@Polygeekery said in Ask the entrepreneurs advice:
@brianw13a said in Ask the entrepreneurs advice:
For starters, I am sorry for your loss.
Thank you. He is the person I would have normally turned to for advice like this.
@brianw13a said in Ask the entrepreneurs advice:
His family approached me about purchasing the business.
They don't want to continue the business?
His wife is far from being technically inclined. His kids are better but they do other things that they are passionate about so no, they've decided to either sell or liquidate.
@brianw13a said in Ask the entrepreneurs advice:
The business is right up my alley and the price is very attractive however I'm concerned that there will be some loss of revenue after we resume operations
Why? And how much of a loss? I realize that any estimate will be a total wet finger in the air asspull, but can you hazard a guess?
Yeah that's what I thought. If I estimated it would be an asspull too.
@brianw13a said in Ask the entrepreneurs advice:
currently the family is filling existing orders but not taking new orders.
Fair enough. Given their loss they are only concentrated on fulfilling his obligations. How long have they been doing this? In an ideal world, you would only be missing the revenue from the time that they have been doing this. But, without knowing the particulars of the business, that could easily not be the case. How long is the sales pipeline?
Typically 30 days.
Is it a recurring order business, or more of a one-off?
Recurring.
Do you think that those who have not been serviced while they are dealing with the loss will have jumped ship to other vendors?
That's my concern.
If I understand correctly, the price is 1/3 of what the profits are in a single year? So you should be able to pay off your initial outlay and be solidly in the black in ~4 months? And you love the business and it is right up your alley where you will be passionate about it, and you would double your income?
Fuck me, you have stumbled in to a home run it seems. I mean, unless the death of the owner and not filling any new orders has set the business in to a death spiral...what are you waiting for??
Yeah, that's what I think too but I've never purchased a business and the saying that goes "if it's too good to be true..." keeps going through my head. It also complicates thing a little that he came about the business in a very similar way about 2 years ago. His friend's brother in law passed and he bought the business so I oscillate between the idea that there will be some loss and that he was on the upward swing of growth so the outlook is good.
@brianw13a said in Ask the entrepreneurs advice:
Is there any general rule for loss of business for a situation like this?
General rule? No. But most importantly, how long has this been going on and how long is the sales pipeline? Let me know that and I can give you a better idea. If the sales pipeline is 30 days, you have no worries. If it is 3 years, you might have a problem.
30 days is typical with 60 days in a few select cases.
@brianw13a said in Ask the entrepreneurs advice:
I'm working on getting contact information for several clients but it would be difficult to contact them all.
Why would it be difficult to contact them all? Surely they have records of prior sales? If you can step in to the business and be making money to replace your income, you can spend every free minute you have during business hours calling people and letting them know that you are back in business and accepting orders. It seems like the profits are there, offer them a small discount to come back. There are ways to stop the bleeding. It would be better if I knew what sort of business it is though. If you do not want to post it publicly, you can PM me the information if that would make you more comfortable.
No, I meant contact them all prior to the sale. After the sale I would absolutely contact them all. In person if at all possible.