Julie Nirvelli never planned to be in the food business. She was simply someone who enjoyed making a good green tomatillo salsa. It was so good, in fact, that her Mexican friends teased her, saying they couldn’t believe “white girl salsa” tasted so good. After years of being constantly asked to bring it to […]
In a previous article, we discussed how long it takes to sell a business and how and why an accepted offer is only a phase in a multi-phase process. Many things can intervene throughout the process to prevent a sale from closing. In this article, we want to explore just a few of […]
Many business books offer solutions or systems or case studies to make their point. Very few offer a simple narrative with lessons gleaned on the journey. Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, happens to be one of those books. It had no agenda other than telling the story of […]
There are two ways you can grow your business: the fast way or the slow way. What’s important is that there is no easy way. Both have their pros and cons, and in this article, we’ll examine the question of whether you should grow your business through acquisitions. Organic Growth If you have the time […]
Tom Hannon had not one, but three exits out of businesses. Not just in the same industry, but in the same type of business. The original company was named FPD and it published and distributed free publications both to retailers and direct to consumers. Think of any printed material you could see in free […]
Buyers have different reasons for buying businesses and even more varied ways they wish to operate them once they take over. In this article, we won’t be discussing those businesses that will be near 100% absentee or will require a complete tear-down and reboot. Instead, we’ll be talking about the sort of business that we […]
Part of the process on the seller side of a transaction is deciding to sell and getting a valuation. As buyers scrutinize the businesses they examine, there are three questions we encourage them to consider. All of them are centered, understandably, around profit. Profit to Pay Salaries Whatever goodwill you’ve generated over the years with […]
In a previous article, we’ve made the case for buying instead of building. However, you may be interested in buying a business run by a franchisee who has multiple locations in place. Every franchise is different as to what they expect from someone who is buying from an existing franchisee. Our goal in this article […]
Answering an Ad In 2001 Joe Keeley was just a college student looking for a part-time job. He saw an ad for “hockey player wanted to watch kids, $10/hour.” Keeley happened to be a hockey player, which wasn’t so unusual in Minnesota, and eventually, he was hired. This turned into a three-year relationship in which […]
One of the very first questions we get from prospective sellers is “How long will this take?” The truth is that we’ve seen anything from 2 days to 2 months to 2 years…but the average will be 6 to 9 months. And that doesn’t include the “pre-listing” process – your actual decision to […]
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