First bussiness to be sold at a loss!!

Hi Johann,
I’m sorry to hear the bad news. What kind of business is it?

Regards

Joe

Hi John

You may get a better price for the business if you offer some form of vendor finance.  A couple a friends of mine just bought businesses in Qld with vendor finance.  One was a plant nursery, the other a fish & chip shop.

You could offer to vendor finance the whole business, via an Instalment Contract or a Lease/Option, or you could offer to partially finance the business with Deposit Finance.  Either way you do open up the purchase of your business to a lot more people and because it is a business, the transaction wouldn't be regulated by the National Credit Code.

Cheers,  Paul

Johann,

I've been lucky more times than not. And thats from the years of experience .. the bundles of books .. and learning what i've got into and how to operate it the best.

You win by trying. You may not succeed the first time around .. but you take a snapshot at what you've done .. and stick it up there on the wall as a prime example of what you are capable of. Its a learning experience .. and you need to realise that you only move forward by trying. And not being afraid to ask people for help along the way.

Nothing succeeds better than success. And if you think rich .. even a bump on the road is just a learning blip on your road to ongoing prosperity.

Doesn’t sound that bad if you are keeping your family, youth and health! Bought a few houses in that range 50-100k discount from previous sale price in the last year, some crying vendors but it’s really just a question of changing perspective in most cases, still a lucky country!

Hi Johann
You already have the recipe for success, the youthand time to apply it, and now you are merely seeking or choosing the correct suitable vehicle.
Since you keep getting up one more time than you go down, and learning the depth and location of the potholes by personal experience, you will always finish in the up position. As you strengthen and consolidate your business interests, you will avoid the potholes and experience only slight undulations as all experienced and successful business owners do.
And there are plenty of mentors here, that’s what we’re doing now.
You’re inspirational.
Enjoy your unavoidable and inevitable success.
Cheers
thecrest

I think the states in either Think and Grow Rich or The Millionaire Next Door was, every billionaire goes bankrupt on average 3.1 times.

I think we've all made 'horrible mistakes' financial and personal, what I find to be the dividing line between those that succeed and those who don't is their attitude and perseverance. I meet so many people that are burnt once and rain hail and thunder on those who try it after them.

I lost $100 000 a few years back on running a music festival,
because we were still hoping tickets would sell on the day, it felt
like we had lost it in one day when the realisation came at 6pm that there would be no more
people coming through the gates,
so know exactly how it feels!
Not a good feeling but it does wear off over time, it’s only money
and it teaches you a lot!

Hi Johann.
When we were actively seeking a business,
we found many of the businesses for sale provided poorly presented P & L’s.
The ones we looked harder at provided the following :

Clear comparative information which made it easy to compare the last 3 years in any category of sales or expenses,
Good reasons for selling which did not reflect adversely on the desirability of the business,
Genuine upside potential with clearly defined opportunities and explanations why the vendor had not already done it themselves,
Figures guaranteed by the accountant and vendor,
Due diligence cost refunded if figures incorrect,
Access from accountant to accountant,
Enough photos to tempt us to visit, more if required,
Offer of refund of overnight accommodation for visiting purchaser who settles,

Other incentives could be :
You pay extra $5K or $10K commission to a broker who sells within time and price guidelines then the brokers will prefer to showcase your business before another,
Additional training or handover time for a buyer,
Local accommodation for the first month while buyer finds somewhere to live,
Experienced staff willing to stay on as casual for 3 months until converted to full time,

It all reeks of an honest deal with a motivated vendor.
Just some suggestions FWIW.
Good luck
Cheers
thecrest

Good luck Johann.
One of the business brokers told me once that he sells the benefits of the location in terms of local lifestyle and local amenities, social life, medical facilities, golf course, transport, infrastructure etc, as hard as he sells the actual business itself, because if the potential buyer doesn’t like the area, they won’t want to live there and are unlikely to buy.
Seems reasonable.
Cheers
thecrest