your broker to just a few. For those few businesses, you will be asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement for confidentiality purposes – and then you will be forwarded a marketing package that typically includes information about the business, the physical location, a financial overview, pictures, etc.

At this point many new buyers ask for a meeting with the seller or for a tour of the location, but if all you’ve done is glance at the marketing package – then a meeting or tour will probably end up a total waste of your time. When you are buying a business, you are buying cash flow – so the seller’s personality or the location decor really aren’t that important.

Why?

The only way to figure out if a business is really right for you is to dig deeper than just a cursory glance, and you need to do that deep digging right from the start so you can eliminate businesses that aren’t right for your goals – sooner rather than later. The more efficient path? Take a really close look at the information you’ve been provided and come up with a list of questions you’d like answered.

What kinds of questions should I be asking?

Every business is different, so your questions from one business may or may not be the ones you have for another. Here are some general questions to get you started:

What are the seller’s daily duties? What would a typical work day look like for me as the new owner?

How is the income derived? Is it owner-to-prove? What do the tax returns and P&L statements show as far as how much the business makes?

What types of licenses are required for this business? Would I qualify for those licenses?

The moral of the story is any question is a good question, for a couple of reasons. First and foremost it will help you weed out businesses that won’t fit with your goals and expectations. Second, your questions will help your business broker understand what is important to you so they can better refine the search for potential businesses.

Save yourself a ton of time and energy by carefully reviewing information and asking lots of great questions – before you sit down with sellers and go for a back-of-the-house tour.

Are you a new buyer who has additional questions about the process to find the right business? Would you like more pointers on the best types of questions to ask? Ask us! Leave comments or questions here and we will be happy to help.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com
12995 South Cleveland Avenue, Suite 249
Fort Myers, FL 33907

www.InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

No Comments »

Figuring out what a business is worth is a difficult thing – especially if you are a first-time business buyer.

What do the last several years of tax returns say about what the next few years might be like? How much is the inventory worth? Should you even care what the inventory is worth? How much cash flow does the business generate? What kind of monetary benefits does the current owner get from the business? What are multiples and how were they used to come up with a price? 

These are all great questions that you and your broker will discuss when deciding if a particular business is worth what they’re asking. You’ll also use the answers to those questions to decide if a business fits with the goals you have for business ownership. What you may have noticed about this list of questions is they all have a numerical answer of some sort. Businesses are, however, far more complex than just numbers can explain – so let’s look at one marker for value that you may not have considered – the value of your future life.

Two businesses may appear nearly identical on paper – but in terms of value to you as a buyer and in terms of list price they may be very different. Why? One business has far better non-monetary benefits for the owner than the other. Here’s an example:

There are two nearly identical pizza shops in the same area of town. They both generate $100,000 a year, but in one the owner works 80 hours a week – the other owner only works 20 hours a week. Which shop would be worth more to a potential buyer? The one with the vastly better work schedule, right?

There is far more to owning and running a business than just the numbers. You are buying yourself a job and a lifestyle, and for a better job and lifestyle you are probably going to have to pay more. The day-to-day schedule of the current owner, having a strong management structure in place that allows an owner to do things like take vacations – these bonuses are going to cost you more up front, but will give you as an owner a far better lifestyle down the road.  

These non-monetary benefits can be hard to put a number on when deciding if a listing price is fair or deciding what to offer the seller, but they are an important part of the value of the business and can’t be overlooked. Talk to your business broker about how to put a value on these perks when drafting your offer. They will be able to help explain the nuances of a particular business listing price.

Are you looking at businesses to buy and feel like the prices are all over the map? Do you have questions about how to evaluate listing prices? Ask us! Leave any questions or comments and we would be happy to help.

Michael Monnot

941.518.7138
Mike@InfinityBusinessBrokers.com
12995 South Cleveland Avenue, Suite 249
Fort Myers, FL 33907

www.InfinityBusinessBrokers.com

No Comments »

You’ve decided to buy a business, congratulations! Entrepreneurship can be one of the most rewarding journeys you can take in life. It can also, however, be your worst nightmare.

The difference between success and a nightmare scenario can come down to just two, very basic things – money and reality.

Let’s look at money first.

Guess what? You have to have money if you want to buy a business.

Of course you need money to buy a business! This may seem like a silly thing to say, but a fair number of the people who come into the business market are working with little to no capital at all and expecting someone else to pick up the rest. These prospective buyers are relying on funding sources like family members, bank loans, Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and seller financing – but the fact of the matter is the small business world just doesn’t work that way.

Family Money

You may have had a conversation or two with your well-off uncle or with your parents at Christmas about helping you get the money together to invest in a business, but we almost never see one of these deals actually go through. Once you start the serious conversations about what dollar amounts you’ll be needing, how long it would realistically take you to pay them back – the checks never get written. If you are depending on a family member footing the bill for your business purchase – you should probably think again.

Bank Loans

Even pre-recession it was tough to get a traditional lending institution like a bank to fund the purchase of a small business, but in the wake of all of that financial mess it can be nearly impossible to get a bank to approve a small business loan – even though the economy has improved substantially. 

SBA Loans

Yes, it is possible to get funding through the SBA to purchase a small business, but there are some very big hoops that need to be jumped through in order for this to happen. First, you as the buyer need to be approved, and if you don’t have a fair amount of capital to invest already – your chances of that approval are going to be slim to none. If you do manage to get approved, then the business itself will have to be vetted and approved – and like any lending institution post-recession, the SBA is going to be very conservative with how much they are going to lend, who they will lend it to and what businesses will even qualify for that buyer.

Seller Financing

Yes, seller financing is very common – but what most first-time buyers don’t understand is that these deals usually mean the buyer is going to pay at least half, if not quite a bit more, of the purchase price up front. No seller is going to take a tiny down payment and hand you the keys, it involves way too much risk on their part.

Ok, now let’s look at reality. You have to buy a business you can afford.

Again, this might sound silly, but business buyers are usually caught up in the hopes that one of the capital-raising schemes we just mentioned will pan out and therefore look at businesses that are ridiculously out of reach. Think coming to the table with $30,000 and looking at businesses in the $500,000 range. Again – no family member is going to write you a check that big, banks will laugh, the SBA will never approve you or the business in that situation and sellers definitely won’t take you seriously.

Even if you could get, say, a family member to loan you the money to buy a business that far out of your current reach – you will  be setting yourself up for failure. What new business buyers leave out of the equation is working capital – that is the money you need to both get the doors open under your ownership and then keep them open long enough to get the business turning a profit long enough to pay back your backers.

Just like renting a new apartment or buying a new house, there will be costs at closing that need to be paid – think deposits on a new commercial lease, deposits on utilities, first (and probably last) month’s rent, payroll and inventory starting the moment you take over, transfer fees for licensing, inspection fees – the list goes on and on. 

If you only have a small amount of capital to invest in a business, that’s totally acceptable and doesn’t preclude you from business ownership! If you start small, with a $15,000-$20,000 business, you can grow that business into something larger. It just takes some time and some hard work. Many entrepreneurs start small and grow their businesses to a size they initially wanted, or some sell the business after a time for a profit and move up the business ladder that way. Either way, you will have a far better chance at success if you stay within your means. 

Don’t make the mistake of starting out underfunded or ignoring reality!

Are you a business buyer who doesn’t have a lot of capital to invest? Are you curious about what’s out there in your price range? Ask us! Leave any comments or questions here and we would be happy to help. 

Michael Monnot

No Comments »