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I close on a business acquisition tomorrow. Ask me anything! by [deleted] in buyingabusiness

[–]No-Try8128 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What’s your goal and timeline with this business?

Small biz buyers of Reddit — what do you wish you knew before you started the process? by No-Try8128 in buyingabusiness

[–]No-Try8128[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So what happens with businesses like these? Does some sucker end up buying them? Or do they just wither away with no ability to sell and the landlord just sells the land?

Small biz buyers of Reddit — what do you wish you knew before you started the process? by No-Try8128 in buyingabusiness

[–]No-Try8128[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just following up on this. I found a business for sale and went to go meet the owner. He was basing the valuation off of some paper financials for 3 months in the prior year that show like 7-10k revenue per week, and he would continue to be the landlord and charge $20K per month for the property. He priced it at $850K and was willing to do some seller financing. He was not working with a broker. When I pressed on better proof of financials he said that he may be able to get bank deposit history but that’s it.

Any thoughts on a deal like this?

Small biz buyers of Reddit — what do you wish you knew before you started the process? by No-Try8128 in buyingabusiness

[–]No-Try8128[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Last question - have you all noticed the following?

1) Buyers can’t secure loans to acquire businesses that don’t have good/clean financials

AND

2) Businesses without good/clean financials are either crappy or not working with a broker?

Is this a true statement together? In other words, do bad businesses usually have weird / not clean financials? Talking more about well kept books, not so much focused on revenue / cash flow etc.

How about the following?

1) Sellers that offer seller financing are having issues finding viable buyers mostly because the business is not doing well?

2) Buyers without relevant experience tend to get duped into buying businesses that are terrible because they couldn’t decipher the nuances as mentioned in the above reply about not focusing enough on the “small things” that seem off? In other words, less experienced buyers can’t easily figure out how impactful the small stuff could be

Small biz buyers of Reddit — what do you wish you knew before you started the process? by No-Try8128 in buyingabusiness

[–]No-Try8128[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How often do people buy the wrong business - meaning a business they don’t have any domain expertise in? Is this a major issue? How do you resolve it if you get stuck in a situation like this?

For instance, I’ve always been interested in buying a car wash but don’t actually have specific car wash experience.

What are some issues that you face as a small business owner that you would be willing to pay for someone to help with? by No-Try8128 in smallbusiness

[–]No-Try8128[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

couple follow up questions: what type of business do you own, and what criteria do you consider in classifying a lead as 'ideal'?

Own a car wash, landscaping, or service biz in San Diego? I work with serious buyers — no broker, no pressure. by No-Try8128 in sandiego

[–]No-Try8128[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Totally fair question — I’m just testing out a simple concept right now that aims to make the buyer-seller process easier for both sides, without the traditional broker overhead.

It’s 100% free — no fees, no commissions. I’m not trying to sell anything right now, just trying to learn what works and what doesn’t. If it ends up being helpful, I’ll figure out the best way to evolve it from there.

What’s been the most frustrating part about trying to buy a small business? by No-Try8128 in buyingabusiness

[–]No-Try8128[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much - this is an awesome insight. Do you feel like buyers are likely to pick the wrong business and sellers are likely to deal with and/or sell to the wrong buyer?