Buying someone's business

[Jeff5410]

There is a guy here wanting to sell his business for $7000.00. 'll get 32 contracted customers whose yards range from $35.00 to $175.00 per service. His equipment which includes, 2 1996 Toro 44" Walkbehinds with Jungle wheels, 1 2001 Toro 22" self propelled mower, 2 1999 Echo Line Trimmers, 1 2001 Ehco stick edger, 1 2003 Hedge Trimmer, 1 2002 Echo extended reach hedge trimmer with articulating head, 1 2000 Echo hand held blower, 1 2003 Echo back pack blower, 1 small chipper/shredder, and a 7x12 2002 single axle trailer with a tool box and a three position line trimmer rack. IS IT WORTH $7000.00? I'm thinking of offering $5000.00.

[Jackman]

Consider this your in Fla. long cutting season the mowers are 8 years old and he has been mowing 32 lawns per week they are most likely wornout, the rest of equipment is nitty gritty, the trailer is a SINGLE AXLE you will out grow it. Since you did not mention a truck Ill assume you have one and since your willing to spend 5 grand on old stuff why not just buy a new walk behind some ramps, a cheap blower and trimmer advertise in the local stores etc and presto good reliable equipment and your own customers.

[Stephen M.]

Buying someone's business

Jackman is right on the mark. Another thought to consider is that the "worth" of somebody's business isn't much if you have no quarantee of the customers staying with you for at least 1 year. It is difficult to step into somebody elses shoes, some customers will campare you to so and so, and why don't you do it like he did...Unless the company has Inc. behind the name, all it's worth is the price of good used equipment.

[Image]

Lets say the average cut is $40.00.

$40 X 32 customers = $1280.00 per week,

$5120.00 per month,

$61,440.00 per yr., based on 12 months of cutting.

Hmmmmmmm.....$61,000.00 from a $7,000.00 investment in 1 yr? Plus extras!?

Sounds like a no brainer to me. But as said before, that's if you get the customers. Also I don't know the cutting season/methods in Fla. so I may be wrong.

[FSLM]

Ive done this before, 32 customers ( signed or just promised) never pay for a customer that hasnt signed a contract with you. Once they sign he gets his money. A hundred bucks a customer is a good starting point. As for his equpt. 2 96 walkbehinds have pretty much been used and the rest is right there with them. Offer him money for his customers and act like you dont want the rest, you'll just buy new stuff instead. Used equipt. is to much of a risk to you. He'll then say he wont split the two, so LOW ball him because you dont want the equipt.($3500-$4000) If he needs the money he might jump on it. dont be afarid to walk away but let him know that you are intrested. 2-3 days later call him to see if he had any bites. 5 days later call again same question. then tell him that your going to buy a new mower soon and you would still like his customer list. He'll start to negociate with you because he would like that money instead of the shop. Get your price, sell all his equipt. to someone else for $4000.00( take your time) you'll probuly make a little profit and buy new stuff. so for price of new equipt you have a new business. 3 months later your machines will be paided for and your free and clear. Thats what i did. Let me know how it goes.