Selling Buying a Business in a Pandemic

Selling Buying a Business in a Pandemic? -Not Another Covid 19 Letter

All of our mailboxes are filling up with businesses sending us a letter on the Covid 19 Virus and their respective plans to keep all safe and continue or discontinue operations.  This is not one of those letters.  I am a Business Broker.  I am also a business owner.  I own a small business I bought 6 years ago.  I have capable people in place running the day to day and we have achieved growth each year , with last year being our best year and this year strongly trending up.    But now as a business owner I have some decisions to make. Do we shut down, suspend?, what about my employees?, what about my employee wages.

Selling Buying Running a Business in a Pandemic

I started my 1st business 34 years ago.  I had been working with a Fortune 100 company.  It had used to be working for a large company meant secure paychecks, stability, benefits and all that goes along with it.   I guess you could say a certain comfort.  But I also would witness the occasional Friday when a Managers office door would close and a long time employee leave the office despondent.  He was being let go.   I decided I didn’t want to be that person.   Started a business, bought 8 other related business and 20 years later sold that business.  I really learned the significance to individuals on the absolute importance surrounding buying and selling a business. I decided to become a business broker.

Here I am today responsible for the decision on what happens to my employees.  But where the rubber hits the road is the question-  Would I rather be responsible for these very difficult decisions or have someone make those very important decisions for me?

Is now a good time to buy or sell a business? 

Buying or selling a business is so very dependent of financing.  The banking/ financing situation is very fluid right now and how the Stimulus package affects available financing to business buyers will have a significant effect. 

I don’t know your situation.  Are you thinking about buying a business?  One suggestion I have is asking yourself these questions:

Do  you want to be the person making the tough decisions regarding your employees, your business or…

Would you rather have someone else make those decisions for you .  The answer is different for all of us.

I would rather not have to make these decisions and just go back to the way things were- but we have some work to do first.

Scott Messinger is a Professional Business Broker working with business sellers and Business Buyers in Anderson South Carolina, Greenville, the Upstate South Carolina, Florida, the USA, and internationally. For further infomation email at Scott@GatewayBusinessAdvisors.com

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About Scott

Scott M. Messinger is a former and current business owner that has personally purchased 8 + businesses. Former owner of successful production/manufacturing/distribution business of 20 years that was successfully sold and transitioned. Member of Gateway Business Advisors serving South Carolina Florida and Southeast USA. Member of the Business Broker of Florida Assn. For a FREE current listing of Businesses FOR sale see: www.SellaBusinessAdvisors.com call South Carolina (864) 210-8226 Florida (239) 770-2421