David C. Barnett

And I see this all the time where people want, you know, these businesses are priced in multiples of cash flow. So people want these high multiples of cash flow. And I'll say to a buyer, like, if you bought all the stuff you needed to run a business like this, Und dann hast du dich umgekehrt und eine wirklich aggressive Preisverleihung gemacht.

And I see this all the time where people want, you know, these businesses are priced in multiples of cash flow. So people want these high multiples of cash flow. And I'll say to a buyer, like, if you bought all the stuff you needed to run a business like this, Und dann hast du dich umgekehrt und eine wirklich aggressive Preisverleihung gemacht.

Wie lange würde es dauern, um eine Klientel zu bauen, der so groß ist, wie dieses Unternehmen? Jetzt, können wir das für weniger Geld tun, als sie fragen? Ja. Und könntest du diese Verluste über diesen Zeitraum für weniger Geld finanzieren, als diese Person fragt? Und ich hatte einige wirklich verrückte, extreme Beispiele. Ich habe mit jemandem gesprochen, der ein Accounting-Office kaufen wollte.

Wie lange würde es dauern, um eine Klientel zu bauen, der so groß ist, wie dieses Unternehmen? Jetzt, können wir das für weniger Geld tun, als sie fragen? Ja. Und könntest du diese Verluste über diesen Zeitraum für weniger Geld finanzieren, als diese Person fragt? Und ich hatte einige wirklich verrückte, extreme Beispiele. Ich habe mit jemandem gesprochen, der ein Accounting-Office kaufen wollte.

accounting and bookkeeping firm. They had a lot of small business clients and this person had a background in in administration for dental offices. And so they were doing bookkeeping and in charge of this type of thing in dental offices. And they liked this particular accounting firm because they had a lot of small business clients. And I just said, listen, what about this?

accounting and bookkeeping firm. They had a lot of small business clients and this person had a background in in administration for dental offices. And so they were doing bookkeeping and in charge of this type of thing in dental offices. And they liked this particular accounting firm because they had a lot of small business clients. And I just said, listen, what about this?

What if you started your own and you wrote a letter to a thousand dentists and you said, bring your bookkeeping over to me and I'll pay you $5,000.

What if you started your own and you wrote a letter to a thousand dentists and you said, bring your bookkeeping over to me and I'll pay you $5,000.

Die Firma dankt.

Die Firma dankt.

Now, you'd put terms on that offer. What you might say is, you might say, you have to sign up for an annual contract. And each year at the end of your contract, we're going to give you a check for $1,000. And over the first five years, you'll get this $5,000 bonus from us. Right? And you're literally, in the sales world, we call this buying business. Right?

Now, you'd put terms on that offer. What you might say is, you might say, you have to sign up for an annual contract. And each year at the end of your contract, we're going to give you a check for $1,000. And over the first five years, you'll get this $5,000 bonus from us. Right? And you're literally, in the sales world, we call this buying business. Right?

You just go out there and you make people super ridiculous offers and you just get the volume. And I said to this person, you would be acquiring these dental offices, you'd be charging them a proper rate, but instead of buying this business, you're just going to be writing the checks to your customers. Right.

You just go out there and you make people super ridiculous offers and you just get the volume. And I said to this person, you would be acquiring these dental offices, you'd be charging them a proper rate, but instead of buying this business, you're just going to be writing the checks to your customers. Right.

and you're going to be able to finance the acquisition of this customer pool over a five-year period by spreading these checks out over five years. And so, would it cost you less to do that than to buy this business? The answer was yes. It would cost far less to make this really aggressive offer. And that's the kind of thinking that I like to employ. A little bit of

and you're going to be able to finance the acquisition of this customer pool over a five-year period by spreading these checks out over five years. And so, would it cost you less to do that than to buy this business? The answer was yes. It would cost far less to make this really aggressive offer. And that's the kind of thinking that I like to employ. A little bit of

Let's turn things on their head. Let's ask some really bizarre questions. Let's look at this from a strange point of view and just see if it makes sense. And the business in particular, the bookkeeping business, was overpriced. I mean, when I saw the deal, I knew it right away. But the person was really... trying to rationalize why they should do the deal.

Let's turn things on their head. Let's ask some really bizarre questions. Let's look at this from a strange point of view and just see if it makes sense. And the business in particular, the bookkeeping business, was overpriced. I mean, when I saw the deal, I knew it right away. But the person was really... trying to rationalize why they should do the deal.

I'm looking forward to it.

I'm looking forward to it.

And the reason they were trying to rationalize why they should do the deal is because all they saw was the potential risk of not acquiring that number of clients. But when you ask a question like, what if we just paid people to be your client, it starts to give you different avenues or angles of thought.

And the reason they were trying to rationalize why they should do the deal is because all they saw was the potential risk of not acquiring that number of clients. But when you ask a question like, what if we just paid people to be your client, it starts to give you different avenues or angles of thought.

So this is the silver tsunami story. I call it, you know, the idea that the boomers are at this point where they own all these businesses and they're retiring. So I don't know where this idea came from. And I'm thinking it came from academia. And the one thing that makes academics different from business owners is that academics all retire at 65.

So this is the silver tsunami story. I call it, you know, the idea that the boomers are at this point where they own all these businesses and they're retiring. So I don't know where this idea came from. And I'm thinking it came from academia. And the one thing that makes academics different from business owners is that academics all retire at 65.

So what they do is they put this lens on the business ownership community and they say, oh, well, they must retire at 65 as well. They don't. Right. So if you own a good, profitable business and you're well organized and have systems in place and middle management in place and you can run your business.

So what they do is they put this lens on the business ownership community and they say, oh, well, they must retire at 65 as well. They don't. Right. So if you own a good, profitable business and you're well organized and have systems in place and middle management in place and you can run your business.

Ja, sicher. Ich bin ein lebendiger Entrepreneur. Ich habe Unternehmen gekauft, verkauft und geschlossen. Ich leite heute ein Unternehmen. Ich habe das Gute, das Schlechte und das Schlechte gesehen. Ich war einmal ein Geschäfts- und Finanzverkäufer. Ich habe Menschen mit verschiedenen Arten von Geschäftslohnen geholfen, was mich in die Welt des Geschäftsverkäufers geführt hat.

Ja, sicher. Ich bin ein lebendiger Entrepreneur. Ich habe Unternehmen gekauft, verkauft und geschlossen. Ich leite heute ein Unternehmen. Ich habe das Gute, das Schlechte und das Schlechte gesehen. Ich war einmal ein Geschäfts- und Finanzverkäufer. Ich habe Menschen mit verschiedenen Arten von Geschäftslohnen geholfen, was mich in die Welt des Geschäftsverkäufers geführt hat.

und, weißt du, es mit sehr wenig Interaktion und vielleicht ein Teil des Jahres aus Florida verkaufen, warum würdest du das verkaufen? Weil die meisten kleinen Unternehmen verkaufen für etwa zwei bis vier Mal ihren Cashflow. Also, wenn du es mit minimaler Interaktion halten kannst, wirst du es so lange wie du kannst.

und, weißt du, es mit sehr wenig Interaktion und vielleicht ein Teil des Jahres aus Florida verkaufen, warum würdest du das verkaufen? Weil die meisten kleinen Unternehmen verkaufen für etwa zwei bis vier Mal ihren Cashflow. Also, wenn du es mit minimaler Interaktion halten kannst, wirst du es so lange wie du kannst.

Und also sind die meisten dieser Unternehmen verkauft von Leuten in ihren 70ern, wenn sie, wenn sie es wirklich nicht mehr verkaufen können oder es wirklich nicht mehr verkaufen wollen. The other thing is that most of the businesses that are owned by Baby Boomers are not worth owning. Thank you. They don't produce enough cash flow to make them worthwhile. Okay, so that's the other thing.

Und also sind die meisten dieser Unternehmen verkauft von Leuten in ihren 70ern, wenn sie, wenn sie es wirklich nicht mehr verkaufen können oder es wirklich nicht mehr verkaufen wollen. The other thing is that most of the businesses that are owned by Baby Boomers are not worth owning. Thank you. They don't produce enough cash flow to make them worthwhile. Okay, so that's the other thing.

The ones who are doing well and make good money, there has always been a strong market for good cash-flowing profitable businesses. And back in the great financial crisis of 2008, 2009, every good business I put up on BizBuySell got 10 to 30 or 50 inquiries. So this...

The ones who are doing well and make good money, there has always been a strong market for good cash-flowing profitable businesses. And back in the great financial crisis of 2008, 2009, every good business I put up on BizBuySell got 10 to 30 or 50 inquiries. So this...

narrative that there's not enough buyers that there's businesses available at a discount is all bull it's not real at all there have always been people that want to buy good businesses and here's the thing is is the really best businesses you will never get a crack at as an outsider what do i mean well every year

narrative that there's not enough buyers that there's businesses available at a discount is all bull it's not real at all there have always been people that want to buy good businesses and here's the thing is is the really best businesses you will never get a crack at as an outsider what do i mean well every year

Every year the people of a certain industry are getting together at their associations and their galas and their dinner parties or whatever. They all know each other. So when Mr. Smith, who owns a really great profitable business in a certain industry, decides he wants to finally sell, he knows all the players in the neighboring cities and states.

Every year the people of a certain industry are getting together at their associations and their galas and their dinner parties or whatever. They all know each other. So when Mr. Smith, who owns a really great profitable business in a certain industry, decides he wants to finally sell, he knows all the players in the neighboring cities and states.

So he just starts calling those people and says, hey, would you like to grow your business by buying mine? Und der Grund, warum er das tun wird, ist, weil er keine Verkaufskommission zahlen muss. And he's talking to people who already understand the industry.

So he just starts calling those people and says, hey, would you like to grow your business by buying mine? Und der Grund, warum er das tun wird, ist, weil er keine Verkaufskommission zahlen muss. And he's talking to people who already understand the industry.

So it's going to be less work on his part to show them the performance of the business because they're going to immediately benchmark his numbers with their own business performance. If you own a plumbing business and you look at another plumbing business, you're going to cut through those financials and results so much more quickly than someone who doesn't know anything about plumbing.

So it's going to be less work on his part to show them the performance of the business because they're going to immediately benchmark his numbers with their own business performance. If you own a plumbing business and you look at another plumbing business, you're going to cut through those financials and results so much more quickly than someone who doesn't know anything about plumbing.

And so the best ones are going to get gobbled up in this fashion. When you're an outsider, you don't know what you don't know. And listen, I talked about the crazy story of the bookkeeping business. Let me tell you this one. So this guy leaves a C-suite business at a major corporation, decides that he wants to get into a business that cannot be delivered by Amazon or done by AI.

And so the best ones are going to get gobbled up in this fashion. When you're an outsider, you don't know what you don't know. And listen, I talked about the crazy story of the bookkeeping business. Let me tell you this one. So this guy leaves a C-suite business at a major corporation, decides that he wants to get into a business that cannot be delivered by Amazon or done by AI.

We've heard this kind of thing from people before. So he decides to get into flood and fire disaster restoration because he figures there's always got to be hands on the job site and people have to do the work. He finds a flood and fire disaster restoration company and the seller says, we do work for over 40 different insurance companies. Sounds great, right?

We've heard this kind of thing from people before. So he decides to get into flood and fire disaster restoration because he figures there's always got to be hands on the job site and people have to do the work. He finds a flood and fire disaster restoration company and the seller says, we do work for over 40 different insurance companies. Sounds great, right?

Ich helfe Menschen, die Unternehmen kaufen und verkaufen. Ich war glücklich genug, in das Unternehmen zu kommen, gerade auf dem Kurs der großen Finanzkrise im Jahr 2008-2009. Und ich habe das für etwa dreieinhalb Jahre gemacht. Ich habe ein bisschen über drei Tausend Unternehmen für andere Leute verkauft.

Ich helfe Menschen, die Unternehmen kaufen und verkaufen. Ich war glücklich genug, in das Unternehmen zu kommen, gerade auf dem Kurs der großen Finanzkrise im Jahr 2008-2009. Und ich habe das für etwa dreieinhalb Jahre gemacht. Ich habe ein bisschen über drei Tausend Unternehmen für andere Leute verkauft.

Deal.

Deal.

You got diversification of customer base, right? He does the deal, buys the business and never once understands or learns about these third party administrators. Do you know what a TPA is in the flood and fire restoration industry?

You got diversification of customer base, right? He does the deal, buys the business and never once understands or learns about these third party administrators. Do you know what a TPA is in the flood and fire restoration industry?

So the insurance companies, because they don't want to get into the weeds of administrating the claims, hire these third party companies who basically represent them. So these 40 some odd insurance companies were actually only represented by three TPAs. So there was a shadow customer concentration.

So the insurance companies, because they don't want to get into the weeds of administrating the claims, hire these third party companies who basically represent them. So these 40 some odd insurance companies were actually only represented by three TPAs. So there was a shadow customer concentration.

Und als er das Unternehmen übernommen hat, hat einer dieser TPAs entschieden, ihn nicht mehr zu senden. Und er hat im Grunde 15 Kunden übernommen. Jesus. Aus diesen 40. Und ich sage den Leuten, es ist das, was du wirklich nicht weißt. Was dich lebendig verletzen wird. Absolut. Und das ist der Risiko, in etwas zu kommen, was du nicht weißt, richtig?

Und als er das Unternehmen übernommen hat, hat einer dieser TPAs entschieden, ihn nicht mehr zu senden. Und er hat im Grunde 15 Kunden übernommen. Jesus. Aus diesen 40. Und ich sage den Leuten, es ist das, was du wirklich nicht weißt. Was dich lebendig verletzen wird. Absolut. Und das ist der Risiko, in etwas zu kommen, was du nicht weißt, richtig?

Nun, sagen wir mal, du hättest wirklich gedacht, dass die Flut- und Feuerrestauration-Industrie die richtige für dich war und du wolltest ein Unternehmen in dieser Industrie kaufen und du hättest nie in dieser Industrie gewesen.

Nun, sagen wir mal, du hättest wirklich gedacht, dass die Flut- und Feuerrestauration-Industrie die richtige für dich war und du wolltest ein Unternehmen in dieser Industrie kaufen und du hättest nie in dieser Industrie gewesen.

Mein Nummer eins Tipp für Leute, der oft von Leuten, die ich es gebe, übertragen wird, ist, wenn du eine Industrie lernen willst, der beste Weg, die Industrie zu lernen, ist, in der Industrie zu arbeiten. So go get a job as a salesperson or something. Absolutely. Or as an administrator in the office.

Mein Nummer eins Tipp für Leute, der oft von Leuten, die ich es gebe, übertragen wird, ist, wenn du eine Industrie lernen willst, der beste Weg, die Industrie zu lernen, ist, in der Industrie zu arbeiten. So go get a job as a salesperson or something. Absolutely. Or as an administrator in the office.

You don't have to work there long to understand what the business is like and what the good things and the bad things are. And so the other thing about that industry is that a lot of the time you're running a bank because you got to pay for

You don't have to work there long to understand what the business is like and what the good things and the bad things are. And so the other thing about that industry is that a lot of the time you're running a bank because you got to pay for

Materials and labor and all kinds of stuff and wait for a long time before you start to get checks from the customers ultimately who are the insurance companies. And there's a lot of businesses like that. And again, another problem that I run into is people who don't understand certain basic elements of business like operating capital, which I just alluded to.

Materials and labor and all kinds of stuff and wait for a long time before you start to get checks from the customers ultimately who are the insurance companies. And there's a lot of businesses like that. And again, another problem that I run into is people who don't understand certain basic elements of business like operating capital, which I just alluded to.

Und dann habe ich diese Industrie verlassen, weil Business Brokerage als Unternehmen sehr schmerzhaft sein kann. Es ist für den meisten Teil ein Kontingenzrevenue-Modell. Das bedeutet, dass Business Brokers bezahlt werden, wenn sie ein Unternehmen für jemanden verkaufen.

Und dann habe ich diese Industrie verlassen, weil Business Brokerage als Unternehmen sehr schmerzhaft sein kann. Es ist für den meisten Teil ein Kontingenzrevenue-Modell. Das bedeutet, dass Business Brokers bezahlt werden, wenn sie ein Unternehmen für jemanden verkaufen.

And they'll look at a business's cash flow, they'll apply a certain multiplier to it, and they'll figure that's what the business is worth, not realizing... that that is what the value of the cash flow is. And the money you give to the seller is just part of your investment in a lot of these deals.

And they'll look at a business's cash flow, they'll apply a certain multiplier to it, and they'll figure that's what the business is worth, not realizing... that that is what the value of the cash flow is. And the money you give to the seller is just part of your investment in a lot of these deals.

You also have to invest money in your own entity by providing sometimes operating capital, depending on how you structure the deal, whether it's a share purchase or an asset purchase or what have you. And so people will

You also have to invest money in your own entity by providing sometimes operating capital, depending on how you structure the deal, whether it's a share purchase or an asset purchase or what have you. And so people will

essentially overpay for businesses all the time by the amount of operating capital they have to put into their own entity because they don't stop and look at it as an overall project and ask the important question, how much is being invested in total for this cash flow I'm acquiring? And I run into this as well with things like franchise resales, where the

essentially overpay for businesses all the time by the amount of operating capital they have to put into their own entity because they don't stop and look at it as an overall project and ask the important question, how much is being invested in total for this cash flow I'm acquiring? And I run into this as well with things like franchise resales, where the

The franchisor may require that certain things get done in the transaction. Like they may require that certain updates to the look and feel of a location are updated or there may be fees associated with the franchise transfer or the buyer may have to pay additional training fees and all this kind of stuff.

The franchisor may require that certain things get done in the transaction. Like they may require that certain updates to the look and feel of a location are updated or there may be fees associated with the franchise transfer or the buyer may have to pay additional training fees and all this kind of stuff.

And just like I said before about the operating capital, if you end up having to write a franchise or a bunch of checks or a contractor who's going to change the signage at a location or what have you, Das ist alles Teil deiner Investition. Und wenn du den Geldfluss anschaust, dann fragst du dich, was ich bezahlen soll, um diesen Geldfluss zu bekommen. Das ist das, was ich kaufe.

And just like I said before about the operating capital, if you end up having to write a franchise or a bunch of checks or a contractor who's going to change the signage at a location or what have you, Das ist alles Teil deiner Investition. Und wenn du den Geldfluss anschaust, dann fragst du dich, was ich bezahlen soll, um diesen Geldfluss zu bekommen. Das ist das, was ich kaufe.

Und leider für viele Verkäufer wird es wirklich aus der Menge kommen, die in ihrem Konto geschrieben wird. Aber das sind die Dinge, die Verkäufer immer verlieren.

Und leider für viele Verkäufer wird es wirklich aus der Menge kommen, die in ihrem Konto geschrieben wird. Aber das sind die Dinge, die Verkäufer immer verlieren.

Von den Leuten, mit denen ich gearbeitet habe?

Von den Leuten, mit denen ich gearbeitet habe?

So the people that I work with who hire us to actually help analyze businesses, I'm happy to say that over half of them don't end up doing those deals because we show them how the deal sucks. And I would love to see somebody not do a bad deal and live to fight another day kind of thing. Absolutely. For the people who actually do successfully do deals,

So the people that I work with who hire us to actually help analyze businesses, I'm happy to say that over half of them don't end up doing those deals because we show them how the deal sucks. And I would love to see somebody not do a bad deal and live to fight another day kind of thing. Absolutely. For the people who actually do successfully do deals,

Und so kannst du ein Jahr oder mehr mit einem Geschäftsführer sprechen, bevor sie entscheiden, ihr Unternehmen für Verkauf zu listen. Es kann dann Monate dauern, um es bereit für Verkauf zu bekommen. So to get all the documentation organized, the packages put together, etc.

Und so kannst du ein Jahr oder mehr mit einem Geschäftsführer sprechen, bevor sie entscheiden, ihr Unternehmen für Verkauf zu listen. Es kann dann Monate dauern, um es bereit für Verkauf zu bekommen. So to get all the documentation organized, the packages put together, etc.

Not everyone gets back to me or anything like that. But I do have a coaching program for people that want to buy businesses. And the people there who buy businesses, I follow up with them because I want to do postmortem calls a year after they do the transaction. And one of the questions I ask them is, would you consider the seller to be your friend?

Not everyone gets back to me or anything like that. But I do have a coaching program for people that want to buy businesses. And the people there who buy businesses, I follow up with them because I want to do postmortem calls a year after they do the transaction. And one of the questions I ask them is, would you consider the seller to be your friend?

So you buy a business from someone, you go through a training and transition period, any misrepresentation, lie, distraction, etc. during the selling process will become known to you at some point after the deal has been done. Und ich denke, dass das der größte Influencer-Faktor sein wird, ob du jemanden als deinen Freund bezeichnest oder nicht. Absolut.

So you buy a business from someone, you go through a training and transition period, any misrepresentation, lie, distraction, etc. during the selling process will become known to you at some point after the deal has been done. Und ich denke, dass das der größte Influencer-Faktor sein wird, ob du jemanden als deinen Freund bezeichnest oder nicht. Absolut.

Und was interessant ist, ist, dass etwa ein Drittel dieser Leute sagen, nein, der Verkäufer ist nicht mein Freund. Die anderen zwei Drittel sagen ja. Sie sagen ja, er kommt immer noch mit Kaffee rein. Er will wissen, wie ich es mache. Er ist gespannt darauf, dass alles gut geht für mich. Also, du kannst sicherlich gute Ziele machen.

Und was interessant ist, ist, dass etwa ein Drittel dieser Leute sagen, nein, der Verkäufer ist nicht mein Freund. Die anderen zwei Drittel sagen ja. Sie sagen ja, er kommt immer noch mit Kaffee rein. Er will wissen, wie ich es mache. Er ist gespannt darauf, dass alles gut geht für mich. Also, du kannst sicherlich gute Ziele machen.

Ich denke, dass die Dinge, die Leute nicht wirklich genießen, besonders wenn sie von außen aus der kleinen Geschäftswelt kommen, ist, dass sie nicht genießen, wie du ein Meister von allem sein musst, wenn du in der Welt von kleinen Unternehmen bist.

Ich denke, dass die Dinge, die Leute nicht wirklich genießen, besonders wenn sie von außen aus der kleinen Geschäftswelt kommen, ist, dass sie nicht genießen, wie du ein Meister von allem sein musst, wenn du in der Welt von kleinen Unternehmen bist.

People that come from very organized corporate environments where everyone's kind of pigeonholed in their own little area of expertise, they don't really appreciate how you need to learn all of these different things and how a lot of the solutions that you want to put together in business, it's not just what is the best solution, it's what is the most expedient solution using the tools we already pay for.

People that come from very organized corporate environments where everyone's kind of pigeonholed in their own little area of expertise, they don't really appreciate how you need to learn all of these different things and how a lot of the solutions that you want to put together in business, it's not just what is the best solution, it's what is the most expedient solution using the tools we already pay for.

And then it can actually take years, depending on the type of business it is, to really find a buyer, the right buyer, who wants to do a deal and then help the buyer organize everything they need with respect to financing and all that kind of stuff as well. So it's a very long process. There's plenty of places where deals fall off the tracks. And so it was frustrating for me.

And then it can actually take years, depending on the type of business it is, to really find a buyer, the right buyer, who wants to do a deal and then help the buyer organize everything they need with respect to financing and all that kind of stuff as well. So it's a very long process. There's plenty of places where deals fall off the tracks. And so it was frustrating for me.

Or we know this solution exists, Is it really even worth implementing? And so, for example, I'll get this kind of conversation a lot with CRM systems, right? So everyone's told you need to have a CRM system. And there's a lot of advantages to that. And there's a lot of off the shelf CRM systems.

Or we know this solution exists, Is it really even worth implementing? And so, for example, I'll get this kind of conversation a lot with CRM systems, right? So everyone's told you need to have a CRM system. And there's a lot of advantages to that. And there's a lot of off the shelf CRM systems.

You know, if you're a plumber and you get like service tighten or whatever, like it can be really great for your business. But for a lot of other businesses, they may say, well, you know, this is the cost and then this is the implementation.

You know, if you're a plumber and you get like service tighten or whatever, like it can be really great for your business. But for a lot of other businesses, they may say, well, you know, this is the cost and then this is the implementation.

Und wir sind in einem Art von Geschäft, in dem wir wirklich kein kontinuierliches Geschäft mit den gleichen Leuten machen oder wir gehen wirklich nicht wieder zurück oder so etwas. Und sie wehren wirklich die Pros und Cons davon, warum es möglich oder nicht Sinn macht, so ein System zu implementieren.

Und wir sind in einem Art von Geschäft, in dem wir wirklich kein kontinuierliches Geschäft mit den gleichen Leuten machen oder wir gehen wirklich nicht wieder zurück oder so etwas. Und sie wehren wirklich die Pros und Cons davon, warum es möglich oder nicht Sinn macht, so ein System zu implementieren.

Und dann wählen sie nicht, oder sie kommen mit einer anderen Lösung, wie, oh, wir werden eine Google-Seite benutzen. Und wir werden Kalendereventeure erschaffen, sodass wir jeden Februar eine E-Mail an die Leute schicken werden, die wir im Jahr vorletzten. Ein zweijähriger Nachfolger, richtig? Das ist ein sehr einfaches System. Es kostet nichts. Es kostet nicht viel, um es zu implementieren.

Und dann wählen sie nicht, oder sie kommen mit einer anderen Lösung, wie, oh, wir werden eine Google-Seite benutzen. Und wir werden Kalendereventeure erschaffen, sodass wir jeden Februar eine E-Mail an die Leute schicken werden, die wir im Jahr vorletzten. Ein zweijähriger Nachfolger, richtig? Das ist ein sehr einfaches System. Es kostet nichts. Es kostet nicht viel, um es zu implementieren.

Es gibt keinen Subscription-Fee dazu. Und wenn du es machst, kann es nur so effektiv sein, And what I've found is that when I talk with people who acquired businesses, is people will be very focused on the tactics of modern technology and tools that are available. And they'll say, look at this business. You know, the old guy who runs this business doesn't even know you can do this.

Es gibt keinen Subscription-Fee dazu. Und wenn du es machst, kann es nur so effektiv sein, And what I've found is that when I talk with people who acquired businesses, is people will be very focused on the tactics of modern technology and tools that are available. And they'll say, look at this business. You know, the old guy who runs this business doesn't even know you can do this.

And there's AI that, and there's this little tool and that little tool. And boy, when I take over this business, I'm going to employ all this technology and we're going to make it so much more efficient because that guy just has a whiteboard and paperwork orders.

And there's AI that, and there's this little tool and that little tool. And boy, when I take over this business, I'm going to employ all this technology and we're going to make it so much more efficient because that guy just has a whiteboard and paperwork orders.

And then I talk with them a few months later in one of these follow-up calls and they go, holy cow, are those paperwork orders ever efficient? Yep. I had no idea.

And then I talk with them a few months later in one of these follow-up calls and they go, holy cow, are those paperwork orders ever efficient? Yep. I had no idea.

Ja, also, wenn etwas auf Instagram heiß ist, würde ich davon ausgehen. Danke, weil es, was es wirklich bedeutet, ist, dass es eine Menge Fools gibt, mit Geld, die es fangen, die nicht wissen, was sie tun, die sich willens überzahlen für Dinge und die Erwartungen in diesen Industrien auf die Seite der Verkäufer, dass sie diese verrückten Zahlen bekommen werden.

Ja, also, wenn etwas auf Instagram heiß ist, würde ich davon ausgehen. Danke, weil es, was es wirklich bedeutet, ist, dass es eine Menge Fools gibt, mit Geld, die es fangen, die nicht wissen, was sie tun, die sich willens überzahlen für Dinge und die Erwartungen in diesen Industrien auf die Seite der Verkäufer, dass sie diese verrückten Zahlen bekommen werden.

all kinds of stories of of deals that i worked on for a long time that never came to fruition i eventually left that business got into banking and i was a banker for a few years and and uh you know just like those old gangster movies uh they kept pulling me back in i kept getting phone calls from people who were trying to work on small business deals looking for help and started to do a little bit of consulting as a side hustle and then when the bank reorganized there was an opportunity for me

all kinds of stories of of deals that i worked on for a long time that never came to fruition i eventually left that business got into banking and i was a banker for a few years and and uh you know just like those old gangster movies uh they kept pulling me back in i kept getting phone calls from people who were trying to work on small business deals looking for help and started to do a little bit of consulting as a side hustle and then when the bank reorganized there was an opportunity for me

Also willst du die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit vermeiden. Und du weißt, Are there deals out there? I would say there are never deals. There are only changing levels of motivation. I referenced earlier how businesses sell for a relatively low multiple of cash flow.

Also willst du die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit vermeiden. Und du weißt, Are there deals out there? I would say there are never deals. There are only changing levels of motivation. I referenced earlier how businesses sell for a relatively low multiple of cash flow.

So what that means is, if you own a great business, if you own a business earning you a quarter of a million dollars a year and you find out you could sell it for 600,000 to 750,000 dollars, why would you? That doesn't make any sense, right? You just keep that thing. And keep harvesting those profits year after year.

So what that means is, if you own a great business, if you own a business earning you a quarter of a million dollars a year and you find out you could sell it for 600,000 to 750,000 dollars, why would you? That doesn't make any sense, right? You just keep that thing. And keep harvesting those profits year after year.

What ends up happening is one of the five things that creates a motivation for people to sell a business. And they're all personal. The first one is mental. Burnout, boredom and fatigue. So if the business owner gets to the point where he cringes and his stomach tightens up every time the cell phone rings, that's the time to get out. You don't want the anxiety or hassles of this business.

What ends up happening is one of the five things that creates a motivation for people to sell a business. And they're all personal. The first one is mental. Burnout, boredom and fatigue. So if the business owner gets to the point where he cringes and his stomach tightens up every time the cell phone rings, that's the time to get out. You don't want the anxiety or hassles of this business.

Time to leave. So the mental bucket Dann gibt es Divorz, schlechte Gesundheit, die Bedrohung in der Verwaltung. Nun, von diesen fünf Dingen, einer ist geplant. Die anderen vier sind nicht. Das sind Dinge, die im Laufe unserer Tag-zu-Tag-Leben passieren. Also, die Person mit dem quarter-million-dollar-Cash-flow-Business, der in ihrem Business perfekt glücklich ist, du könntest entscheiden,

Time to leave. So the mental bucket Dann gibt es Divorz, schlechte Gesundheit, die Bedrohung in der Verwaltung. Nun, von diesen fünf Dingen, einer ist geplant. Die anderen vier sind nicht. Das sind Dinge, die im Laufe unserer Tag-zu-Tag-Leben passieren. Also, die Person mit dem quarter-million-dollar-Cash-flow-Business, der in ihrem Business perfekt glücklich ist, du könntest entscheiden,

I want to buy in a certain industry. And you could start networking with people in that industry. And every person you talk to could say, I don't want to sell my business. It's a fantastic business. I love it. And you just, you keep talking to those people. And then one day something happens. One of those things happens to that person.

I want to buy in a certain industry. And you could start networking with people in that industry. And every person you talk to could say, I don't want to sell my business. It's a fantastic business. I love it. And you just, you keep talking to those people. And then one day something happens. One of those things happens to that person.

All of a sudden, now you're having a conversation, not because the business or the industry or the economy has changed, but because something in their life changed. Now they're open to that conversation. The deals come along, the problem is one of visibility. My buddy Rick has owned many restaurants over the course of his life and cafes. He was consulting with a seafood restaurant owner.

All of a sudden, now you're having a conversation, not because the business or the industry or the economy has changed, but because something in their life changed. Now they're open to that conversation. The deals come along, the problem is one of visibility. My buddy Rick has owned many restaurants over the course of his life and cafes. He was consulting with a seafood restaurant owner.

Das Konsultationsmandat wurde für ihn zu kaufen. Also hat er das Seafood-Restaurant gekauft. Aus der Sicht der Leute, die ein Unternehmen kaufen wollen, können die Leute, die ein Unternehmen kaufen wollen, die Unternehmen im Markt sehen. Du fährst herum, du siehst Unternehmen, du schaust auf die gelben Seiten oder auf Google, du siehst Unternehmen. Die Geschäftsführer können keine Verkäufer sehen.

Das Konsultationsmandat wurde für ihn zu kaufen. Also hat er das Seafood-Restaurant gekauft. Aus der Sicht der Leute, die ein Unternehmen kaufen wollen, können die Leute, die ein Unternehmen kaufen wollen, die Unternehmen im Markt sehen. Du fährst herum, du siehst Unternehmen, du schaust auf die gelben Seiten oder auf Google, du siehst Unternehmen. Die Geschäftsführer können keine Verkäufer sehen.

From the point of view of a business operator, they have no way of looking outside their window and seeing individuals interested in buying businesses. So a buyer is invisible unless you do something to make yourself visible.

From the point of view of a business operator, they have no way of looking outside their window and seeing individuals interested in buying businesses. So a buyer is invisible unless you do something to make yourself visible.

So when Rick bought that seafood restaurant, within six months he heard from three other seafood restaurant owners who heard about the deal, who stepped forward and said, oh, would you like to buy mine as well? Denn in seinem ersten Deal hat er sich dann für die Leute in dieser Industrie visibel gemacht. Und dann gibt es das Chatten, der Anbieter, der den Fisch anbietet.

So when Rick bought that seafood restaurant, within six months he heard from three other seafood restaurant owners who heard about the deal, who stepped forward and said, oh, would you like to buy mine as well? Denn in seinem ersten Deal hat er sich dann für die Leute in dieser Industrie visibel gemacht. Und dann gibt es das Chatten, der Anbieter, der den Fisch anbietet.

Tells a story to the next restaurant. Oh, do you know they have a new owner over there? Right. And then like the word spreads through the grapevine. And so how do you make yourself visible? Well, you know, people will go to business brokers to make themselves visible to these intermediaries. But you can also just make yourself visible by networking within an industry.

Tells a story to the next restaurant. Oh, do you know they have a new owner over there? Right. And then like the word spreads through the grapevine. And so how do you make yourself visible? Well, you know, people will go to business brokers to make themselves visible to these intermediaries. But you can also just make yourself visible by networking within an industry.

und die Leute wissen, was ihre Intention ist. Die Geschäftsführer kosten Geld, die Verkäufer zahlen ihnen eine Kommission. Und die Wertproposition, die ein Geschäftsführer zu diesen Verkäufern bietet, ist, dass sie sagen, wenn du dein Geschäft durch mich verkaufst, werde ich vielleicht mehr als einen Verkäufer finden, der für dein Geschäft kämpft und den Preis erhöht. Und das ist der Grund,

und die Leute wissen, was ihre Intention ist. Die Geschäftsführer kosten Geld, die Verkäufer zahlen ihnen eine Kommission. Und die Wertproposition, die ein Geschäftsführer zu diesen Verkäufern bietet, ist, dass sie sagen, wenn du dein Geschäft durch mich verkaufst, werde ich vielleicht mehr als einen Verkäufer finden, der für dein Geschäft kämpft und den Preis erhöht. Und das ist der Grund,

I will be able to earn my commission. You'll get an overall higher price. So if your plan for buying a business is to look at BizBuySell and talk to brokers, just understand where you are in that ecosystem. Yes, you're having a lot of the work taken care of for you. And if it's a good business broker, then the seller's expectations should be properly set.

I will be able to earn my commission. You'll get an overall higher price. So if your plan for buying a business is to look at BizBuySell and talk to brokers, just understand where you are in that ecosystem. Yes, you're having a lot of the work taken care of for you. And if it's a good business broker, then the seller's expectations should be properly set.

The package will be put together to help you, you know, die Möglichkeit relativ schnell zu triagieren, um zu sehen, ob du es kaufen willst oder nicht. Aber du wirst wahrscheinlich mehr bezahlen, als wenn du eine Beziehung kreierst und diese Gespräche vorher hättest. Und ich sage immer Leuten als Verkäufer, dass dein einzigartiges Wachstum nicht ein Deal macht.

The package will be put together to help you, you know, die Möglichkeit relativ schnell zu triagieren, um zu sehen, ob du es kaufen willst oder nicht. Aber du wirst wahrscheinlich mehr bezahlen, als wenn du eine Beziehung kreierst und diese Gespräche vorher hättest. Und ich sage immer Leuten als Verkäufer, dass dein einzigartiges Wachstum nicht ein Deal macht.

um vollständig in die Welt von kleinen Geschäftsverhandlungen zurückzukehren. Aber ich habe es mit einem sehr unterschiedlichen Geschäftsmodell gemacht. Also helfe ich jetzt Menschen, die kaufen oder verkaufen, aber ich mache es als Konsultant. Und ich habe den Prozess in einer Serie von Schritten gemapert. Ich habe Geräte, die ich in jedem Schritt durchführe.

um vollständig in die Welt von kleinen Geschäftsverhandlungen zurückzukehren. Aber ich habe es mit einem sehr unterschiedlichen Geschäftsmodell gemacht. Also helfe ich jetzt Menschen, die kaufen oder verkaufen, aber ich mache es als Konsultant. Und ich habe den Prozess in einer Serie von Schritten gemapert. Ich habe Geräte, die ich in jedem Schritt durchführe.

Und so musst du wissen, was für dich Sinn macht und wissen, wann es Sinn macht, ein Deal nicht zu machen.

Und so musst du wissen, was für dich Sinn macht und wissen, wann es Sinn macht, ein Deal nicht zu machen.

Yeah, so you want to ask yourself, who are these people? So once you've identified an industry, if you say, I'm interested in machine shops in upstate New York with a certain revenue and employee range. Dann kannst du sie sehr einfach identifizieren. Speziell, du kannst eine Liste erstellen.

Yeah, so you want to ask yourself, who are these people? So once you've identified an industry, if you say, I'm interested in machine shops in upstate New York with a certain revenue and employee range. Dann kannst du sie sehr einfach identifizieren. Speziell, du kannst eine Liste erstellen.

Sobald du eine Liste erstellst, kannst du dann anfangen, Namen darzustellen, wie wer diese Unternehmen besitzt. Oder sind sie eine Branche einer großen Firma? Richtig. Das wird wahrscheinlich nicht perspektivisch zu mir verkaufen. Und so kreiert man eine Liste, man kann dann direkt an die Leute anrufen, man kann sie anrufen, man kann sie an LinkedIn anrufen, etc.

Sobald du eine Liste erstellst, kannst du dann anfangen, Namen darzustellen, wie wer diese Unternehmen besitzt. Oder sind sie eine Branche einer großen Firma? Richtig. Das wird wahrscheinlich nicht perspektivisch zu mir verkaufen. Und so kreiert man eine Liste, man kann dann direkt an die Leute anrufen, man kann sie anrufen, man kann sie an LinkedIn anrufen, etc.

Aber man kann auch, was ich als Value Chain Play bezeichne, also alle diese Maschinenhäuser kaufen Equipment von ein paar verschiedenen Dealer von Equipment, die Salespeople haben. So I remember I once had a guy who wanted to buy a sprinkler service and repair and installation business in New Jersey. And I asked him, I said, how many different brands of this equipment are out there?

Aber man kann auch, was ich als Value Chain Play bezeichne, also alle diese Maschinenhäuser kaufen Equipment von ein paar verschiedenen Dealer von Equipment, die Salespeople haben. So I remember I once had a guy who wanted to buy a sprinkler service and repair and installation business in New Jersey. And I asked him, I said, how many different brands of this equipment are out there?

He was like, there's three big brands. I said, great. Every one of those brands has some kind of distributor or sales rep covering New Jersey. Find out who the individual people are that go calling on all these people. Because if you can create relationships with those 3D sales people, they know everybody. So now you're talking about networking with the people who know the people.

He was like, there's three big brands. I said, great. Every one of those brands has some kind of distributor or sales rep covering New Jersey. Find out who the individual people are that go calling on all these people. Because if you can create relationships with those 3D sales people, they know everybody. So now you're talking about networking with the people who know the people.

My father-in-law runs an auto repair business. And when he wants to hire a new mechanic, he does not post a job at anywhere. What he does is he tells the Snap-on tool guy. He says, I need to hire a new tech. Because once every six or eight weeks, that Snap-on guy talks to every tech in the city. As they circulate, visiting all the different shops.

My father-in-law runs an auto repair business. And when he wants to hire a new mechanic, he does not post a job at anywhere. What he does is he tells the Snap-on tool guy. He says, I need to hire a new tech. Because once every six or eight weeks, that Snap-on guy talks to every tech in the city. As they circulate, visiting all the different shops.

Und die Techniker kennen die Reputationen der Techniker. Und er hat schon lange mit meinem Vater-in-Lau gearbeitet und er wird nicht einen Dutt übergeben. Er wird die Nachrichten mit jemandem teilen, der er weiß, dass er gut aussehen wird, wenn dieser Referent durchkommt. Es sind nur diese einfachen kleinen Dinge, die die meisten nicht wissen.

Und die Techniker kennen die Reputationen der Techniker. Und er hat schon lange mit meinem Vater-in-Lau gearbeitet und er wird nicht einen Dutt übergeben. Er wird die Nachrichten mit jemandem teilen, der er weiß, dass er gut aussehen wird, wenn dieser Referent durchkommt. Es sind nur diese einfachen kleinen Dinge, die die meisten nicht wissen.

Und ich habe das Geschäftsmodell von Lehrern und Accountants gebraucht, in dem ich jeden Schritt mit Leuten tue und ich sie für meine Arbeit baue, wie ich jeden Schritt tue. Und so macht es ein paar Dinge. Nummer eins, es verhindert das große Kontingenz-Kashflow-Rollercoaster, das Geschäftsführer oft von.

Und ich habe das Geschäftsmodell von Lehrern und Accountants gebraucht, in dem ich jeden Schritt mit Leuten tue und ich sie für meine Arbeit baue, wie ich jeden Schritt tue. Und so macht es ein paar Dinge. Nummer eins, es verhindert das große Kontingenz-Kashflow-Rollercoaster, das Geschäftsführer oft von.

So everyone gets all wound up in the busy work of starting a business. They want to find out how to get an EIN number or how they register their name with the state and all that kind of stuff. Don't do any of that.

So everyone gets all wound up in the busy work of starting a business. They want to find out how to get an EIN number or how they register their name with the state and all that kind of stuff. Don't do any of that.

Okay, don't do any of that because I've seen people waste weeks and weeks and weeks of their time on a website and logo design and making sure they've got some form filed with the government. What you want to do is you want to create the most basic of, you know, product information or service information things, which is usually a PDF. And then you want to make a sale.

Okay, don't do any of that because I've seen people waste weeks and weeks and weeks of their time on a website and logo design and making sure they've got some form filed with the government. What you want to do is you want to create the most basic of, you know, product information or service information things, which is usually a PDF. And then you want to make a sale.

So you want to figure out what do I think people want and then who might be the one who's going to buy this. You create some kind of document or whatever and then you reach out to the person you think wants to buy it and then you try to make a sale. And you talk with them and you have a conversation and you get their feedback. And if they say, yeah, I want to buy 10. You go, well, great.

So you want to figure out what do I think people want and then who might be the one who's going to buy this. You create some kind of document or whatever and then you reach out to the person you think wants to buy it and then you try to make a sale. And you talk with them and you have a conversation and you get their feedback. And if they say, yeah, I want to buy 10. You go, well, great.

I'm glad that you like to buy 10 of mine. Can you tell me how I compare to my competitors? Oh, you're half the price. Well, there might be something you forgot about. if you're offering the service for half the price of the competitors, right?

I'm glad that you like to buy 10 of mine. Can you tell me how I compare to my competitors? Oh, you're half the price. Well, there might be something you forgot about. if you're offering the service for half the price of the competitors, right?

Or if they say, no, I can't buy from you because in our industry we can only buy from people that have been approved by our insurance provider because of the way we handle hazardous materials or whatever. And you go, oh, I had no idea these conditions existed in this industry. I better figure out how I'm going to deal with the insurance stuff, right? And again...

Or if they say, no, I can't buy from you because in our industry we can only buy from people that have been approved by our insurance provider because of the way we handle hazardous materials or whatever. And you go, oh, I had no idea these conditions existed in this industry. I better figure out how I'm going to deal with the insurance stuff, right? And again...

You don't know what you don't know. And the way that you're going to learn is by having these conversations by the people who are going to be able to make the decisions. And sometimes, you know, if you can, you want to leverage conversations. What I find amazing is that people will often get advice from people who they really should not be asking for advice.

You don't know what you don't know. And the way that you're going to learn is by having these conversations by the people who are going to be able to make the decisions. And sometimes, you know, if you can, you want to leverage conversations. What I find amazing is that people will often get advice from people who they really should not be asking for advice.

Aber Nummer zwei, die Leute, mit denen ich arbeite, werden mich oft viel weniger bezahlen, als wenn sie einen Geschäftsführer gehören oder mit einem Geschäftsführer arbeiten. Und der Grund ist, dass Geschäftsführer Kommissionen bezahlen, damit sie einen guten Lebensraum verdienen, den jeder verstehen kann.

Aber Nummer zwei, die Leute, mit denen ich arbeite, werden mich oft viel weniger bezahlen, als wenn sie einen Geschäftsführer gehören oder mit einem Geschäftsführer arbeiten. Und der Grund ist, dass Geschäftsführer Kommissionen bezahlen, damit sie einen guten Lebensraum verdienen, den jeder verstehen kann.

So they have a business idea and then they ask their neighbor about it, who's a postman. Nothing against postal workers. But they just, they don't have the right background. But here's the thing, Charles, is they will not use their personal network in the way it could be useful.

So they have a business idea and then they ask their neighbor about it, who's a postman. Nothing against postal workers. But they just, they don't have the right background. But here's the thing, Charles, is they will not use their personal network in the way it could be useful.

Something like Auto Repair has such diversified ownership across the world that chances are there's someone on your Facebook network who either has worked in the industry or maybe their cousin, brother, neighbor, etc. has, and they can introduce you, right? And most people in the world, if you reach out to them and say, hey, I'm thinking about getting into a business.

Something like Auto Repair has such diversified ownership across the world that chances are there's someone on your Facebook network who either has worked in the industry or maybe their cousin, brother, neighbor, etc. has, and they can introduce you, right? And most people in the world, if you reach out to them and say, hey, I'm thinking about getting into a business.

I want to learn more about it. I heard you had some experience. Would you mind getting on the phone with me for 20 or 30 minutes just to talk about it? Most people are interested in being helpful. Most people would not mind that.

I want to learn more about it. I heard you had some experience. Would you mind getting on the phone with me for 20 or 30 minutes just to talk about it? Most people are interested in being helpful. Most people would not mind that.

So take advantage of your personal network because it can lead you to individuals that can really inform this background information that we keep alluding to, where you can get a better understanding of how a business works. And here's what I've learned. And maybe some of your experience mirrors this. If you see something that looks like a tremendously profitable business with little competition,

So take advantage of your personal network because it can lead you to individuals that can really inform this background information that we keep alluding to, where you can get a better understanding of how a business works. And here's what I've learned. And maybe some of your experience mirrors this. If you see something that looks like a tremendously profitable business with little competition,

dann ist es wahrscheinlich etwas, das du nicht siehst. Korrekt. Denn in den normalen Operationen einer freien Marktökonomie, wenn jemand wirklich hohe Margen zahlt und wenig Wettbewerb hat, wird diese Situation neue Einflüsse in diesen Markt erzeugen.

dann ist es wahrscheinlich etwas, das du nicht siehst. Korrekt. Denn in den normalen Operationen einer freien Marktökonomie, wenn jemand wirklich hohe Margen zahlt und wenig Wettbewerb hat, wird diese Situation neue Einflüsse in diesen Markt erzeugen.

Und diese Vorteile werden auslösen. Alltags wird es Wettbewerb geben, es wird Preiswettbewerb geben, die Margen werden auslösen. And eventually people end up in a position where solid players who deliver well should be sustainably competitive and profitable, but not crazy profitable.

Und diese Vorteile werden auslösen. Alltags wird es Wettbewerb geben, es wird Preiswettbewerb geben, die Margen werden auslösen. And eventually people end up in a position where solid players who deliver well should be sustainably competitive and profitable, but not crazy profitable.

The places where crazy profits live are where there are sort of these moats or interventions, which are often not natural. So things like patents, you know, why are drug companies so profitable? Well, they get this government protection in the form of patents, right? Why are some device or machinery manufacturers profitable to an excessive degree?

The places where crazy profits live are where there are sort of these moats or interventions, which are often not natural. So things like patents, you know, why are drug companies so profitable? Well, they get this government protection in the form of patents, right? Why are some device or machinery manufacturers profitable to an excessive degree?

Because their brands are trademarked, their machines they've invented are patented, this kind of thing, right? In the world of small business, you're not often going to get into those kinds of scenarios. You could be a monopoly, like you're the only taxi company in the small town, but that's probably because the town really can't support more than one.

Because their brands are trademarked, their machines they've invented are patented, this kind of thing, right? In the world of small business, you're not often going to get into those kinds of scenarios. You could be a monopoly, like you're the only taxi company in the small town, but that's probably because the town really can't support more than one.

So you're not going to be able to charge double the rates of other taxi companies in the world. You're still going to be hemmed in by these substitution competitors. That taxi company might have a monopoly, but if you charge too much money, people are just going to ride their bicycles or ask their friends for rides or hitchhike. They're going to find ways around your excessively high prices.

So you're not going to be able to charge double the rates of other taxi companies in the world. You're still going to be hemmed in by these substitution competitors. That taxi company might have a monopoly, but if you charge too much money, people are just going to ride their bicycles or ask their friends for rides or hitchhike. They're going to find ways around your excessively high prices.

But when you understand how many deals a broker works on that just don't go anywhere, you realize They have to charge higher rates because the deals that do close have to cover over for the work that went into the other ones. And the difference with me is that every person I work with is paying me every step along the way.

But when you understand how many deals a broker works on that just don't go anywhere, you realize They have to charge higher rates because the deals that do close have to cover over for the work that went into the other ones. And the difference with me is that every person I work with is paying me every step along the way.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Yeah. So run your business clean. So everybody wants to put personal expenses in their business because they want to maximize their lifestyle advantages. And then when they try to sell their business, they want to then say, oh yeah, but we need to add back, you know, my daughter's cell phone bill. And we need to add back this trip to a conference in Bahamas. Right. Right.

Yeah. So run your business clean. So everybody wants to put personal expenses in their business because they want to maximize their lifestyle advantages. And then when they try to sell their business, they want to then say, oh yeah, but we need to add back, you know, my daughter's cell phone bill. And we need to add back this trip to a conference in Bahamas. Right. Right.

And so the people who successfully do deals end up paying a lot less than if they had done the traditional broker model. And it's working. It's been about almost 10 years. So it's going well.

And so the people who successfully do deals end up paying a lot less than if they had done the traditional broker model. And it's working. It's been about almost 10 years. So it's going well.

And you know, all this stuff. And let me be clear. A buyer may delve into that hole with you and fully appreciate, understand and accept everything you've said and be willing to pay you the price based on the cash flow you are then creating with these ad backs. You might just have to find the right one. Now, here's the problem, though.

And you know, all this stuff. And let me be clear. A buyer may delve into that hole with you and fully appreciate, understand and accept everything you've said and be willing to pay you the price based on the cash flow you are then creating with these ad backs. You might just have to find the right one. Now, here's the problem, though.

That buyer then has to show their banker that all of your ad backs are correct. And the banker has to agree with all the ad backs.

That buyer then has to show their banker that all of your ad backs are correct. And the banker has to agree with all the ad backs.

So I've often said that if you want to run all your personal expenses through and never have a profit every year so that you don't have to pay income tax, the cost of that behavior is going to be that you will likely be the banker. that you are going to sell to someone who will give you a down payment and you will hold the note on the entire thing.

So I've often said that if you want to run all your personal expenses through and never have a profit every year so that you don't have to pay income tax, the cost of that behavior is going to be that you will likely be the banker. that you are going to sell to someone who will give you a down payment and you will hold the note on the entire thing.

That person cannot get financing for your business. And so, you know, when people hear that, they get all up in arms. But, you know, if you want to sell for top dollar and you want to walk away with a lot of money on closing day, the business has to look good to a bank, not to a buyer, to a bank. So that would be the number one thing. Number two, every buyer is worried that

That person cannot get financing for your business. And so, you know, when people hear that, they get all up in arms. But, you know, if you want to sell for top dollar and you want to walk away with a lot of money on closing day, the business has to look good to a bank, not to a buyer, to a bank. So that would be the number one thing. Number two, every buyer is worried that

the love and affection of the clientele is towards the owner and not the business itself. So you have to be able to demonstrate that people are not, or the business is not relying upon the ownership in order to, to make the sales happen. Uh, and if you have key relationships, like you'll hear this all the time from people in particularly like in, in, uh,

the love and affection of the clientele is towards the owner and not the business itself. So you have to be able to demonstrate that people are not, or the business is not relying upon the ownership in order to, to make the sales happen. Uh, and if you have key relationships, like you'll hear this all the time from people in particularly like in, in, uh,

Highly technical service or consulting businesses like a big engineering firm or architecture firm or something. People do business with that firm because they have relationships with the owners. So if you own a business like that and you want to sell, don't be surprised when part of the deal is that you stick around and work there for years.

Highly technical service or consulting businesses like a big engineering firm or architecture firm or something. People do business with that firm because they have relationships with the owners. So if you own a business like that and you want to sell, don't be surprised when part of the deal is that you stick around and work there for years.

Because the buyer wants you to be there to transfer the goodwill of those relationships over to the new team. And so that's got to be something that's worked on. Either you work on it today and get your customers used to dealing with employees, or you're going to work on it after you're no longer the owner. And it's going to affect the value.

Because the buyer wants you to be there to transfer the goodwill of those relationships over to the new team. And so that's got to be something that's worked on. Either you work on it today and get your customers used to dealing with employees, or you're going to work on it after you're no longer the owner. And it's going to affect the value.

Another common issue would be people that are cruising or sliding towards their exit, where they take their foot off the gas and they try to maximize the cash flow by ignoring or deferring maintenance and capital expenditures.

Another common issue would be people that are cruising or sliding towards their exit, where they take their foot off the gas and they try to maximize the cash flow by ignoring or deferring maintenance and capital expenditures.

So if you're planning on selling your business in five years time and all of your trucks are five years old, don't think you're going to get top dollar if you're trying to sell it with a bunch of 10 year old trucks. Denn jeder Verkäufer wird sich das anschauen und sagen, wenn ich dieses Unternehmen kaufe, muss ich ein paar Autos kaufen.

So if you're planning on selling your business in five years time and all of your trucks are five years old, don't think you're going to get top dollar if you're trying to sell it with a bunch of 10 year old trucks. Denn jeder Verkäufer wird sich das anschauen und sagen, wenn ich dieses Unternehmen kaufe, muss ich ein paar Autos kaufen.

Also muss man das Unternehmen operieren, als ob man es nicht verkauft. Man muss normale Arbeitsbedingungen haben. Man muss Dinge per normal reparieren und verändern. Es ist auch einer der Fehler, die Verkäufer machen, weil... Depreciation and amortization get added back in this process of creating EBITDA or seller's discretionary earnings.

Also muss man das Unternehmen operieren, als ob man es nicht verkauft. Man muss normale Arbeitsbedingungen haben. Man muss Dinge per normal reparieren und verändern. Es ist auch einer der Fehler, die Verkäufer machen, weil... Depreciation and amortization get added back in this process of creating EBITDA or seller's discretionary earnings.

And those two things are how accountants recognize stuff wearing out over time. And so if you don't realize this as a buyer, you could end up in a situation where part of your cash flow you think you're going to get is actually going to go into capital expenditures. So CapEx is a big thing. As a seller, you want to make sure you keep up your stuff. Manage inventory properly.

And those two things are how accountants recognize stuff wearing out over time. And so if you don't realize this as a buyer, you could end up in a situation where part of your cash flow you think you're going to get is actually going to go into capital expenditures. So CapEx is a big thing. As a seller, you want to make sure you keep up your stuff. Manage inventory properly.

So if your business has an inventory, number one, count it. Your accountant is going to want you to count it every year so you can file proper tax returns. Depending on the type of business you have, that may not be enough. You want to count it often enough that you actually create information that allows you to manage the business.

So if your business has an inventory, number one, count it. Your accountant is going to want you to count it every year so you can file proper tax returns. Depending on the type of business you have, that may not be enough. You want to count it often enough that you actually create information that allows you to manage the business.

So I'll give you an example of where people fall off the wagon with this. If you are a successful and profitable business, I saw this once with a fireplace business, like a wood stove business. They were very profitable. They did very well over the years. And they were always going out and installing these new wood stoves in people's homes. And they had these various stove pipe fittings.

So I'll give you an example of where people fall off the wagon with this. If you are a successful and profitable business, I saw this once with a fireplace business, like a wood stove business. They were very profitable. They did very well over the years. And they were always going out and installing these new wood stoves in people's homes. And they had these various stove pipe fittings.

So there was like a 90 degree angle and a 45 degree angle and a three foot piece and a two foot piece. And all this stuff kind of plugs together. When they install these wood stoves. And you have to sit down and make a plan of the person's home and what pieces you need.

So there was like a 90 degree angle and a 45 degree angle and a three foot piece and a two foot piece. And all this stuff kind of plugs together. When they install these wood stoves. And you have to sit down and make a plan of the person's home and what pieces you need.

And so if you don't have the pieces in stock, you then have to make a plan of what you're going to need next week so you can order it and have it delivered. That takes work. So do you know what you do, Charles, if you have a lot of money? You just order a pallet of every part there is. Right. And then your technicians just wander into the warehouse and just pick up whatever they need, right?

And so if you don't have the pieces in stock, you then have to make a plan of what you're going to need next week so you can order it and have it delivered. That takes work. So do you know what you do, Charles, if you have a lot of money? You just order a pallet of every part there is. Right. And then your technicians just wander into the warehouse and just pick up whatever they need, right?

But while that is easy, what it also does is it then creates this huge investment in inventory. And from the look of your financial statements, it now appears that the business requires 70 or $100,000 of inventory to operate. When in reality, you could be ordering these parts the week before you need them, right?

But while that is easy, what it also does is it then creates this huge investment in inventory. And from the look of your financial statements, it now appears that the business requires 70 or $100,000 of inventory to operate. When in reality, you could be ordering these parts the week before you need them, right?

Und so wird ein Verkäufer dieses Unternehmen anschauen und sagen, oh, es gibt dieses große Inventar-Investment, dieses große Handelskapital-Investment, das Teil der Funktion dieses Geschäftes ist. Wenn in der Realität, wenn du diese Inventar entfernt hast und angefangen hast, mehr von einem Zeit-in-Zeit-Mechanismus zu nutzen,

Und so wird ein Verkäufer dieses Unternehmen anschauen und sagen, oh, es gibt dieses große Inventar-Investment, dieses große Handelskapital-Investment, das Teil der Funktion dieses Geschäftes ist. Wenn in der Realität, wenn du diese Inventar entfernt hast und angefangen hast, mehr von einem Zeit-in-Zeit-Mechanismus zu nutzen,

and you did this a couple of years before you sold, you could then demonstrate that the business is very nimble and does not require a lot of operating capital, right? And so laziness ends up making financial statements look worse off than they could be Because people choose the easy way. Same thing with receivables. If you don't need the money, you don't get on your customers.

and you did this a couple of years before you sold, you could then demonstrate that the business is very nimble and does not require a lot of operating capital, right? And so laziness ends up making financial statements look worse off than they could be Because people choose the easy way. Same thing with receivables. If you don't need the money, you don't get on your customers.

The receivables get later and later. I've seen businesses operate with 45 days of average day sales outstanding. New owner comes in. They based all of their decision making and deal making on that 45-day DSO. They come in and they tell the customers, from now on, we're only accepting credit cards within five days of invoice.

The receivables get later and later. I've seen businesses operate with 45 days of average day sales outstanding. New owner comes in. They based all of their decision making and deal making on that 45-day DSO. They come in and they tell the customers, from now on, we're only accepting credit cards within five days of invoice.

Ja, klar. Also gab es Daten, die aus dem US-Gewerbe herausgekommen sind, die über den Boom in neuen Geschäftsmodellen sprechen. Und sie sprachen darüber, wie positiv das für die Wirtschaft war. Und ich ging und schaute die unterliegenden Daten. Es gab einen Bericht.

Ja, klar. Also gab es Daten, die aus dem US-Gewerbe herausgekommen sind, die über den Boom in neuen Geschäftsmodellen sprechen. Und sie sprachen darüber, wie positiv das für die Wirtschaft war. Und ich ging und schaute die unterliegenden Daten. Es gab einen Bericht.

People who were paying with a Visa card in 45 days now start paying in five days. Just because of a policy change. The seller could have done that. If the seller had done that, they would have been able to harvest all kinds of operating capital out of their business before it was sold. It wouldn't have affected the value of the business.

People who were paying with a Visa card in 45 days now start paying in five days. Just because of a policy change. The seller could have done that. If the seller had done that, they would have been able to harvest all kinds of operating capital out of their business before it was sold. It wouldn't have affected the value of the business.

In fact, it would have made it look more valuable because it could be operated with less operating capital. So there are balance sheet things that people get into. Was that four? Are you counting?

In fact, it would have made it look more valuable because it could be operated with less operating capital. So there are balance sheet things that people get into. Was that four? Are you counting?

Yeah, we got one more. I got one more. So one more thing that people need to do, you know, to make their business easier to sell is they have to be able to show a buyer how the buyer will know how to operate it. So this is your written operating manual, your procedures. And don't think it has to be a big binder with 500 sheets.

Yeah, we got one more. I got one more. So one more thing that people need to do, you know, to make their business easier to sell is they have to be able to show a buyer how the buyer will know how to operate it. So this is your written operating manual, your procedures. And don't think it has to be a big binder with 500 sheets.

It doesn't have to look like the McDonald's operating franchise guide or whatever they have over there. So an operating manual could simply be a spreadsheet with the different function areas in a business. with links in there to Google Drive folders where you keep the different things that you use for that part of the business.

It doesn't have to look like the McDonald's operating franchise guide or whatever they have over there. So an operating manual could simply be a spreadsheet with the different function areas in a business. with links in there to Google Drive folders where you keep the different things that you use for that part of the business.

But you have to be able to sit down with a prospective buyer and say, oh, marketing? Here's our marketing calendar for the year. Und hier ist der Folder, wo wir unsere Fall-Promotion-Flyer aus den letzten zehn Jahren haben. Und jedes Jahr machen wir einen neuen, aber Sie können die letzten zehn Jahre schauen und Inspiration bekommen und sehen, was wir vorher gemacht haben.

But you have to be able to sit down with a prospective buyer and say, oh, marketing? Here's our marketing calendar for the year. Und hier ist der Folder, wo wir unsere Fall-Promotion-Flyer aus den letzten zehn Jahren haben. Und jedes Jahr machen wir einen neuen, aber Sie können die letzten zehn Jahre schauen und Inspiration bekommen und sehen, was wir vorher gemacht haben.

Und das ist, was wir jedes Jahr für den Valentinstag auf der Radio machen. Und hier sind die letzten fünf Jahre von den Ads von der Radio, die wir hier in diesem Folder haben. Und Sie zeigen ihnen, das ist der Plan. Das ist, wie wir es machen. Und hier sind die Materialien, mit denen Sie arbeiten können. You know, here's all the people we talk to. Here's the radio guys phone number.

Und das ist, was wir jedes Jahr für den Valentinstag auf der Radio machen. Und hier sind die letzten fünf Jahre von den Ads von der Radio, die wir hier in diesem Folder haben. Und Sie zeigen ihnen, das ist der Plan. Das ist, wie wir es machen. Und hier sind die Materialien, mit denen Sie arbeiten können. You know, here's all the people we talk to. Here's the radio guys phone number.

Here's the designer that we have on Upwork who did our ads for the last two years and would be happy to continue doing them for you. Like you need to show them this is how you run the business and it's not all in my head. Because if it's all in your head, that's freaky. The people are terrified that they're going to buy the business and then you're suddenly going to become uncooperative, right?

Here's the designer that we have on Upwork who did our ads for the last two years and would be happy to continue doing them for you. Like you need to show them this is how you run the business and it's not all in my head. Because if it's all in your head, that's freaky. The people are terrified that they're going to buy the business and then you're suddenly going to become uncooperative, right?

And so if they're worried you're going to become uncooperative, the way around that, this is what I tell buyers, is if you're worried about the seller, you need more seller financing. And, you know, all kinds of stuff is created online about how, oh, you know, I bought this business, I got an SBA loan with a seller note for 5 or 10%. That's bull.

And so if they're worried you're going to become uncooperative, the way around that, this is what I tell buyers, is if you're worried about the seller, you need more seller financing. And, you know, all kinds of stuff is created online about how, oh, you know, I bought this business, I got an SBA loan with a seller note for 5 or 10%. That's bull.

Und eines der Dinge, die nicht klar war in den Headlines, ist, dass die Leute, die Registrierer der verschiedenen Staaten und föderalen Ebenen, die das Starten neuer Entitäten recorden, sie klassifizieren Start-ups in zwei verschiedene Buckets. Da gibt es die Wiederaufgaben.

Und eines der Dinge, die nicht klar war in den Headlines, ist, dass die Leute, die Registrierer der verschiedenen Staaten und föderalen Ebenen, die das Starten neuer Entitäten recorden, sie klassifizieren Start-ups in zwei verschiedene Buckets. Da gibt es die Wiederaufgaben.

Like most of the time when you're doing a small business deal, you want a material amount of seller financing to make sure that the seller is engaged with you and has a reason to continue to support and offer advice and guidance to you. So like deals should be 25, 30, 40, 50% seller financing. And I see deals like that all the time and people don't believe me. But here's the thing.

Like most of the time when you're doing a small business deal, you want a material amount of seller financing to make sure that the seller is engaged with you and has a reason to continue to support and offer advice and guidance to you. So like deals should be 25, 30, 40, 50% seller financing. And I see deals like that all the time and people don't believe me. But here's the thing.

A lot of this content is driven by people who are involved in one way or another with deals that involve SBA financing. When you talk to people who are doing deals without SBA loans, you hear things like, I bought the business by giving 50% down and the seller carried the other 50%. Right. And that kind of deal happens all the time.

A lot of this content is driven by people who are involved in one way or another with deals that involve SBA financing. When you talk to people who are doing deals without SBA loans, you hear things like, I bought the business by giving 50% down and the seller carried the other 50%. Right. And that kind of deal happens all the time.

And those sellers actually have a better note because there's no bank lien. It's just, you know, they can apply their own lien against the assets of the business and they're in first position. And this is something that, you know, sellers often don't think about. But you need to have conversations with your broker, your attorney, your accountant, etc., Verstehe das.

And those sellers actually have a better note because there's no bank lien. It's just, you know, they can apply their own lien against the assets of the business and they're in first position. And this is something that, you know, sellers often don't think about. But you need to have conversations with your broker, your attorney, your accountant, etc., Verstehe das.

Verkaufen eines Geschäfts ist nicht wie das Verkaufen eines Hauses. Du wirst wahrscheinlich involviert sein in einem Art von multijähriger Art und Weise der Entwicklung dieses Verkaufs. Und ein großer Teil der Grund, warum jemand dein Geschäft kaufen will, ist, weil sie sehen können, dass du ihnen beibringen kannst, wie es funktioniert.

Verkaufen eines Geschäfts ist nicht wie das Verkaufen eines Hauses. Du wirst wahrscheinlich involviert sein in einem Art von multijähriger Art und Weise der Entwicklung dieses Verkaufs. Und ein großer Teil der Grund, warum jemand dein Geschäft kaufen will, ist, weil sie sehen können, dass du ihnen beibringen kannst, wie es funktioniert.

Und dass du vorhanden und vorhanden sein wirst, zumindest für einen Telefonruf, wenn etwas passiert und jemand deine Hinweise und Guidance braucht, weil sie wissen, dass du der Experte bist. Du hast es seit Jahren gemacht.

Und dass du vorhanden und vorhanden sein wirst, zumindest für einen Telefonruf, wenn etwas passiert und jemand deine Hinweise und Guidance braucht, weil sie wissen, dass du der Experte bist. Du hast es seit Jahren gemacht.

Ja, wenn du zu davidcbarnett.com gehst, das ist mein Hauptblog-Seite. Da gibt es eine Arbeit mit David-Tab. And it will direct you to other websites I have specifically for buyers, sellers, this kind of thing. And if you're just curious about deal making in general, just look me up. Just search David Barnett Small Business on YouTube or any of the podcasting platforms and I'll come right up.

Ja, wenn du zu davidcbarnett.com gehst, das ist mein Hauptblog-Seite. Da gibt es eine Arbeit mit David-Tab. And it will direct you to other websites I have specifically for buyers, sellers, this kind of thing. And if you're just curious about deal making in general, just look me up. Just search David Barnett Small Business on YouTube or any of the podcasting platforms and I'll come right up.

I've been making content for a decade and I think I've got 700 videos on my YouTube channel right now. And there's playlists that have been organized along different topics and things like that. And I just, if you're interested in this stuff, I know you'll have a great time.

I've been making content for a decade and I think I've got 700 videos on my YouTube channel right now. And there's playlists that have been organized along different topics and things like that. And I just, if you're interested in this stuff, I know you'll have a great time.

Thank you so much, David. Awesome. And the new book, Buying vs. Starting a Small Business, is out now. So that's on Amazon. And if you enjoy the book, please leave a review. Amazon reviews are a huge thing for anyone who's written a book. Absolutely.

Thank you so much, David. Awesome. And the new book, Buying vs. Starting a Small Business, is out now. So that's on Amazon. And if you enjoy the book, please leave a review. Amazon reviews are a huge thing for anyone who's written a book. Absolutely.

Nicht zu sagen, dass es eine schlechte Art ist, aber es gibt bestimmte Leute da draußen, die einfach nur ständig Entitäten kreieren. Also wer ist das? Nun, das sind vielleicht große Unternehmen, die vielleicht eine andere Firma für jedes Gebäude, das sie besitzen, z.B. Or what have you. And certain law firms maybe that are helping them do this.

Nicht zu sagen, dass es eine schlechte Art ist, aber es gibt bestimmte Leute da draußen, die einfach nur ständig Entitäten kreieren. Also wer ist das? Nun, das sind vielleicht große Unternehmen, die vielleicht eine andere Firma für jedes Gebäude, das sie besitzen, z.B. Or what have you. And certain law firms maybe that are helping them do this.

All right.

All right.

And so is it really a new business when a big Fortune 500 company creates a new LLC because they want to open up a warehouse in Minnesota? They might create an entity for that, but it's not really a new business. And so if you kind of look at that and you take those away, dann ja, es gibt einen Ausstieg in den täglichen Menschen, die ein Geschäft starten.

And so is it really a new business when a big Fortune 500 company creates a new LLC because they want to open up a warehouse in Minnesota? They might create an entity for that, but it's not really a new business. And so if you kind of look at that and you take those away, dann ja, es gibt einen Ausstieg in den täglichen Menschen, die ein Geschäft starten.

Aber die Regierung recordiert nicht, welches Geschäft das sind oder welche Phase sie sind oder was sie tun wollen oder so etwas. Sie sagen einfach, hey, ein neues LLC oder ein neues Unternehmen ist geformt und sie zählen sie einfach.

Aber die Regierung recordiert nicht, welches Geschäft das sind oder welche Phase sie sind oder was sie tun wollen oder so etwas. Sie sagen einfach, hey, ein neues LLC oder ein neues Unternehmen ist geformt und sie zählen sie einfach.

Und wenn man sich die Daten anschaut, sieht man, dass seit 2020 und den Events rund um das, mit den Lockdowns und allem, natürlich gab es einen riesigen Drang in den Geschäftsformationen während dieser Zeit. Aber dann kam die Rückkehr, es war ein riesiger elastischer Wurf nach oben. Und es sagt im Grunde, ja, es gibt viel mehr Unternehmen, die geformt werden.

Und wenn man sich die Daten anschaut, sieht man, dass seit 2020 und den Events rund um das, mit den Lockdowns und allem, natürlich gab es einen riesigen Drang in den Geschäftsformationen während dieser Zeit. Aber dann kam die Rückkehr, es war ein riesiger elastischer Wurf nach oben. Und es sagt im Grunde, ja, es gibt viel mehr Unternehmen, die geformt werden.

Aber bedeutet das, dass es viel mehr aktive neue Unternehmen gibt, die Leute beteiligen?

Aber bedeutet das, dass es viel mehr aktive neue Unternehmen gibt, die Leute beteiligen?

Or are there businesses, for example, where someone had a great job, they lost their job in 2020, they had trouble getting a new job, and now maybe they're creating some kind of side hustle, or they've been forced to create, because they can't find a new corporate employer, maybe they put out a shingle as a consultant or something like that, and their accountant told them that they should organize by registering an LLC, for example.

Or are there businesses, for example, where someone had a great job, they lost their job in 2020, they had trouble getting a new job, and now maybe they're creating some kind of side hustle, or they've been forced to create, because they can't find a new corporate employer, maybe they put out a shingle as a consultant or something like that, and their accountant told them that they should organize by registering an LLC, for example.

And so I related that to my own experience, because I live in a town that once upon a time... was quite a railway town. And so we had a big locomotive shops here that employed thousands of people. And back in 1989, 1990, it was shut down. Und später hatte ich einen meiner ersten Jobs aus der Universität von den Yellow Pages.

And so I related that to my own experience, because I live in a town that once upon a time... was quite a railway town. And so we had a big locomotive shops here that employed thousands of people. And back in 1989, 1990, it was shut down. Und später hatte ich einen meiner ersten Jobs aus der Universität von den Yellow Pages.

Und ich habe mit einigen der älteren Leute gesprochen, die Yellow Page Sales Reps waren, an dieser Zeit. Ich war ein Teenager an dieser Zeit, aber diese Leute waren im Geschäft. Und der Thema der großen Shop-Klöschung kam auf. Und ich sagte, das muss ein schwieriges Zeitpunkt für dich gewesen sein. Und sie sagten, nein, es war ein Boom-Zeit für uns.

Und ich habe mit einigen der älteren Leute gesprochen, die Yellow Page Sales Reps waren, an dieser Zeit. Ich war ein Teenager an dieser Zeit, aber diese Leute waren im Geschäft. Und der Thema der großen Shop-Klöschung kam auf. Und ich sagte, das muss ein schwieriges Zeitpunkt für dich gewesen sein. Und sie sagten, nein, es war ein Boom-Zeit für uns.

Weil all diese Leute, die ihre Jobs im Shop verloren haben, viele von ihnen haben Severances, viele von ihnen haben frühere Retirement-Package bekommen. Und viele von ihnen waren zu jung, um idyllisch zu sein. Und sie haben alle Unternehmen eröffnet.

Weil all diese Leute, die ihre Jobs im Shop verloren haben, viele von ihnen haben Severances, viele von ihnen haben frühere Retirement-Package bekommen. Und viele von ihnen waren zu jung, um idyllisch zu sein. Und sie haben alle Unternehmen eröffnet.

Und so für einen Yellow-Page-Sales-Rep, du weißt, mit 15 Pipefitters, die von den Geschäften geliefert werden und 14 von ihnen entscheiden, Plumbing-Konzerne zu öffnen, zum Beispiel, weil es die gleiche Fähigkeit ist. Es war großartig, weil all diese Leute einen Ad in den Yellow-Pages kaufen wollten.

Und so für einen Yellow-Page-Sales-Rep, du weißt, mit 15 Pipefitters, die von den Geschäften geliefert werden und 14 von ihnen entscheiden, Plumbing-Konzerne zu öffnen, zum Beispiel, weil es die gleiche Fähigkeit ist. Es war großartig, weil all diese Leute einen Ad in den Yellow-Pages kaufen wollten.

Und ich dachte, wow, also kannst du eine lokale, in diesem Fall war es eine lokalisierte Rezession in unserer Stadt. But it led to a boom in business startups. And so this experience and this learning from these other guys really helped me understand that you can't just look at surface level numbers. You have to kind of dig below and figure out what's going on.

Und ich dachte, wow, also kannst du eine lokale, in diesem Fall war es eine lokalisierte Rezession in unserer Stadt. But it led to a boom in business startups. And so this experience and this learning from these other guys really helped me understand that you can't just look at surface level numbers. You have to kind of dig below and figure out what's going on.

We know that a huge number of small businesses that get started never really make a lot of money. They're just marginal. People will resort to self-employment if they have no options. Someone who may prefer to be employed because of the benefits of consistent income and health benefits and all that kind of stuff, if they just can't find a job, Well, they've got to eat, right?

We know that a huge number of small businesses that get started never really make a lot of money. They're just marginal. People will resort to self-employment if they have no options. Someone who may prefer to be employed because of the benefits of consistent income and health benefits and all that kind of stuff, if they just can't find a job, Well, they've got to eat, right?

And especially if they're like a six-figure person who's used to earning a decent salary, unemployment benefits aren't going to cut it. And eventually your savings are going to run low. Eventually maybe you're going to start maxing out your credit cards and stuff. So you realize at some point you've got to take action to get some income flowing.

And especially if they're like a six-figure person who's used to earning a decent salary, unemployment benefits aren't going to cut it. And eventually your savings are going to run low. Eventually maybe you're going to start maxing out your credit cards and stuff. So you realize at some point you've got to take action to get some income flowing.

And for a lot of people, the sort of last resort of where can I go to get some money is to say, you know what, I'm going to have to create something on my own. I'm going to have to do this. So that's why I say that startup statistics may not always be a sign of a booming economy.

And for a lot of people, the sort of last resort of where can I go to get some money is to say, you know what, I'm going to have to create something on my own. I'm going to have to do this. So that's why I say that startup statistics may not always be a sign of a booming economy.

Sure. So when you start a business, you never ever know for sure if you're really going to meet that startup point or sorry, the breakeven point, right? You start up, you've got some costs associated with starting up, then you're going to get some overhead costs, whether you make a sale or not, you got to pay those things.

Sure. So when you start a business, you never ever know for sure if you're really going to meet that startup point or sorry, the breakeven point, right? You start up, you've got some costs associated with starting up, then you're going to get some overhead costs, whether you make a sale or not, you got to pay those things.

Und mit Technologie und SaaS-Solutions und all this kind of thing, it's never been easier to start a business. If you just want to think about a basic thing like a retail store, Once upon a time, you had to spend $1,000 on some kind of point of sale system. Now you just need to get a tablet and sign up for Square, right?

Und mit Technologie und SaaS-Solutions und all this kind of thing, it's never been easier to start a business. If you just want to think about a basic thing like a retail store, Once upon a time, you had to spend $1,000 on some kind of point of sale system. Now you just need to get a tablet and sign up for Square, right?

And you've got a point of sale system, the cash registered solution, the whole thing's there just for a subscription. So things are cheaper than they ever have been, but you start to get these overheads in place. You may have to make an investment in something like inventory, if you're thinking about a retail store again.

And you've got a point of sale system, the cash registered solution, the whole thing's there just for a subscription. So things are cheaper than they ever have been, but you start to get these overheads in place. You may have to make an investment in something like inventory, if you're thinking about a retail store again.

And so you've got this money going out, then you've got to make sales and on each customer you serve, you're going to make some money. You hopefully eventually get to the point where you're serving enough customers, the money that you make on them in that month is going to cover your bills.

And so you've got this money going out, then you've got to make sales and on each customer you serve, you're going to make some money. You hopefully eventually get to the point where you're serving enough customers, the money that you make on them in that month is going to cover your bills.

I still don't really believe that's a break-even point because I say, now you've got to earn back the money you lost before you were at that point to really get ahead and be making some money. And we just don't know when these points are.

I still don't really believe that's a break-even point because I say, now you've got to earn back the money you lost before you were at that point to really get ahead and be making some money. And we just don't know when these points are.

Wenn du ein Unternehmen kaufst, das bereits funktionierend ist, hast du Kunden, du hast Verkauf, du hast Beziehungen da, Leute, die schon wissen, dass du da bist, was du verkaufst. Der Verkäufer kann dich trainieren, wie du das Unternehmen umsetzen kannst, richtig? Also hast du ein bisschen Coaching und Beleidigungen, wie du es funktionierst. Und es gibt viele Vorteile da.

Wenn du ein Unternehmen kaufst, das bereits funktionierend ist, hast du Kunden, du hast Verkauf, du hast Beziehungen da, Leute, die schon wissen, dass du da bist, was du verkaufst. Der Verkäufer kann dich trainieren, wie du das Unternehmen umsetzen kannst, richtig? Also hast du ein bisschen Coaching und Beleidigungen, wie du es funktionierst. Und es gibt viele Vorteile da.

Es nimmt die Kosten der Kunden und Verkaufsrisiken weg. The sweet spot, in my opinion, to your point about deals with hair on them, is to find a business that you know has problems, that you feel you've got a background and knowledge that you can fix those problems, but the business still makes money.

Es nimmt die Kosten der Kunden und Verkaufsrisiken weg. The sweet spot, in my opinion, to your point about deals with hair on them, is to find a business that you know has problems, that you feel you've got a background and knowledge that you can fix those problems, but the business still makes money.

Because you're going to buy that and on day two you're still going to make money and you've got basically an unlimited runway now to work on those problems. Because you're making money from day two.

Because you're going to buy that and on day two you're still going to make money and you've got basically an unlimited runway now to work on those problems. Because you're making money from day two.

Das Problem, das die Leute, wenn sie ein Unternehmen kaufen, haben, ist, dass wenn man das Unternehmen nicht unter den richtigen Terms und Bedingungen kauft, also wenn man einen zu hohen Preis zahlt oder wenn man es kauft, auch wenn es ein guter Preis ist, aber man die falschen Terme bekommt, das bedeutet, dass man vielleicht Geld unter einer zu kurzen Anamortisierung auf den Wettbewerb oder so etwas zahlen muss.

Das Problem, das die Leute, wenn sie ein Unternehmen kaufen, haben, ist, dass wenn man das Unternehmen nicht unter den richtigen Terms und Bedingungen kauft, also wenn man einen zu hohen Preis zahlt oder wenn man es kauft, auch wenn es ein guter Preis ist, aber man die falschen Terme bekommt, das bedeutet, dass man vielleicht Geld unter einer zu kurzen Anamortisierung auf den Wettbewerb oder so etwas zahlen muss.

You can just be trading one kind of risk for another. So you trade the customer risk for what we call finance risk. Where now, yeah, you got the customers, but guess what? If you lose 5% of them, you can't make your loan payment. That's just as precarious a position as not having customers when you do a startup.

You can just be trading one kind of risk for another. So you trade the customer risk for what we call finance risk. Where now, yeah, you got the customers, but guess what? If you lose 5% of them, you can't make your loan payment. That's just as precarious a position as not having customers when you do a startup.

Was ich gerne tue, wenn du jemals Bücher über Negotiationen gelesen hast, ist einer der Begriffe, die du herauskommst, ist BATNA, was für Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement heißt. And so when you're negotiating for something, you always want to have an idea of what's my BATNA. If I can't make the deal work under terms that I like, what else would I do?

Was ich gerne tue, wenn du jemals Bücher über Negotiationen gelesen hast, ist einer der Begriffe, die du herauskommst, ist BATNA, was für Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement heißt. And so when you're negotiating for something, you always want to have an idea of what's my BATNA. If I can't make the deal work under terms that I like, what else would I do?

So if you have a job and you're negotiating to buy a business, your BATNA may just be keeping your job, right? So you're always saying, well, today I've got savings in the bank and I have this income. If this deal doesn't work out for me, I don't Ich werde das nur behalten, richtig? Wenn du unabhängig bist, wird dein BATNA viel schlimmer, richtig? Ja.

So if you have a job and you're negotiating to buy a business, your BATNA may just be keeping your job, right? So you're always saying, well, today I've got savings in the bank and I have this income. If this deal doesn't work out for me, I don't Ich werde das nur behalten, richtig? Wenn du unabhängig bist, wird dein BATNA viel schlimmer, richtig? Ja.

So I'll give you an example of where this can come into play. You look at a business and the seller thinks it's worth a lot of money and the price is a little bit frothy and you look at it and you go, this is a little bit overpriced and you just ask yourself, what exactly is in here? And what would it reasonably cost me if I wanted to start this on my own?

So I'll give you an example of where this can come into play. You look at a business and the seller thinks it's worth a lot of money and the price is a little bit frothy and you look at it and you go, this is a little bit overpriced and you just ask yourself, what exactly is in here? And what would it reasonably cost me if I wanted to start this on my own?

And I see this all the time where people want, you know, these businesses are priced in multiples of cash flow. So people want these high multiples of cash flow. And I'll say to a buyer, like, if you bought all the stuff you needed to run a business like this, Und dann hast du dich umgekehrt und eine wirklich aggressive Preisverleihung gemacht.

Wie lange würde es dauern, um eine Klientel zu bauen, der so groß ist, wie dieses Unternehmen? Jetzt, können wir das für weniger Geld tun, als sie fragen? Ja. Und könntest du diese Verluste über diesen Zeitraum für weniger Geld finanzieren, als diese Person fragt? Und ich hatte einige wirklich verrückte, extreme Beispiele. Ich habe mit jemandem gesprochen, der ein Accounting-Office kaufen wollte.

accounting and bookkeeping firm. They had a lot of small business clients and this person had a background in in administration for dental offices. And so they were doing bookkeeping and in charge of this type of thing in dental offices. And they liked this particular accounting firm because they had a lot of small business clients. And I just said, listen, what about this?

What if you started your own and you wrote a letter to a thousand dentists and you said, bring your bookkeeping over to me and I'll pay you $5,000.

Die Firma dankt.

Now, you'd put terms on that offer. What you might say is, you might say, you have to sign up for an annual contract. And each year at the end of your contract, we're going to give you a check for $1,000. And over the first five years, you'll get this $5,000 bonus from us. Right? And you're literally, in the sales world, we call this buying business. Right?

You just go out there and you make people super ridiculous offers and you just get the volume. And I said to this person, you would be acquiring these dental offices, you'd be charging them a proper rate, but instead of buying this business, you're just going to be writing the checks to your customers. Right.

and you're going to be able to finance the acquisition of this customer pool over a five-year period by spreading these checks out over five years. And so, would it cost you less to do that than to buy this business? The answer was yes. It would cost far less to make this really aggressive offer. And that's the kind of thinking that I like to employ. A little bit of

Let's turn things on their head. Let's ask some really bizarre questions. Let's look at this from a strange point of view and just see if it makes sense. And the business in particular, the bookkeeping business, was overpriced. I mean, when I saw the deal, I knew it right away. But the person was really... trying to rationalize why they should do the deal.

I'm looking forward to it.

And the reason they were trying to rationalize why they should do the deal is because all they saw was the potential risk of not acquiring that number of clients. But when you ask a question like, what if we just paid people to be your client, it starts to give you different avenues or angles of thought.

So this is the silver tsunami story. I call it, you know, the idea that the boomers are at this point where they own all these businesses and they're retiring. So I don't know where this idea came from. And I'm thinking it came from academia. And the one thing that makes academics different from business owners is that academics all retire at 65.

So what they do is they put this lens on the business ownership community and they say, oh, well, they must retire at 65 as well. They don't. Right. So if you own a good, profitable business and you're well organized and have systems in place and middle management in place and you can run your business.

Ja, sicher. Ich bin ein lebendiger Entrepreneur. Ich habe Unternehmen gekauft, verkauft und geschlossen. Ich leite heute ein Unternehmen. Ich habe das Gute, das Schlechte und das Schlechte gesehen. Ich war einmal ein Geschäfts- und Finanzverkäufer. Ich habe Menschen mit verschiedenen Arten von Geschäftslohnen geholfen, was mich in die Welt des Geschäftsverkäufers geführt hat.

und, weißt du, es mit sehr wenig Interaktion und vielleicht ein Teil des Jahres aus Florida verkaufen, warum würdest du das verkaufen? Weil die meisten kleinen Unternehmen verkaufen für etwa zwei bis vier Mal ihren Cashflow. Also, wenn du es mit minimaler Interaktion halten kannst, wirst du es so lange wie du kannst.

Und also sind die meisten dieser Unternehmen verkauft von Leuten in ihren 70ern, wenn sie, wenn sie es wirklich nicht mehr verkaufen können oder es wirklich nicht mehr verkaufen wollen. The other thing is that most of the businesses that are owned by Baby Boomers are not worth owning. Thank you. They don't produce enough cash flow to make them worthwhile. Okay, so that's the other thing.

The ones who are doing well and make good money, there has always been a strong market for good cash-flowing profitable businesses. And back in the great financial crisis of 2008, 2009, every good business I put up on BizBuySell got 10 to 30 or 50 inquiries. So this...

narrative that there's not enough buyers that there's businesses available at a discount is all bull it's not real at all there have always been people that want to buy good businesses and here's the thing is is the really best businesses you will never get a crack at as an outsider what do i mean well every year

Every year the people of a certain industry are getting together at their associations and their galas and their dinner parties or whatever. They all know each other. So when Mr. Smith, who owns a really great profitable business in a certain industry, decides he wants to finally sell, he knows all the players in the neighboring cities and states.

So he just starts calling those people and says, hey, would you like to grow your business by buying mine? Und der Grund, warum er das tun wird, ist, weil er keine Verkaufskommission zahlen muss. And he's talking to people who already understand the industry.

So it's going to be less work on his part to show them the performance of the business because they're going to immediately benchmark his numbers with their own business performance. If you own a plumbing business and you look at another plumbing business, you're going to cut through those financials and results so much more quickly than someone who doesn't know anything about plumbing.

And so the best ones are going to get gobbled up in this fashion. When you're an outsider, you don't know what you don't know. And listen, I talked about the crazy story of the bookkeeping business. Let me tell you this one. So this guy leaves a C-suite business at a major corporation, decides that he wants to get into a business that cannot be delivered by Amazon or done by AI.

We've heard this kind of thing from people before. So he decides to get into flood and fire disaster restoration because he figures there's always got to be hands on the job site and people have to do the work. He finds a flood and fire disaster restoration company and the seller says, we do work for over 40 different insurance companies. Sounds great, right?

Ich helfe Menschen, die Unternehmen kaufen und verkaufen. Ich war glücklich genug, in das Unternehmen zu kommen, gerade auf dem Kurs der großen Finanzkrise im Jahr 2008-2009. Und ich habe das für etwa dreieinhalb Jahre gemacht. Ich habe ein bisschen über drei Tausend Unternehmen für andere Leute verkauft.

Deal.

You got diversification of customer base, right? He does the deal, buys the business and never once understands or learns about these third party administrators. Do you know what a TPA is in the flood and fire restoration industry?

So the insurance companies, because they don't want to get into the weeds of administrating the claims, hire these third party companies who basically represent them. So these 40 some odd insurance companies were actually only represented by three TPAs. So there was a shadow customer concentration.

Und als er das Unternehmen übernommen hat, hat einer dieser TPAs entschieden, ihn nicht mehr zu senden. Und er hat im Grunde 15 Kunden übernommen. Jesus. Aus diesen 40. Und ich sage den Leuten, es ist das, was du wirklich nicht weißt. Was dich lebendig verletzen wird. Absolut. Und das ist der Risiko, in etwas zu kommen, was du nicht weißt, richtig?

Nun, sagen wir mal, du hättest wirklich gedacht, dass die Flut- und Feuerrestauration-Industrie die richtige für dich war und du wolltest ein Unternehmen in dieser Industrie kaufen und du hättest nie in dieser Industrie gewesen.

Mein Nummer eins Tipp für Leute, der oft von Leuten, die ich es gebe, übertragen wird, ist, wenn du eine Industrie lernen willst, der beste Weg, die Industrie zu lernen, ist, in der Industrie zu arbeiten. So go get a job as a salesperson or something. Absolutely. Or as an administrator in the office.

You don't have to work there long to understand what the business is like and what the good things and the bad things are. And so the other thing about that industry is that a lot of the time you're running a bank because you got to pay for

Materials and labor and all kinds of stuff and wait for a long time before you start to get checks from the customers ultimately who are the insurance companies. And there's a lot of businesses like that. And again, another problem that I run into is people who don't understand certain basic elements of business like operating capital, which I just alluded to.

Und dann habe ich diese Industrie verlassen, weil Business Brokerage als Unternehmen sehr schmerzhaft sein kann. Es ist für den meisten Teil ein Kontingenzrevenue-Modell. Das bedeutet, dass Business Brokers bezahlt werden, wenn sie ein Unternehmen für jemanden verkaufen.

And they'll look at a business's cash flow, they'll apply a certain multiplier to it, and they'll figure that's what the business is worth, not realizing... that that is what the value of the cash flow is. And the money you give to the seller is just part of your investment in a lot of these deals.

You also have to invest money in your own entity by providing sometimes operating capital, depending on how you structure the deal, whether it's a share purchase or an asset purchase or what have you. And so people will

essentially overpay for businesses all the time by the amount of operating capital they have to put into their own entity because they don't stop and look at it as an overall project and ask the important question, how much is being invested in total for this cash flow I'm acquiring? And I run into this as well with things like franchise resales, where the

The franchisor may require that certain things get done in the transaction. Like they may require that certain updates to the look and feel of a location are updated or there may be fees associated with the franchise transfer or the buyer may have to pay additional training fees and all this kind of stuff.

And just like I said before about the operating capital, if you end up having to write a franchise or a bunch of checks or a contractor who's going to change the signage at a location or what have you, Das ist alles Teil deiner Investition. Und wenn du den Geldfluss anschaust, dann fragst du dich, was ich bezahlen soll, um diesen Geldfluss zu bekommen. Das ist das, was ich kaufe.

Und leider für viele Verkäufer wird es wirklich aus der Menge kommen, die in ihrem Konto geschrieben wird. Aber das sind die Dinge, die Verkäufer immer verlieren.

Von den Leuten, mit denen ich gearbeitet habe?

So the people that I work with who hire us to actually help analyze businesses, I'm happy to say that over half of them don't end up doing those deals because we show them how the deal sucks. And I would love to see somebody not do a bad deal and live to fight another day kind of thing. Absolutely. For the people who actually do successfully do deals,

Und so kannst du ein Jahr oder mehr mit einem Geschäftsführer sprechen, bevor sie entscheiden, ihr Unternehmen für Verkauf zu listen. Es kann dann Monate dauern, um es bereit für Verkauf zu bekommen. So to get all the documentation organized, the packages put together, etc.

Not everyone gets back to me or anything like that. But I do have a coaching program for people that want to buy businesses. And the people there who buy businesses, I follow up with them because I want to do postmortem calls a year after they do the transaction. And one of the questions I ask them is, would you consider the seller to be your friend?

So you buy a business from someone, you go through a training and transition period, any misrepresentation, lie, distraction, etc. during the selling process will become known to you at some point after the deal has been done. Und ich denke, dass das der größte Influencer-Faktor sein wird, ob du jemanden als deinen Freund bezeichnest oder nicht. Absolut.

Und was interessant ist, ist, dass etwa ein Drittel dieser Leute sagen, nein, der Verkäufer ist nicht mein Freund. Die anderen zwei Drittel sagen ja. Sie sagen ja, er kommt immer noch mit Kaffee rein. Er will wissen, wie ich es mache. Er ist gespannt darauf, dass alles gut geht für mich. Also, du kannst sicherlich gute Ziele machen.

Ich denke, dass die Dinge, die Leute nicht wirklich genießen, besonders wenn sie von außen aus der kleinen Geschäftswelt kommen, ist, dass sie nicht genießen, wie du ein Meister von allem sein musst, wenn du in der Welt von kleinen Unternehmen bist.

People that come from very organized corporate environments where everyone's kind of pigeonholed in their own little area of expertise, they don't really appreciate how you need to learn all of these different things and how a lot of the solutions that you want to put together in business, it's not just what is the best solution, it's what is the most expedient solution using the tools we already pay for.

And then it can actually take years, depending on the type of business it is, to really find a buyer, the right buyer, who wants to do a deal and then help the buyer organize everything they need with respect to financing and all that kind of stuff as well. So it's a very long process. There's plenty of places where deals fall off the tracks. And so it was frustrating for me.

Or we know this solution exists, Is it really even worth implementing? And so, for example, I'll get this kind of conversation a lot with CRM systems, right? So everyone's told you need to have a CRM system. And there's a lot of advantages to that. And there's a lot of off the shelf CRM systems.

You know, if you're a plumber and you get like service tighten or whatever, like it can be really great for your business. But for a lot of other businesses, they may say, well, you know, this is the cost and then this is the implementation.

Und wir sind in einem Art von Geschäft, in dem wir wirklich kein kontinuierliches Geschäft mit den gleichen Leuten machen oder wir gehen wirklich nicht wieder zurück oder so etwas. Und sie wehren wirklich die Pros und Cons davon, warum es möglich oder nicht Sinn macht, so ein System zu implementieren.

Und dann wählen sie nicht, oder sie kommen mit einer anderen Lösung, wie, oh, wir werden eine Google-Seite benutzen. Und wir werden Kalendereventeure erschaffen, sodass wir jeden Februar eine E-Mail an die Leute schicken werden, die wir im Jahr vorletzten. Ein zweijähriger Nachfolger, richtig? Das ist ein sehr einfaches System. Es kostet nichts. Es kostet nicht viel, um es zu implementieren.

Es gibt keinen Subscription-Fee dazu. Und wenn du es machst, kann es nur so effektiv sein, And what I've found is that when I talk with people who acquired businesses, is people will be very focused on the tactics of modern technology and tools that are available. And they'll say, look at this business. You know, the old guy who runs this business doesn't even know you can do this.

And there's AI that, and there's this little tool and that little tool. And boy, when I take over this business, I'm going to employ all this technology and we're going to make it so much more efficient because that guy just has a whiteboard and paperwork orders.

And then I talk with them a few months later in one of these follow-up calls and they go, holy cow, are those paperwork orders ever efficient? Yep. I had no idea.

Ja, also, wenn etwas auf Instagram heiß ist, würde ich davon ausgehen. Danke, weil es, was es wirklich bedeutet, ist, dass es eine Menge Fools gibt, mit Geld, die es fangen, die nicht wissen, was sie tun, die sich willens überzahlen für Dinge und die Erwartungen in diesen Industrien auf die Seite der Verkäufer, dass sie diese verrückten Zahlen bekommen werden.

all kinds of stories of of deals that i worked on for a long time that never came to fruition i eventually left that business got into banking and i was a banker for a few years and and uh you know just like those old gangster movies uh they kept pulling me back in i kept getting phone calls from people who were trying to work on small business deals looking for help and started to do a little bit of consulting as a side hustle and then when the bank reorganized there was an opportunity for me

Also willst du die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit vermeiden. Und du weißt, Are there deals out there? I would say there are never deals. There are only changing levels of motivation. I referenced earlier how businesses sell for a relatively low multiple of cash flow.

So what that means is, if you own a great business, if you own a business earning you a quarter of a million dollars a year and you find out you could sell it for 600,000 to 750,000 dollars, why would you? That doesn't make any sense, right? You just keep that thing. And keep harvesting those profits year after year.

What ends up happening is one of the five things that creates a motivation for people to sell a business. And they're all personal. The first one is mental. Burnout, boredom and fatigue. So if the business owner gets to the point where he cringes and his stomach tightens up every time the cell phone rings, that's the time to get out. You don't want the anxiety or hassles of this business.

Time to leave. So the mental bucket Dann gibt es Divorz, schlechte Gesundheit, die Bedrohung in der Verwaltung. Nun, von diesen fünf Dingen, einer ist geplant. Die anderen vier sind nicht. Das sind Dinge, die im Laufe unserer Tag-zu-Tag-Leben passieren. Also, die Person mit dem quarter-million-dollar-Cash-flow-Business, der in ihrem Business perfekt glücklich ist, du könntest entscheiden,

I want to buy in a certain industry. And you could start networking with people in that industry. And every person you talk to could say, I don't want to sell my business. It's a fantastic business. I love it. And you just, you keep talking to those people. And then one day something happens. One of those things happens to that person.

All of a sudden, now you're having a conversation, not because the business or the industry or the economy has changed, but because something in their life changed. Now they're open to that conversation. The deals come along, the problem is one of visibility. My buddy Rick has owned many restaurants over the course of his life and cafes. He was consulting with a seafood restaurant owner.

Das Konsultationsmandat wurde für ihn zu kaufen. Also hat er das Seafood-Restaurant gekauft. Aus der Sicht der Leute, die ein Unternehmen kaufen wollen, können die Leute, die ein Unternehmen kaufen wollen, die Unternehmen im Markt sehen. Du fährst herum, du siehst Unternehmen, du schaust auf die gelben Seiten oder auf Google, du siehst Unternehmen. Die Geschäftsführer können keine Verkäufer sehen.

From the point of view of a business operator, they have no way of looking outside their window and seeing individuals interested in buying businesses. So a buyer is invisible unless you do something to make yourself visible.

So when Rick bought that seafood restaurant, within six months he heard from three other seafood restaurant owners who heard about the deal, who stepped forward and said, oh, would you like to buy mine as well? Denn in seinem ersten Deal hat er sich dann für die Leute in dieser Industrie visibel gemacht. Und dann gibt es das Chatten, der Anbieter, der den Fisch anbietet.

Tells a story to the next restaurant. Oh, do you know they have a new owner over there? Right. And then like the word spreads through the grapevine. And so how do you make yourself visible? Well, you know, people will go to business brokers to make themselves visible to these intermediaries. But you can also just make yourself visible by networking within an industry.

und die Leute wissen, was ihre Intention ist. Die Geschäftsführer kosten Geld, die Verkäufer zahlen ihnen eine Kommission. Und die Wertproposition, die ein Geschäftsführer zu diesen Verkäufern bietet, ist, dass sie sagen, wenn du dein Geschäft durch mich verkaufst, werde ich vielleicht mehr als einen Verkäufer finden, der für dein Geschäft kämpft und den Preis erhöht. Und das ist der Grund,

I will be able to earn my commission. You'll get an overall higher price. So if your plan for buying a business is to look at BizBuySell and talk to brokers, just understand where you are in that ecosystem. Yes, you're having a lot of the work taken care of for you. And if it's a good business broker, then the seller's expectations should be properly set.

The package will be put together to help you, you know, die Möglichkeit relativ schnell zu triagieren, um zu sehen, ob du es kaufen willst oder nicht. Aber du wirst wahrscheinlich mehr bezahlen, als wenn du eine Beziehung kreierst und diese Gespräche vorher hättest. Und ich sage immer Leuten als Verkäufer, dass dein einzigartiges Wachstum nicht ein Deal macht.

um vollständig in die Welt von kleinen Geschäftsverhandlungen zurückzukehren. Aber ich habe es mit einem sehr unterschiedlichen Geschäftsmodell gemacht. Also helfe ich jetzt Menschen, die kaufen oder verkaufen, aber ich mache es als Konsultant. Und ich habe den Prozess in einer Serie von Schritten gemapert. Ich habe Geräte, die ich in jedem Schritt durchführe.

Und so musst du wissen, was für dich Sinn macht und wissen, wann es Sinn macht, ein Deal nicht zu machen.

Yeah, so you want to ask yourself, who are these people? So once you've identified an industry, if you say, I'm interested in machine shops in upstate New York with a certain revenue and employee range. Dann kannst du sie sehr einfach identifizieren. Speziell, du kannst eine Liste erstellen.

Sobald du eine Liste erstellst, kannst du dann anfangen, Namen darzustellen, wie wer diese Unternehmen besitzt. Oder sind sie eine Branche einer großen Firma? Richtig. Das wird wahrscheinlich nicht perspektivisch zu mir verkaufen. Und so kreiert man eine Liste, man kann dann direkt an die Leute anrufen, man kann sie anrufen, man kann sie an LinkedIn anrufen, etc.

Aber man kann auch, was ich als Value Chain Play bezeichne, also alle diese Maschinenhäuser kaufen Equipment von ein paar verschiedenen Dealer von Equipment, die Salespeople haben. So I remember I once had a guy who wanted to buy a sprinkler service and repair and installation business in New Jersey. And I asked him, I said, how many different brands of this equipment are out there?

He was like, there's three big brands. I said, great. Every one of those brands has some kind of distributor or sales rep covering New Jersey. Find out who the individual people are that go calling on all these people. Because if you can create relationships with those 3D sales people, they know everybody. So now you're talking about networking with the people who know the people.

My father-in-law runs an auto repair business. And when he wants to hire a new mechanic, he does not post a job at anywhere. What he does is he tells the Snap-on tool guy. He says, I need to hire a new tech. Because once every six or eight weeks, that Snap-on guy talks to every tech in the city. As they circulate, visiting all the different shops.

Und die Techniker kennen die Reputationen der Techniker. Und er hat schon lange mit meinem Vater-in-Lau gearbeitet und er wird nicht einen Dutt übergeben. Er wird die Nachrichten mit jemandem teilen, der er weiß, dass er gut aussehen wird, wenn dieser Referent durchkommt. Es sind nur diese einfachen kleinen Dinge, die die meisten nicht wissen.

Und ich habe das Geschäftsmodell von Lehrern und Accountants gebraucht, in dem ich jeden Schritt mit Leuten tue und ich sie für meine Arbeit baue, wie ich jeden Schritt tue. Und so macht es ein paar Dinge. Nummer eins, es verhindert das große Kontingenz-Kashflow-Rollercoaster, das Geschäftsführer oft von.

So everyone gets all wound up in the busy work of starting a business. They want to find out how to get an EIN number or how they register their name with the state and all that kind of stuff. Don't do any of that.

Okay, don't do any of that because I've seen people waste weeks and weeks and weeks of their time on a website and logo design and making sure they've got some form filed with the government. What you want to do is you want to create the most basic of, you know, product information or service information things, which is usually a PDF. And then you want to make a sale.

So you want to figure out what do I think people want and then who might be the one who's going to buy this. You create some kind of document or whatever and then you reach out to the person you think wants to buy it and then you try to make a sale. And you talk with them and you have a conversation and you get their feedback. And if they say, yeah, I want to buy 10. You go, well, great.

I'm glad that you like to buy 10 of mine. Can you tell me how I compare to my competitors? Oh, you're half the price. Well, there might be something you forgot about. if you're offering the service for half the price of the competitors, right?

Or if they say, no, I can't buy from you because in our industry we can only buy from people that have been approved by our insurance provider because of the way we handle hazardous materials or whatever. And you go, oh, I had no idea these conditions existed in this industry. I better figure out how I'm going to deal with the insurance stuff, right? And again...

You don't know what you don't know. And the way that you're going to learn is by having these conversations by the people who are going to be able to make the decisions. And sometimes, you know, if you can, you want to leverage conversations. What I find amazing is that people will often get advice from people who they really should not be asking for advice.

Aber Nummer zwei, die Leute, mit denen ich arbeite, werden mich oft viel weniger bezahlen, als wenn sie einen Geschäftsführer gehören oder mit einem Geschäftsführer arbeiten. Und der Grund ist, dass Geschäftsführer Kommissionen bezahlen, damit sie einen guten Lebensraum verdienen, den jeder verstehen kann.

So they have a business idea and then they ask their neighbor about it, who's a postman. Nothing against postal workers. But they just, they don't have the right background. But here's the thing, Charles, is they will not use their personal network in the way it could be useful.

Something like Auto Repair has such diversified ownership across the world that chances are there's someone on your Facebook network who either has worked in the industry or maybe their cousin, brother, neighbor, etc. has, and they can introduce you, right? And most people in the world, if you reach out to them and say, hey, I'm thinking about getting into a business.

I want to learn more about it. I heard you had some experience. Would you mind getting on the phone with me for 20 or 30 minutes just to talk about it? Most people are interested in being helpful. Most people would not mind that.

So take advantage of your personal network because it can lead you to individuals that can really inform this background information that we keep alluding to, where you can get a better understanding of how a business works. And here's what I've learned. And maybe some of your experience mirrors this. If you see something that looks like a tremendously profitable business with little competition,

dann ist es wahrscheinlich etwas, das du nicht siehst. Korrekt. Denn in den normalen Operationen einer freien Marktökonomie, wenn jemand wirklich hohe Margen zahlt und wenig Wettbewerb hat, wird diese Situation neue Einflüsse in diesen Markt erzeugen.

Und diese Vorteile werden auslösen. Alltags wird es Wettbewerb geben, es wird Preiswettbewerb geben, die Margen werden auslösen. And eventually people end up in a position where solid players who deliver well should be sustainably competitive and profitable, but not crazy profitable.

The places where crazy profits live are where there are sort of these moats or interventions, which are often not natural. So things like patents, you know, why are drug companies so profitable? Well, they get this government protection in the form of patents, right? Why are some device or machinery manufacturers profitable to an excessive degree?

Because their brands are trademarked, their machines they've invented are patented, this kind of thing, right? In the world of small business, you're not often going to get into those kinds of scenarios. You could be a monopoly, like you're the only taxi company in the small town, but that's probably because the town really can't support more than one.

So you're not going to be able to charge double the rates of other taxi companies in the world. You're still going to be hemmed in by these substitution competitors. That taxi company might have a monopoly, but if you charge too much money, people are just going to ride their bicycles or ask their friends for rides or hitchhike. They're going to find ways around your excessively high prices.

But when you understand how many deals a broker works on that just don't go anywhere, you realize They have to charge higher rates because the deals that do close have to cover over for the work that went into the other ones. And the difference with me is that every person I work with is paying me every step along the way.

Exactly.

Yeah. So run your business clean. So everybody wants to put personal expenses in their business because they want to maximize their lifestyle advantages. And then when they try to sell their business, they want to then say, oh yeah, but we need to add back, you know, my daughter's cell phone bill. And we need to add back this trip to a conference in Bahamas. Right. Right.

And so the people who successfully do deals end up paying a lot less than if they had done the traditional broker model. And it's working. It's been about almost 10 years. So it's going well.

And you know, all this stuff. And let me be clear. A buyer may delve into that hole with you and fully appreciate, understand and accept everything you've said and be willing to pay you the price based on the cash flow you are then creating with these ad backs. You might just have to find the right one. Now, here's the problem, though.

That buyer then has to show their banker that all of your ad backs are correct. And the banker has to agree with all the ad backs.

So I've often said that if you want to run all your personal expenses through and never have a profit every year so that you don't have to pay income tax, the cost of that behavior is going to be that you will likely be the banker. that you are going to sell to someone who will give you a down payment and you will hold the note on the entire thing.

That person cannot get financing for your business. And so, you know, when people hear that, they get all up in arms. But, you know, if you want to sell for top dollar and you want to walk away with a lot of money on closing day, the business has to look good to a bank, not to a buyer, to a bank. So that would be the number one thing. Number two, every buyer is worried that

the love and affection of the clientele is towards the owner and not the business itself. So you have to be able to demonstrate that people are not, or the business is not relying upon the ownership in order to, to make the sales happen. Uh, and if you have key relationships, like you'll hear this all the time from people in particularly like in, in, uh,

Highly technical service or consulting businesses like a big engineering firm or architecture firm or something. People do business with that firm because they have relationships with the owners. So if you own a business like that and you want to sell, don't be surprised when part of the deal is that you stick around and work there for years.

Because the buyer wants you to be there to transfer the goodwill of those relationships over to the new team. And so that's got to be something that's worked on. Either you work on it today and get your customers used to dealing with employees, or you're going to work on it after you're no longer the owner. And it's going to affect the value.

Another common issue would be people that are cruising or sliding towards their exit, where they take their foot off the gas and they try to maximize the cash flow by ignoring or deferring maintenance and capital expenditures.

So if you're planning on selling your business in five years time and all of your trucks are five years old, don't think you're going to get top dollar if you're trying to sell it with a bunch of 10 year old trucks. Denn jeder Verkäufer wird sich das anschauen und sagen, wenn ich dieses Unternehmen kaufe, muss ich ein paar Autos kaufen.

Also muss man das Unternehmen operieren, als ob man es nicht verkauft. Man muss normale Arbeitsbedingungen haben. Man muss Dinge per normal reparieren und verändern. Es ist auch einer der Fehler, die Verkäufer machen, weil... Depreciation and amortization get added back in this process of creating EBITDA or seller's discretionary earnings.

And those two things are how accountants recognize stuff wearing out over time. And so if you don't realize this as a buyer, you could end up in a situation where part of your cash flow you think you're going to get is actually going to go into capital expenditures. So CapEx is a big thing. As a seller, you want to make sure you keep up your stuff. Manage inventory properly.

So if your business has an inventory, number one, count it. Your accountant is going to want you to count it every year so you can file proper tax returns. Depending on the type of business you have, that may not be enough. You want to count it often enough that you actually create information that allows you to manage the business.

So I'll give you an example of where people fall off the wagon with this. If you are a successful and profitable business, I saw this once with a fireplace business, like a wood stove business. They were very profitable. They did very well over the years. And they were always going out and installing these new wood stoves in people's homes. And they had these various stove pipe fittings.

So there was like a 90 degree angle and a 45 degree angle and a three foot piece and a two foot piece. And all this stuff kind of plugs together. When they install these wood stoves. And you have to sit down and make a plan of the person's home and what pieces you need.

And so if you don't have the pieces in stock, you then have to make a plan of what you're going to need next week so you can order it and have it delivered. That takes work. So do you know what you do, Charles, if you have a lot of money? You just order a pallet of every part there is. Right. And then your technicians just wander into the warehouse and just pick up whatever they need, right?

But while that is easy, what it also does is it then creates this huge investment in inventory. And from the look of your financial statements, it now appears that the business requires 70 or $100,000 of inventory to operate. When in reality, you could be ordering these parts the week before you need them, right?

Und so wird ein Verkäufer dieses Unternehmen anschauen und sagen, oh, es gibt dieses große Inventar-Investment, dieses große Handelskapital-Investment, das Teil der Funktion dieses Geschäftes ist. Wenn in der Realität, wenn du diese Inventar entfernt hast und angefangen hast, mehr von einem Zeit-in-Zeit-Mechanismus zu nutzen,

and you did this a couple of years before you sold, you could then demonstrate that the business is very nimble and does not require a lot of operating capital, right? And so laziness ends up making financial statements look worse off than they could be Because people choose the easy way. Same thing with receivables. If you don't need the money, you don't get on your customers.

The receivables get later and later. I've seen businesses operate with 45 days of average day sales outstanding. New owner comes in. They based all of their decision making and deal making on that 45-day DSO. They come in and they tell the customers, from now on, we're only accepting credit cards within five days of invoice.

Ja, klar. Also gab es Daten, die aus dem US-Gewerbe herausgekommen sind, die über den Boom in neuen Geschäftsmodellen sprechen. Und sie sprachen darüber, wie positiv das für die Wirtschaft war. Und ich ging und schaute die unterliegenden Daten. Es gab einen Bericht.

People who were paying with a Visa card in 45 days now start paying in five days. Just because of a policy change. The seller could have done that. If the seller had done that, they would have been able to harvest all kinds of operating capital out of their business before it was sold. It wouldn't have affected the value of the business.

In fact, it would have made it look more valuable because it could be operated with less operating capital. So there are balance sheet things that people get into. Was that four? Are you counting?

Yeah, we got one more. I got one more. So one more thing that people need to do, you know, to make their business easier to sell is they have to be able to show a buyer how the buyer will know how to operate it. So this is your written operating manual, your procedures. And don't think it has to be a big binder with 500 sheets.

It doesn't have to look like the McDonald's operating franchise guide or whatever they have over there. So an operating manual could simply be a spreadsheet with the different function areas in a business. with links in there to Google Drive folders where you keep the different things that you use for that part of the business.

But you have to be able to sit down with a prospective buyer and say, oh, marketing? Here's our marketing calendar for the year. Und hier ist der Folder, wo wir unsere Fall-Promotion-Flyer aus den letzten zehn Jahren haben. Und jedes Jahr machen wir einen neuen, aber Sie können die letzten zehn Jahre schauen und Inspiration bekommen und sehen, was wir vorher gemacht haben.

Und das ist, was wir jedes Jahr für den Valentinstag auf der Radio machen. Und hier sind die letzten fünf Jahre von den Ads von der Radio, die wir hier in diesem Folder haben. Und Sie zeigen ihnen, das ist der Plan. Das ist, wie wir es machen. Und hier sind die Materialien, mit denen Sie arbeiten können. You know, here's all the people we talk to. Here's the radio guys phone number.

Here's the designer that we have on Upwork who did our ads for the last two years and would be happy to continue doing them for you. Like you need to show them this is how you run the business and it's not all in my head. Because if it's all in your head, that's freaky. The people are terrified that they're going to buy the business and then you're suddenly going to become uncooperative, right?

And so if they're worried you're going to become uncooperative, the way around that, this is what I tell buyers, is if you're worried about the seller, you need more seller financing. And, you know, all kinds of stuff is created online about how, oh, you know, I bought this business, I got an SBA loan with a seller note for 5 or 10%. That's bull.

Und eines der Dinge, die nicht klar war in den Headlines, ist, dass die Leute, die Registrierer der verschiedenen Staaten und föderalen Ebenen, die das Starten neuer Entitäten recorden, sie klassifizieren Start-ups in zwei verschiedene Buckets. Da gibt es die Wiederaufgaben.

Like most of the time when you're doing a small business deal, you want a material amount of seller financing to make sure that the seller is engaged with you and has a reason to continue to support and offer advice and guidance to you. So like deals should be 25, 30, 40, 50% seller financing. And I see deals like that all the time and people don't believe me. But here's the thing.

A lot of this content is driven by people who are involved in one way or another with deals that involve SBA financing. When you talk to people who are doing deals without SBA loans, you hear things like, I bought the business by giving 50% down and the seller carried the other 50%. Right. And that kind of deal happens all the time.

And those sellers actually have a better note because there's no bank lien. It's just, you know, they can apply their own lien against the assets of the business and they're in first position. And this is something that, you know, sellers often don't think about. But you need to have conversations with your broker, your attorney, your accountant, etc., Verstehe das.

Verkaufen eines Geschäfts ist nicht wie das Verkaufen eines Hauses. Du wirst wahrscheinlich involviert sein in einem Art von multijähriger Art und Weise der Entwicklung dieses Verkaufs. Und ein großer Teil der Grund, warum jemand dein Geschäft kaufen will, ist, weil sie sehen können, dass du ihnen beibringen kannst, wie es funktioniert.

Und dass du vorhanden und vorhanden sein wirst, zumindest für einen Telefonruf, wenn etwas passiert und jemand deine Hinweise und Guidance braucht, weil sie wissen, dass du der Experte bist. Du hast es seit Jahren gemacht.

Ja, wenn du zu davidcbarnett.com gehst, das ist mein Hauptblog-Seite. Da gibt es eine Arbeit mit David-Tab. And it will direct you to other websites I have specifically for buyers, sellers, this kind of thing. And if you're just curious about deal making in general, just look me up. Just search David Barnett Small Business on YouTube or any of the podcasting platforms and I'll come right up.

I've been making content for a decade and I think I've got 700 videos on my YouTube channel right now. And there's playlists that have been organized along different topics and things like that. And I just, if you're interested in this stuff, I know you'll have a great time.

Thank you so much, David. Awesome. And the new book, Buying vs. Starting a Small Business, is out now. So that's on Amazon. And if you enjoy the book, please leave a review. Amazon reviews are a huge thing for anyone who's written a book. Absolutely.

Nicht zu sagen, dass es eine schlechte Art ist, aber es gibt bestimmte Leute da draußen, die einfach nur ständig Entitäten kreieren. Also wer ist das? Nun, das sind vielleicht große Unternehmen, die vielleicht eine andere Firma für jedes Gebäude, das sie besitzen, z.B. Or what have you. And certain law firms maybe that are helping them do this.

All right.

And so is it really a new business when a big Fortune 500 company creates a new LLC because they want to open up a warehouse in Minnesota? They might create an entity for that, but it's not really a new business. And so if you kind of look at that and you take those away, dann ja, es gibt einen Ausstieg in den täglichen Menschen, die ein Geschäft starten.

Aber die Regierung recordiert nicht, welches Geschäft das sind oder welche Phase sie sind oder was sie tun wollen oder so etwas. Sie sagen einfach, hey, ein neues LLC oder ein neues Unternehmen ist geformt und sie zählen sie einfach.

Und wenn man sich die Daten anschaut, sieht man, dass seit 2020 und den Events rund um das, mit den Lockdowns und allem, natürlich gab es einen riesigen Drang in den Geschäftsformationen während dieser Zeit. Aber dann kam die Rückkehr, es war ein riesiger elastischer Wurf nach oben. Und es sagt im Grunde, ja, es gibt viel mehr Unternehmen, die geformt werden.

Aber bedeutet das, dass es viel mehr aktive neue Unternehmen gibt, die Leute beteiligen?

Or are there businesses, for example, where someone had a great job, they lost their job in 2020, they had trouble getting a new job, and now maybe they're creating some kind of side hustle, or they've been forced to create, because they can't find a new corporate employer, maybe they put out a shingle as a consultant or something like that, and their accountant told them that they should organize by registering an LLC, for example.

And so I related that to my own experience, because I live in a town that once upon a time... was quite a railway town. And so we had a big locomotive shops here that employed thousands of people. And back in 1989, 1990, it was shut down. Und später hatte ich einen meiner ersten Jobs aus der Universität von den Yellow Pages.

Und ich habe mit einigen der älteren Leute gesprochen, die Yellow Page Sales Reps waren, an dieser Zeit. Ich war ein Teenager an dieser Zeit, aber diese Leute waren im Geschäft. Und der Thema der großen Shop-Klöschung kam auf. Und ich sagte, das muss ein schwieriges Zeitpunkt für dich gewesen sein. Und sie sagten, nein, es war ein Boom-Zeit für uns.

Weil all diese Leute, die ihre Jobs im Shop verloren haben, viele von ihnen haben Severances, viele von ihnen haben frühere Retirement-Package bekommen. Und viele von ihnen waren zu jung, um idyllisch zu sein. Und sie haben alle Unternehmen eröffnet.

Und so für einen Yellow-Page-Sales-Rep, du weißt, mit 15 Pipefitters, die von den Geschäften geliefert werden und 14 von ihnen entscheiden, Plumbing-Konzerne zu öffnen, zum Beispiel, weil es die gleiche Fähigkeit ist. Es war großartig, weil all diese Leute einen Ad in den Yellow-Pages kaufen wollten.

Und ich dachte, wow, also kannst du eine lokale, in diesem Fall war es eine lokalisierte Rezession in unserer Stadt. But it led to a boom in business startups. And so this experience and this learning from these other guys really helped me understand that you can't just look at surface level numbers. You have to kind of dig below and figure out what's going on.

We know that a huge number of small businesses that get started never really make a lot of money. They're just marginal. People will resort to self-employment if they have no options. Someone who may prefer to be employed because of the benefits of consistent income and health benefits and all that kind of stuff, if they just can't find a job, Well, they've got to eat, right?

And especially if they're like a six-figure person who's used to earning a decent salary, unemployment benefits aren't going to cut it. And eventually your savings are going to run low. Eventually maybe you're going to start maxing out your credit cards and stuff. So you realize at some point you've got to take action to get some income flowing.

And for a lot of people, the sort of last resort of where can I go to get some money is to say, you know what, I'm going to have to create something on my own. I'm going to have to do this. So that's why I say that startup statistics may not always be a sign of a booming economy.

Sure. So when you start a business, you never ever know for sure if you're really going to meet that startup point or sorry, the breakeven point, right? You start up, you've got some costs associated with starting up, then you're going to get some overhead costs, whether you make a sale or not, you got to pay those things.

Und mit Technologie und SaaS-Solutions und all this kind of thing, it's never been easier to start a business. If you just want to think about a basic thing like a retail store, Once upon a time, you had to spend $1,000 on some kind of point of sale system. Now you just need to get a tablet and sign up for Square, right?

And you've got a point of sale system, the cash registered solution, the whole thing's there just for a subscription. So things are cheaper than they ever have been, but you start to get these overheads in place. You may have to make an investment in something like inventory, if you're thinking about a retail store again.

And so you've got this money going out, then you've got to make sales and on each customer you serve, you're going to make some money. You hopefully eventually get to the point where you're serving enough customers, the money that you make on them in that month is going to cover your bills.

I still don't really believe that's a break-even point because I say, now you've got to earn back the money you lost before you were at that point to really get ahead and be making some money. And we just don't know when these points are.

Wenn du ein Unternehmen kaufst, das bereits funktionierend ist, hast du Kunden, du hast Verkauf, du hast Beziehungen da, Leute, die schon wissen, dass du da bist, was du verkaufst. Der Verkäufer kann dich trainieren, wie du das Unternehmen umsetzen kannst, richtig? Also hast du ein bisschen Coaching und Beleidigungen, wie du es funktionierst. Und es gibt viele Vorteile da.

Es nimmt die Kosten der Kunden und Verkaufsrisiken weg. The sweet spot, in my opinion, to your point about deals with hair on them, is to find a business that you know has problems, that you feel you've got a background and knowledge that you can fix those problems, but the business still makes money.

Because you're going to buy that and on day two you're still going to make money and you've got basically an unlimited runway now to work on those problems. Because you're making money from day two.

Das Problem, das die Leute, wenn sie ein Unternehmen kaufen, haben, ist, dass wenn man das Unternehmen nicht unter den richtigen Terms und Bedingungen kauft, also wenn man einen zu hohen Preis zahlt oder wenn man es kauft, auch wenn es ein guter Preis ist, aber man die falschen Terme bekommt, das bedeutet, dass man vielleicht Geld unter einer zu kurzen Anamortisierung auf den Wettbewerb oder so etwas zahlen muss.

You can just be trading one kind of risk for another. So you trade the customer risk for what we call finance risk. Where now, yeah, you got the customers, but guess what? If you lose 5% of them, you can't make your loan payment. That's just as precarious a position as not having customers when you do a startup.

Was ich gerne tue, wenn du jemals Bücher über Negotiationen gelesen hast, ist einer der Begriffe, die du herauskommst, ist BATNA, was für Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement heißt. And so when you're negotiating for something, you always want to have an idea of what's my BATNA. If I can't make the deal work under terms that I like, what else would I do?

So if you have a job and you're negotiating to buy a business, your BATNA may just be keeping your job, right? So you're always saying, well, today I've got savings in the bank and I have this income. If this deal doesn't work out for me, I don't Ich werde das nur behalten, richtig? Wenn du unabhängig bist, wird dein BATNA viel schlimmer, richtig? Ja.

So I'll give you an example of where this can come into play. You look at a business and the seller thinks it's worth a lot of money and the price is a little bit frothy and you look at it and you go, this is a little bit overpriced and you just ask yourself, what exactly is in here? And what would it reasonably cost me if I wanted to start this on my own?