Fire & Water Restoration Companies

In a video I did back in 2012, I talked about looking for a business that is mandated by law or by life. The insurance business does not stop or slow down because of an economic slowdown.
It is a great industry to be connected to if you do not want to worry about economic issues. Even the pandemic of 2020 has not affected the number of insurance claims coming into my office. Homeowners file claims in good and bad times. Fires, floods, hurricanes, and tsunami do not care about economic conditions.

Overview

Let me explain my relationship to the Fire & Water Restoration industry. I have been a business broker selling main street businesses for 25+ years. I also am a CPA that does the necessary due diligence when a buyer finds a business they want to buy. I have done my share of fire and water restoration companies over the many years. Lastly, I own a landscape inspection company that does inspections for insurance adjusters on their claims received when it involves damaged landscaping, usually due to fires or floods.

In this article we are going to talk about the pluses and minuses of being in the restoration business. We will also address the reasons to buy or not buy a franchise. ServPro™ is the largest franchise in this industry. Read more

A Fresh Approach to Finding a Business

If you have gotten tired of looking at the same old main street businesses, I would like you to know you are not alone.

You should be prepared to look for up to two years to find the right fit. Read more

Should I Buy a Corporation?

Does it makes sense to buy business in these COVID-19 crises times?

As I was picking up my daily e-mails, the above question was staring me in the face. I thought, “Wow” this is a great question? What I have been noticing is the way consumer business is changing. A lot of those changes are permanent and not just in place because of the virus. Let’s look […]

Find Your Passion In Your Work When Buying A Business

The most common comments I hear from business buyers are “What is a good business to buy?

I am open to any business that can make me money” They also bring up this question whenever they find any company that looks interesting. “Is this a good industry to be in?” What they are not getting is that every industry is a great industry for the few doing well and a terrible industry for the rest of the world. I would say that 50% of all business owners just barely get by, 30% do average, and 20% of the business owners make a profit that they are proud of. It has nothing to do with what industry it is but everything to do with the management of the company.

So if it is all about the management, how do you know if you are going to be good top management material?

Well there are several things.

Let’s review some of those traits. Read more

Do you know why your business is not making enough money?

Your Company is capable of making money.

Very few business owners think they are making all the income their business is capable of making.   In fact this is overwhelmingly the number one complaint that business advisors hear.

Occasionally a CPA will hear a complaint from their client that he is making so much money the government is getting rich off of him.
CPAs and tax attorneys love this kind of client because this is what they are trained for. Save the client taxes. Unfortunately many are not experienced in finding out WHY their client is not making enough money.

Have you ever heard the phrase? “If the problem is what you thought it was, it would not be a problem.” What exactly does that mean?

It means that asking the right questions will get you the right answers.
Let’s look this over very carefully. For example, let’s take a situation where the profits are down, and the sales are stable. What do you do first? Find out what changed? If you do not know what changed, you cannot put it back the way it was. Conversely if you know what changed you can use your experience to solve the problem and return to affluence.

The normal solution for a business, that is not making as much money as they were before, is to go to their banker and say. “I need money.”  But this is not the solution.

Find the answers by clicking on this link  Read more…

Business Buying Opportunity: Should You Buy A Distressed Business?

Everyone wants to buy a good profitable business making over $100,000 per year. The problem is there are only a limited amount of these businesses on the market. The reason for this  is everyone wants the same thing.  The results is the pricing is too high and the availability is too low.  Read more

Upfront Fees with Business Brokers

Upfront Appraisal or Valuation Fees by Business Brokers I live in California, where upfront fees are illegal. The way brokers can get around this in California is to charge for an appraisal and be paid for it. After the appraisal is completed, the broker can ask for and receive a listing. If the listing is […]

The Art of Getting Financial Records Before Signing a Letter of Intent

How to handle brokers wanting offers before due diligence We have all heard of “The battle of the sexes”. What is not as well-known but as difficult a battle “is the one between “brokers and business buyers” regarding getting a business’s financial information. This article will discuss: 1. How to get listing brokers to release […]

Protect Yourself From A Bad Purchase Agreement

It is important to protect yourself from forfeiting your deposit when you sign a purchase contract. This would seem to be a very obvious statement. Except, what is not obvious is that so few people know how to do that. The result of inexperience is that too many people lose their purchase deposit. The deposit checks vary from $5,000 to $50,000 or even more. Read more