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Another 'Sign Shop' just offered to let me buy him out.

TyrantDesigner

TyrantDesigner

Art! Hot and fresh.
Is this stuff normal? dude came in, told me he was getting out of the business so he isn't so 'busy' and said he would sell me his 2 year old 'company' to me for $10k ... all he has is a 30" graphtec, a crappy computer with no real software in it and some half used supplies ... I mean seriously ... does he value his "customer list" that much that he thinks that his $2k worth of equipment and materials is worth 5 times that much ... after I explained to him that his company itself isn't worth $10k because it hasn't lasted the test of time and it's just a sole proprietor business so it's trying to buy it for just the name which doesn't mean anything unless there is a location attached to it and the business has tenure in that location ... I explained to him how much his equipment was really worth with 2 years worth of abuse ... he told me to "Screw off" and walked out the door. I mean SERIOUSLY?! What the heck does he think I'm going to say say to "I have an opportunity for you" and then gives me that line of b.s.

How is your Thursday starting?
 
JoshLoring

JoshLoring

New Member
Hahah!
That's pretty funny. Tell him to watch some shark tank.
If he's going out of business, his client list is worth nothing. His business would solely be worth the company branding (if even properly trademarked) and the equipment. 10k? Noooope!
 
visual800

visual800

Active Member
LOL people need to learn before they dive in! I love it. as long as I have been doing this if I sold my business i could sell a plotter and a flexisign 2 computers and a bucket truck. who wants that and who cares.

What kills me is people wanting to sell it all for $???? and come to find out they have to peice it off cause no one wants all their junk at once
 
HulkSmash

HulkSmash

New Member
a company is only worth as much as the equipment if there's no customer contracts... just my opinion.
 
TyrantDesigner

TyrantDesigner

Art! Hot and fresh.
Well he wasn't pleased when I pulled out a laptop and found used graphtecs for $500 and his computer used on ebay for $125 ... I told him I would completely buy him out for a grand and I would need to see his books to see signs of profit before I bought him out if he expected me to take his name ... I think that ticked him off the most. oh well.

Naples, good god man ... why don't you just kick my dog too! :Cool 2:
 
cartoad

cartoad

New Member
Sooo, this could be an intersting discussion of a sign business worth.
In this case a 2 year old company, is only worth the depreciated value of its assets, and nothing for its customer list.
At what point does a sign company worth include assests and customer list? Is it a function of time in business? Or some combination of time in business and how succeessful they are?
Is a franchised operation valued differently from an independent business to resell? Is the resale worth what it would cost to start from scratch, more or less?
 
Pat Whatley

Pat Whatley

New Member
A company that won't run itself and make a profit without you being there is not a business.....it's a job.

You can sell a business, you can't sell a job.
 
Sign-Man Signs

Sign-Man Signs

New Member
I say a penny on the dollar would be a fair offer. WWACD.
(What would a caveman do)
 

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Locals Find!

New Member
If someone is going to sell any business whether it be a sign shop or a donut shop. They should have the business properly evaluated by a Business Broker. These go by different titles around the country. However, the basics are the same all over they evaluate your entire business from top to bottom and determine the value your business will sell for. Usually they work similar to Real Estate agents in that they will sell the business for you and take a commission for finding the buyer.

What you guys as sign professionals see as the value for the business maybe far less than what the business is really worth. I know in my area many Europeans come over here an pay dearly for existing businesses so they can get their Visas to stay in the country. I have seen a failing coffee shop with just 1 Espresso machine and 3 tables sell for over $100,000. Remember, the old adage. Something is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it.
 
TyrantDesigner

TyrantDesigner

Art! Hot and fresh.
cartoad said:
Sooo, this could be an intersting discussion of a sign business worth.
In this case a 2 year old company, is only worth the depreciated value of its assets, and nothing for its customer list.
At what point does a sign company worth include assests and customer list? Is it a function of time in business? Or some combination of time in business and how succeessful they are?
Is a franchised operation valued differently from an independent business to resell? Is the resale worth what it would cost to start from scratch, more or less?
Click to expand...

As Pat said, you need to have an actual company that can run and sustain itself or have something of longevity and value that can only be gained by time (a 65 year BBB rating of A+ with not incidents for example) Franchises will in itself be valued since it has a built in support structure from start to finish.

Sole proprietorships are hard to sell on such a flegling business because of the fact that customers are just starting to develop a rapport with the company and in a service industry where there is only one person who owns and runs the shop ... if someone new steps in and takes over ... rapport is gone. Now ... that leaves assets (equipment, land, materials, etc) and ephemeral assets (registered trademarks, copyrights, contracts, etc) if you only have aging equipment which really is only a tax write off for the first 2 or 3 years if done properly and half used materials of unknown age ... probably only going to get partial price on it. I mean heck, a company that has a storefront leased out somewhere that people can visit easily is a decent asset .. not really worth much, but decent. A store front can at least be a "oh, I thought this was x's place ... where is he at?" sort of thing and you can start a rapport with the customers again.

In this case, dude didn't even have a shop leased out, no property, no contracts with companies for jobs, no trademarked items, no copyrights, no employees, no defining equipment that you can't buy used off ebay for 1/3 it's retail value and no real anything.

yeah, only worth equipment value at depreciated rate.
 
thinksigns

thinksigns

SnowFlake
2 or 3 years ago, a national sign company wanted to move into the Memphis market. They made an offer to buy my business that was into six figures. At the time, my only equipment was a 24" plotter and two computers. I did supply them with various financial statements, but they didn't ask about a customer list. I didn't take them up on it because they required a two year no compete.
 
ThinkRight

ThinkRight

New Member
thinksigns said:
2 or 3 years ago, a national sign company wanted to move into the Memphis market. They made an offer to buy my business that was into six figures. At the time, my only equipment was a 24" plotter and two computers. I did supply them with various financial statements, but they didn't ask about a customer list. I didn't take them up on it because they required a two year no compete.
Click to expand...
A 2 year vacation ?
I would have done it.
Then set up shop in Miss, still no compete,just 30 minutes away.
 
thinksigns

thinksigns

SnowFlake
ThinkRight said:
A 2 year vacation ?
I would have done it.
Then set up shop in Miss, still no compete,just 30 minutes away.
Click to expand...

Lately I have been thinking "what if". I was too attached to the business to just sell it off. Now I think building up a business for some years, selling it off and trying to do the same thing again would have been the better life path. That's what an entrepreneur does.
 
Dakotagrafx

Dakotagrafx

New Member
ddarlak said:
vacationing in naples, about to take the kids to the zoo.....starting off great!
Click to expand...
on 951 between us41 and alligator alley is a little out of the way small food shack that sells the best alligator I have ever had. another great food stop is the Chinese restaurant by the us marine store on the south side of us41 (by the old Walmart).
If you drive out us41 toward Miami about 1/2 hr you will find a great place on the north side of the road to see wild alligators for free


On the guy that came in wanting to sell his business for 10K he was just dilusional - CL is filled with those jokers!
 
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