I own a two man appliance repair and used appliance sales business with my uncle. It's definitely a slow lane business. We've been at it for almost 5 years and have seen some success, but still, it pretty much just pays the bills (most of the time).
Recently I was approached by the owner of a local appliance repair/parts dealer here in town (small town, like 100k-200k population) who wants to retire and sell his business. He wants 200k for it. I gathered his last 3 years tax returns and had the business appraised with the help of Richard Parker of Diomo Corporation. Richard has been buying and selling businesses for a long time and I bought his $100 course, which is very detailed, but was definitely over my head in some areas. So I emailed him and he helped me free of charge; sweet.
Anyways, the business is only worth about half the asking price and the income I'd be making by purchasing this business would only be slightly higher than what my uncle and I currently gross. And that's just the two of us with very little overhead.
I'm not sure it's worth buying a 20 year old business where the owner is making just a little more than what we've been able to make in less than 5 years. I'd be getting into debt by purchasing the business and inheriting all the overhead, just to make a few cents more than I do now.
What's intriguing is the potential. The business has tons of name recognition in the area and there are many things the current owner does that I can do better. The business also has a system in place that has good potential for being autonomous. It would allow me to leapfrog a few steps in the growth of my current business. I may very well be able to grow this business into something great that can potentially run itself with very little time and effort required from me.
Or I could grow my current business and find a way to Fastlane it.
That's the dilemma I'm having.
Your thoughts?
Recently I was approached by the owner of a local appliance repair/parts dealer here in town (small town, like 100k-200k population) who wants to retire and sell his business. He wants 200k for it. I gathered his last 3 years tax returns and had the business appraised with the help of Richard Parker of Diomo Corporation. Richard has been buying and selling businesses for a long time and I bought his $100 course, which is very detailed, but was definitely over my head in some areas. So I emailed him and he helped me free of charge; sweet.
Anyways, the business is only worth about half the asking price and the income I'd be making by purchasing this business would only be slightly higher than what my uncle and I currently gross. And that's just the two of us with very little overhead.
I'm not sure it's worth buying a 20 year old business where the owner is making just a little more than what we've been able to make in less than 5 years. I'd be getting into debt by purchasing the business and inheriting all the overhead, just to make a few cents more than I do now.
What's intriguing is the potential. The business has tons of name recognition in the area and there are many things the current owner does that I can do better. The business also has a system in place that has good potential for being autonomous. It would allow me to leapfrog a few steps in the growth of my current business. I may very well be able to grow this business into something great that can potentially run itself with very little time and effort required from me.
Or I could grow my current business and find a way to Fastlane it.
That's the dilemma I'm having.
Your thoughts?
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