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Help needed in ending business.

by ngpohchoo8
10 replies
Hi there,

I am looking to sell my business established for 20 years. It is a luxury watch trading business. These are the brands I deal in:

Patek Phillippe
Panerai
Tag Heuer
Tissot
Omega
cartier
Franck muller and many other brands

In total, I distribute about 10 premium brands of watches. since the late 1990s, I am able to sell about 8-10 watches per month and profit margin ranges from $800 - $1,500 per watch, so this works out to be minimum of $10,000 net profit per month or, $120k net income per annum.

The beauty of this business is that i do not need to carry stock and i carry no more than 3 watches each time and i am able to operate from my home. I distribute to offline Luxury watch retailers in my country.

I an of retirement age (67) now and will like to sell this business away.
I am having trouble fixating valuation (price to sell my business away). The value of this business lies in my 20 years of iron clad relationship with my watch supplier and ability ot get well known and sought after models of luxury watches.

Please let me know how will i be able to value my business.

I do not have a website for my business. do you advise me to create a new website - so that it "becomes an online business" and i can sell it at flippa or empire flippers?
#business #ending #needed
  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Originally Posted by ngpohchoo8 View Post

    Hi there,

    I am looking to sell my business established for 20 years. It is a luxury watch trading business. These are the brands I deal in:

    Patek Phillippe
    Panerai
    Tag Heuer
    Tissot
    Omega
    cartier
    Franck muller and many other brands

    In total, I distribute about 10 premium brands of watches. since the late 1990s, I am able to sell about 8-10 watches per month and profit margin ranges from $800 - $1,500 per watch, so this works out to be minimum of $10,000 net profit per month or, $120k net income per annum.

    The beauty of this business is that i do not need to carry stock and i carry no more than 3 watches each time and i am able to operate from my home. I distribute to offline Luxury watch retailers in my country.

    I an of retirement age (67) now and will like to sell this business away.
    I am having trouble fixating valuation (price to sell my business away). The value of this business lies in my 20 years of iron clad relationship with my watch supplier and ability ot get well known and sought after models of luxury watches.

    Please let me know how will i be able to value my business.

    I do not have a website for my business. do you advise me to create a new website - so that it "becomes an online business" and i can sell it at flippa or empire flippers?

    Have no idea what your business would be worth to someone in your own country. However, starting a website to sell as your business would be useless. Your sales come from offline and you would have to establish sales for a year to claim that you have an online business or at least six months. You would be starting from scratch online, so it would be worth no more than any other startup site not producing income.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Riffle
    You say the value in your business is your relationship with your vendors. This is intangible and possibly not transferable. Will your vendors transfer the benefits of your relationship with them to the new owner? If not, you're selling a business idea and not a business. Ideally, you would need to work in tandem with the new owner for a while to transition the relationships.

    As to how to value the business, I can't say.
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    Raising a child is akin to knowing you're getting fired in 18 years and having to train your replacement without actively sabotaging them.

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  • Profile picture of the author christina9
    I would suggest you transition your business online and build an online presence.
    Honestly, you can have income non stop for the rest of your life.!!
    Online business will give you the luxury of retirement if you outsource the tasks and take time to rest and enjoy yourself from now on.
    This is the beauty of an online business : it gives you freedom.!
    In the modern world the retirement idea is falling apart if there is a healthy and well established business like yours which can give you the luxury of retiring without the traditional retirement concept.
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    • Profile picture of the author Regional Warrior
      Originally Posted by christina9 View Post

      I would suggest you transition your business online and build an online presence.
      Honestly, you can have income non stop for the rest of your life.!!
      Online business will give you the luxury of retirement if you outsource the tasks and take time to rest and enjoy yourself from now on.
      This is the beauty of an online business : it gives you freedom.!
      In the modern world the retirement idea is falling apart if there is a healthy and well established business like yours which can give you the luxury of retiring without the traditional retirement concept.
      Has not a clue what the OP wanted !!
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  • Profile picture of the author agc
    You basically need to sell it to someone who is willing to take it over little by little over the course of a year. And you will need to be there to oversee that transition.

    Once your money is in escrow... they start building a relationship with the suppliers and the customers using your name and relationships to get started. "Hi, I'm Green Newbie. I'm calling for Salty old Poh Choo, and I just wanted to introduce myself. He wanted me to call you and find out about bla bla for bla bla de bla bla."

    Then you call the next day, vouch for your "helper" and patch up any rough spots. Eventually, once the buyer is pretty much operating the business, you make calls to everyone letting them know that Green Newbie has been helping you a lot and you are going to be away for 8 weeks, and bla bla bla.

    Eventually, you send a letter to each, letting them know that due to failing health or family obligation, or whatever, that Green Newbie is taking over operation of the business.

    As to valuation, you haven't really said how much time it takes to operate the business. Are you selling a business or a job?

    How much operating capital does it require? Any credit / collections risk?

    Is there an opportunity to grow the business with more people or capital, or is it a finite niche, your 120 watches a year, and that's about all it will ever be?

    What keeps your customers from getting the watches directly and cutting out your margin?

    All of those things factor into valuing a business.

    Oh and one more thing... make sure your sales agreement says something to the effect of: no changes to the operations of the business until the escrow is disbursed. If the buyer makes any substantive changes to how the business operates, the escrow disburses immediately. They are free to do whatever they want with it once the escrow closes.
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    • Profile picture of the author ngpohchoo8
      Originally Posted by agc View Post

      As to valuation, you haven't really said how much time it takes to operate the business. Are you selling a business or a job?

      How much operating capital does it require? Any credit / collections risk?

      Is there an opportunity to grow the business with more people or capital, or is it a finite niche, your 120 watches a year, and that's about all it will ever be?

      What keeps your customers from getting the watches directly and cutting out your margin?

      All of those things factor into valuing a business.

      Oh and one more thing... make sure your sales agreement says something to the effect of: no changes to the operations of the business until the escrow is disbursed. If the buyer makes any substantive changes to how the business operates, the escrow disburses immediately. They are free to do whatever they want with it once the escrow closes.
      1. There is very very little time needed to operate the business which can be less than 5 hours per week.

      2. the capital is small. - The cost needed for 2 watches, which could be about $5,000

      3. The room for growth is really huge, it really depends on how many watches I carry and the invested capital. it can go up to as much as a million a month

      4. The customers can get from others, but there is no point as I can offer much lower prices - the suppliers gives me a really good price
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      • Profile picture of the author agc
        Originally Posted by ngpohchoo8 View Post

        1. There is very very little time needed to operate the business which can be less than 5 hours per week.

        2. the capital is small. - The cost needed for 2 watches, which could be about $5,000

        3. The room for growth is really huge, it really depends on how many watches I carry and the invested capital. it can go up to as much as a million a month

        4. The customers can get from others, but there is no point as I can offer much lower prices - the suppliers gives me a really good price
        If I were a prospective buyer, I'd be very suspicious right about now.

        If the business has such huge growth and profit potential then wtf have you been doing for the last 20 years?
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        • Profile picture of the author ngpohchoo8
          I will be asking for a share of their monthly profits and proceeds, so that it becomes a completely passive income for me.

          The fact is that my watch suppliers only deal through me and will only do so if I contact them about the new buyer, so I am able to work out a completely passive income for me
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  • Profile picture of the author ngpohchoo8
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by ngpohchoo8 View Post

      I will be asking for a share of their monthly profits and proceeds, so that it becomes a completely passive income for me.

      The fact is that my watch suppliers only deal through me and will only do so if I contact them about the new buyer, so I am able to work out a completely passive income for me
      That would be a deal breaker for me. If your suppliers only deal through you, I would want nothing to do with this business.

      Originally Posted by ngpohchoo8 View Post

      Will I be able to sell this business online - either by approaching a website broker or flippa / empire flippers by creating a website on it.

      If it is difficult to sell offline, I will like to go online.

      Please let me know what do you think.
      I already answered this question above. And you can't solicit joint ventures in this thread. That's for the Joint Venture section or Members Looking to Hire You section, not here or in any of the discussion threads.
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  • Profile picture of the author reachintan
    Hey there,


    Since you are getting sales offline, you need not to go online as it will take months to set up everything and finally see some sales.

    It is better to sell off your watches one by one using your offline contacts. You can even use eBay where you can list your watches completely free.


    Regards,
    Chintan
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    Chintan Mehta

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