
Ask HN: How do I sell my business? - saltcod
I&#x27;ve got a friend (no, really) who owns an office equipment business. He has about 5 employees and has a recurring income of about $30-40k per month. If he sells more, he can make more, but that $30-40 comes from existing contracts.<p>Problem is:   he wants to retire, but doesn&#x27;t know how to sell the business. If he puts an ad in the paper, three things will happen:<p>1) his competitors will start hounding his customers and slowly eat away at them, and<p>2) his customers will probably get spooked, realizing he&#x27;s closing and eventually move to competitors on their own<p>3) his employees will probably leave<p>The company is worth something. He&#x27;s got a long history, with many original customers and a solid recurring revenue. How can he put the business up for sale without disclosing what the business is and scaring away his existing customers?
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lifeisstillgood
"business brokers" exist almost solely for this very reason - acquiring quiet
offers for a business. Find one with recent sales in your geographic /
industrial area.

However afaik the business equipment / stationary world is a hard and low
margin one, so I suggest your friend starts to prepare - clearing out small
debts, tidying up paperwork, having a "sellers pack" prepared with all usual
questions answered, reviewing employee contracts and pay scales, just house
keeping in short.

Also it's worth looking to see if you can attract the attention of companies
likely to acquire - do you have a local delivery or knowledge advantage? What
major chains are sniffing round your existing clients - they alone would be
worth talking to - always much nicer to buy a guaranteed contract than spent
years on a sales force approach.

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mrfusion
Or perhaps a company looking to vertically integrate? Delivery companies,
moving companies?

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JSeymourATL
Selling a business involves a lot prep work. Here's solid overview from the NY
Times>
[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/business/smallbusiness/07g...](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/07/business/smallbusiness/07guide.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

Possible Option: Depending on the sophistication level of his employees, one
or more could step-up as a potential buyer. Your friend could structure
favorable payment terms. He gets checks monthly over 3-5 years. Win-win.

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marcomassaro
I believe [http://www.bizbuysell.com](http://www.bizbuysell.com) is the spot
for this

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mrfusion
I think you raise some really good points about the risks of listing it for
sale. Perhaps it's worth talking to a trusted business broker? They might have
ways to sell it discreetly?

Another idea, perhaps he could sell it to the employees?

BTW, could you shoot me an email with a few details? Mostly for curiosity's
sake, but you never know.

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zomg
one option that is common with small business owners is to approach an
employee of the company about buying the business.

there are lots of ways to structure such a transaction. a common way is seller
financing, where the seller receives a small down payment, in kind, on the
purchase price. the balance due is then paid monthly (or quarterly) to the
seller over some period of time (with or without interest, depending on the
contract).

ether way, an attorney should be used to draft the contract and make sure all
possible "gotchas" are covered (ex. the business goes bankrupt during the
payment period). a lien on the buyer's home or other valuable asset is
commonly used to protect the seller during the repayment period.

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mrfusion
What is office equipment exactly and how can it pay that much?

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sjs382
Hell, lightly-used/reclaimed office furniture can pay that much. :)

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mrfusion
How would a business like that work? You buy a warehouse and then buy up old
office furniture? then find places to market it?

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jpetersonmn
I used to work for office furniture companies when I was younger, it's a very
profitable business. The place I worked for bought and sold, primarily used,
furnitures. (cubicles, etc...) When businesses go under the actual cubes are
the last thing anybody is really worry about and they can sell for as little
as a $5-$10 per cube. The person buying them has to send guys to take them
down, load them on a truck and bring the back to the warehouse. The refurb
team cleans and puts new fabric on them if needed, etc...

People that are wanting to open a new office, or expand one they already have
and go cube shopping. First they go online and are blown away by the cost of
new cubes, then they find these dealers. Even a used cube still can cost a
couple grand. It's a lot of overhead and the business isn't what it used to
be, but still pretty profitable if managed well.

I remember when I used to work with office furniture, I remember how I wished
I worked in a cube instead. Went to computer school and now spend my days day
dreaming about not working in a cube. (I actually work from home during the
summers, but that's almost over.)

