Tag Archives: Buy a South Carolina Business

Selling Buying a Business in a Pandemic

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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

Businesses Selling at Record High Rate

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Businesses Selling at a Record High

Number of Businesses Selling at 10 Year High

Businesses are selling at Highest Rate in Years . The below information and charts are based upon  Market Information gathered by a survey of over 275 Professional Business Brokers and reveal the current information of the market defining what businesses are selling for AND why. This information is based on the sales of hundreds of business during Q1 2018 and some behind the scenes info of the hows and whys-

As a Professional Business Broker working with business buyers and sellers in South Carolina and Florida knowledge of the current market is essential.  Understanding what businesses are selling for in Anderson South Carolina, Greenville South Carolina and throughout Florida and nationally is essential. Below is current information on the market along with a brief clarification. Possibly the most important note is that How and Why businesses sell vary greatly based on the size of the business.  So it always best to view a business that is similar to your size to best use as a comparison and or basis.

SDE equals Sellers Discretionary Earnings which is what a seller earns through wages and  benefits along with any Interest, Depreciation and Ammortization that is expense on the company Profit/Loss Statement.

Businesses Selling at record high

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Businesses Selling at Record High

The reason a Seller sells or looks to sell varies greatly and again very often dependent on the business size. BUT also take note of how often a business sells because of “Unsolicited Offers”.  Which essentially is someone randomly approaching you to buy your business.  Most recent data shows it happens between 0%-3% of the time -NOT OFTEN.

 

Businesses selling at record high

 

Over 50% of businesses that try to sell and are valued under $500k DO NOT SELL. Businesses valued over $1M sell at a much greater success rate.  Planning and preparing helps sell a business.  If you own a small printing company in Greenville South Carolina planning for a sale greatly increase the likelihood of a successful sale.  If you own a larger business in Anderson South Carolina it is more likely you will plan for a sale and be successful in finding the right buyer.  How do you plan to try to sell your business next year ?  Start by having a discussion with an experienced trusted advisor this year. 

 

 

Businesses selling at record high

 

The “Business Selling Market” is doing better than it has in years.  Maybe now is the time to consider the sale of your South Carolina business or the sale of your Florida business. The sale of your business is very dependent on business size.  Finally, planning for the sale of your business greatly increases the likelihood of a successful sale. For more information on selling a business in Anderson South Carolina, selling a business in Greenville South Carolina, or selling a business in Florida contact me- Scott Messinger at Scott@GatewayBusinessAdvisors.com

 

Above information Source is a survey I personally have been participating in for several years.  Results are compiled and provided by International Business Brokers Association, M&A Source, and Pepperdine University

 

 

 

 

 

You Want to Sell Your Business Someday How to Prepare Today

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Every Business Needs an Exit Strategy.  Do you want to Run Your Business Forever?  Do you Want to Sell your business?  Do you want to leave your business to your children?  Do you want to sell your business to Your Employees?  Do you Just want to close your doors and Move on?  How do you want to exit your business ?- And when?

I had a good friend of mine that is a successful business owner contact me about the prospect of selling his business in a few years. He asked me to contact him regarding what he may want to be doing now to prepare his business for sale.  He has a successful growing business, he has grown his number of employees from 10 to 50+ over a 2 year period.  He is effective at gaining new contracts and growing revenue, but like so many  businessmen, he has never attempted to sell his business.  How do you plan to sell your business.

Devising An Exit Strategy For Selling Your Business

Normally during the startup of a new business the thought of an exit strategy is not even a consideration.  Then small business owners get so involved with the day-to day operation of their businesses that again an exit strategy is either not even thought of or possibly just put on the back burner.  Taking some time to put some thought into your exit strategy can go a long way to increasing your odds of exiting your business the way you desire to.

Planning, gaining knowledge, and preparing  may be the 3 most important measures you can take when considering an effective exit strategy.

If your exit strategy involves an interest in trying to successfully sell your business in several years, what sort of measures or actions should a business owner take today make this effort successful:

  1. Make sure your financials are in order. Clean understandable Income Statements and Balance  Sheets will add value to your business.  Unexplained/old accounts, entries, or line items ,  should be addressed and handled.
  2. Systematize and document your operations and procedures.  Well documented policies, procedures and practices are a sign of a well run company and  probably would help your company run better, and add value. If you got hit by a truck tomorrow could someone use your documented practices to help continue run your business?
  3. Move your business towards a business that does not rely on you.  Do your customers do business with your company or do customers do business with you.  When you go to sell your business are you selling a business that is dependent on you the owner or a self-sustaining business based on a solid philosophy, solid customer service and reliable employees and practices. Or when you go away, does your business go away?
  4. Speak to your trusted advisers- let them know your intentions see if  they have any input suggestions that could help move you towards this goal.  Trusted advisers may include your attorney, CPA, financial advisor, business brokers.
  5. Learn by speaking to your trusted advisers what are the most important aspects that affect your business value.  How does one value your business? What is most important to business buyers?-  Your Assets, your cash flow, your sales, your number of customers, your patents, trademarks, your competitive advantage.  Learn what the real driving factors are behind raising the value of your business and work on them. Understand that not all businesses that attempt to sell actually do find a business buyer and sell.
  6. Running your business and concurrently, preparing your business for sale is a viable  approach towards business transition. It is not a” one or the other approach”.  Preparing your business for sale does not need to get in the way of running your business, and most measures improve your business. If you make needed improvements to your business and or operations and decide not to sell your business or exit your business, you still most likely will have a better business on your hands.
Planning to sell your business

For planning purposes try to learn what the potential value of your business may be. Also educate yourself on the business buying or selling marketplace.  It is not always the same.  Selling a business during the 90’s was different than selling a business in 2018 and will be different when selling a business in 2020.

If you think you want to sell your business in 5 years for $1M, attempt to understand what realistically your approximate value may be today.  If your business may realistically only be worth $500,000-  change your expectations,  change your time frame, or maybe more importantly get to work on making necessary changes to your business.

Scott Messinger is a Professional Business Broker working with Business Buyers and Sellers in South Carolina and Florida.  For more information contact Scott at Scott@GatewayBusinessAdvisors.com

What Did Businesses Sell For 1st Quarter 2018

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What Did Businesses Sell For 1st Quarter 2018

                                     May 22, 2018
What Did Businesses Sell For 1st Quarter 2018  and Why?                        Email Scott today for More Info                   
Information gathered by a survey of over 270 Professional Business Brokers reveal the current information of the market defining what businesses are selling for AND why. This information is based on the sales of hundreds of business during Q1 2018 and some behind the scenes info of the hows and whys-What Did Businesses Sell For? – and what does it mean? – Businesses sell for a multiple of cash flow. The multiple it sells for is dependent on the industry, the size of the business and other factors. As you can see below businesses are selling for the same multiple of cash flow in Q1 2018 as they were in Q1 2018.  Yet most businesses have improved from 2014 so many  businesses are selling for more……

Who is Buying a Business? and Why? – the below results from the survey of 270 business brokers show that the reason and the type of buyer varies based upon the size of business bought.  Still almost 50% of businesses that attempt to sell do not sell.

 

What Did Businesses Sell For first quarter 2018

****  Buyers Looking For- HVAC Businesses, Pest Control, Businesses with cash flow of $1M+                                                                                            C- Stores , Self Storage                                  

 Email Scott Today For More Info

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

 

Buying a Business -What is a good Deal?

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Buying a Business -What is a good Deal?

Buying a Business -What is a good Deal?

Buying a Business

 

Buying a Business is not an easy process.  Selling a business is not an easy process.  Knowing what is a good deal for a business buyer and what is a good deal for the seller greatly assist in achieving the goals of a business buyer or business seller.  Understanding what may be the components of a “Good Deal”  as a business buyer or a business seller  is both important and necessary. I am a business broker and have been involved with business acquisition and sales for over 25 years as broker representing business buyers and business sellers and as a business buyer and business seller of multiples businesses for my own personal gain.

I work with Business Sellers in South Carolina and Florida.  I also work with prospective business buyers in Florida, the Upstate, South Carolina, USA and internationally.

There are many components to a successful business purchase and or business sale.

A discussion I always have when working with a prospective business buyer or one looking to sell a business is to make and keep the “Totality of the Deal” a top priority.  There are many aspects of a business sale that make up the totality of the deal.   It’s easy to just look at Price and go into the process thinking Price is the goal/target of a successful business sale or successful business acquisition.   A business sale involves Price, timing, conditions,  terms including non-compete, transition, seller post sale involvement, financing, handling accounts receivables,  handling payable if applicable, and the list can go on.  I define the totality of the deal as how all the components of a business sale meet the goals of a business buyer or business seller.  Consider the following scenario –

A business seller may want to sell his/her business for $1M.  As a business broker I engage with 2 prospective business Buyers: In this scenario both buyers are willing to make an offer on this $1M Business for sale. Prospective Business Buyer A  offers $1M but requires Seller to stay on for 2 years and wants to pay 60% Down and pay balance over 5 years and wants to keep all Accounts Receivables that are on books at time of closing. Also Buyer A demands to know and meet with top 5 major customers before consummating sale. Prospective business Buyer B  offers $900k,  willing to have Seller stay on as long as Seller wants,  has financing setup so Seller gets entire amount at closing, and Seller keeps all Accounts  Receivables.

SO what deal is better for the seller?   What Buyer believes their offer is most likely to get accepted by the Seller?   While a lot of business acquisitions share commonality every business sale is different. What is important to one business buyer may not be important to another business buyer.  What is important to a Business seller is ultimately best determined by that business seller.  A business selling for $300k may be considered overvalued by some and a business selling for $5M may be considered “cheap” or a good value by others.  But setting the goal of trying to achieve a deal that carefully weighs the entire totality of the deal greatly increases the odds of reaching what may be a good deal for you as a business buyer or a business seller.

Scott Messinger is a Professional Business Broker working with business owners looking to sell their South Carolina Business or Florida Business.  Also working with business buyers throughout the South east USA, throughout the nation, and international business buyers as well.

Currently represent businesses for sale in Anderson South Carolina, Greenville South Carolina, Pendleton South Carolina, Pickens County, Jacksonville Florida as well as other areas of South Carolina and Florida.

For More information or to discuss how to sell your business for more, email  Scott@GatewayBusinessAdvisors.com or call (864) 210-8226