Selling a Business - Any ideas?

Kayalana99

Brassedoff wrote: »

So you come back to the method of disposal. To be honest, I am struggling with the cryptic method of the postings.

I assume he has a database of customers, but the database may not be in the conventional sense within a CRM. Is this correct?

I'm sorry I don't know what a CRM is.

Secondly, the business must have some assets that the seller has built up over the years? Is this correct?

Nope, because its basicly just his computer..perhaps the website if it was sold together.

Finally, is this business a conventional one with longevity or is it a business that due to the internet, a change of buying methods etc has not got a long future?

Below

Without saying (as the forum is anonymous) where you are based, the type of business it is? I could for argument sake say "My friend has a business he wants to sell. The business is one that makes toy soldiers via tin mouldings" The customer base is one that is mature, but due to plastic soldiers coming on to the market in the 1970's is a dying art.

Or is it the case that the OP's father is "Sam the Plumber" and has a client bank, good name locally, but wants to get out of the trade and believes his business has some value?

I suppose thier is no harm in it, I orignally wanted to keep it simple but as someone else has said its important no one knows he is selling I think but no way for it to be traced back to him. (Esp since his name isn't Sam lol) He is a Graphic Designer/Printer.

Its not a dying art by far, and the fact is he has had customers since he started using his 'designs' so if someone was to buy the business they would get all his files for past so many years, and I belive many customers would stay despite the change over because if they went somewhere else they would have to have thier bits and bobs re done (and at thier expence) as my Dad's artwork is his alone and can't be taken to another printer.

The latter has not a lot of value apart from the name and phone number. I have advised on sales where the owner put a value on a business that really had no value at all. It was just their name in a local sense that had a known reputation. They are hard to value and for that reason often if they end up with a couple of thousand to pay for the name, phone number and website they are lucky.

It would help when it comes to being able to give advice for everyone who wants to help you.

I think for the right person it could be invaulable (I also should mention he works on a Mac so the person taking over would most likey have to work on Mac as well) but not sure if my Dad has over vauled it tbh but we shall see.

Brassedoff

Phew! Now thats over I am glad. Don't worry about the universe the computer is in, I don't know a GA company or GA that is not on Mac's

Right, as its a GA company I assume there are many items of IP that have built up over the years?

The printing business will have a value based on its turnover/profit too.

I have seen several businesses like this sold, many have raised +£500K on their design bank alone. But if the business has been set up in the non industry way, you will find it pretty valueless.

Your value may be on:

1. Order book
2. Client bank (providing they are repeat customers)
3. IP from the designs. (if he retained ownership in his T&C's)

You may not know it, but I will tell you how it works if you wish to sell. I am currently selling a Security firm for a client.

The best route would be to Google business sales agents. They come out, sign NDA/CDA's (Non Disclosure Agreements/Confidential Disclosure Agreements), look at the books, look at the IP Box (the term for Intellectual Property), look at the retained customer book. This may not be on anything but computer, but they have a full list of questions that will get the answers out of him.

They then market the business in trade magazine and on the web. You will find and may be surprised that a quite a few times the buyers are local. Business can only grow homogeneously so much, more businesses grow by purchasing their local competition than by attracting new customers.

Just ensure you have the NDA & CDA's in place before talking one word about the company.

Mistral001

I think the OP is perhaps putting too much stock in the value of these customer's files.

From the OP's posts, I take it that there is a certain amount of setting up work done for each new customer and then each order after that uses this setting up work. However no new business owner will be able to value this setting up work. They might even want to set up things in there own preferred way and have to redo the setting up work for all existing customers.

magicnum

One consideration with these files - are they editable and does he have the fonts? If so, any company (or individual for that matter) should easily be able to take them on.

If the database is structured so that it is easy to find the customer's details and order history - then job done.

If the answer is YES to both of the above, at a high level it should be pretty straight forward to sell on to another graphic designer/printer/print broker.

colino

I've came across a lot of one-man-band designers who thought they had a valuable portfolio when it turns out the agreements they had signed with bigger players relinquished their IP rights. Nonetheless, a graphic design company with the designer out of the picture is just a database waiting to be touted to the best offer.