In my 15 years as a body shop broker, I have visited hundreds of body shops across the state. Almost 100% of the owners complain that, if they are being honest with me, they work too hard for too little money. They want to sell their body shop business to some other poor sucker who will run into the exact same problems.
Introduction
You may not believe what they say yourself, but if you have been in the business of buying businesses for a long time you’ve heard someone repeat this time worn statement.
“One in 14 buyers actually buys a business.”
The business brokerage industry throws around this number all the time.
This “1 in 14” number (or only 7% ) is based on statistics gathered from some old-time brokers. They must have actually kept track of how many buyers called their firms versus how many deals they closed. We can’t know how well they tracked this info, or where this data originated from. But, thankfully, the actual number is not the important part. For the sake of solving the problem, we just need to see that it’s low, and really could be better.
This is a true story of one of my due diligence assignments regarding a thief operating from within a tree trimming and landscaping company in Northern California.
A body shop can be a great investment, if you are the right kind of buyer. Who is the right buyer? Let’s discuss that in detail. Here is what we will cover in detail.
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…
About the Author:
Willard Michlin is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA #106752), Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and a Business Broker. He offers assistance in the key areas involved in the buying of a business; due diligence, review of financial reports and business valuation. He is an experienced, honest and trustworthy consultant. His goal is to watch your back. His due diligence clients are located all over the world. He has published many articles and is in demand as a public speaker. See other articles and information about his services at: www.evaluateabusiness.com.
You can call Willard and he will always answer your questions. He can be contacted at his Orange County, California
office by calling 805-428-2063.
Last week I received a phone call from Dan in New York City. He and his wife decided it was time to get out of Dodge and move to Southern New Jersey, where the air is cleaner. Dan had located a brick and mortar school that had some online presence. Since the COVID-19 shut down they quickly converted to 100% on-line classes. But now the business owners want to sell Read more
Before we can talk about Investing in Trust Deeds the reader has to know the meaning of some of the key words.
Definitions
It works the same as when you buy a home. The bank makes a First Trust Deed loan on 80% of the sale price or appraisal value -WHICHEVER IS LESS. Read more
Last week, at the end of the day, I was ready to go home, but because I had to wait for my wife, I could not. Not being one to lay back in my chair, and close my eyes, I had an idea. It has been months since I acted like a business buyer and went on the web to see who in the cloud also offered CPA Due Diligence services. To my amazement I came up on the first page!
Next, I put in due diligence services and I found dozens of listings related to due diligence computers. I am not young enough to compete with computers that do due diligence and I do not understand how a computer can even do “due diligence.” Will someone tell me how a computer smells fraud? Read more
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
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.
Find the answers by clicking on this link Read more…
California Licensed Real Estate Broker #00529559
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) # 106752
Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) #594927
Professional Certified Business Broker (CBB) designation
Business Buying Services
PO Box 2734, Seal Beach, CA 90740-2734
Phone: 805-428-2063
Fax: 562-446-0575
