Gold mine found. Company has closed and there's $$$ to be made. How to get a piece of the action?

Banned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by biggoogle

After searching for a long, long time, I finally found what I think is a small goldmine.

A company who sells something in the thousands of dollar range with many locations
called it quits.

All the locations that I've checked come up no.1 on Google Places (a few are in the
top three). They may be doing YellowPages advertising also.

I want to get control over all those telephone numbers and forward the calls to their
competitors (I'll negotiate a lead-generation agreement with them.)

From what I understand, the other locations are franchises. Who should I contact?
The president and CEO (same person) or each franchisee?

Since I don't want to pay for the site and numbers, I was thinking of offering the
president a cut of the action. What would you suggest as to the %?

The website says that the company is now closed. I am afraid they will lose their
rankings now that the content has been changed and there is only one page online.
Thoughts?

Also, since they abruptly closed and clients are pissed off, should I wait a bit after
getting control of the phone numbers for the dust to settle? I don't want the new
businesses receiving the calls to be yelled at.

I will need the president (or franchisees) to put the numbers into my name, am I
right? Then once that is done, I can port them to a service like Kall8 to track the calls?
What if I am not in the same country as this company? Can they still put the numbers
in my name? Or will someone in that country have to do it?

This is my first time doing this, and I feel a bit confused as to what to do and when...
so any help and advice would be truly appreciated.

Thanks!

BigG

One word....HEADACHE

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NewParadigm

11 years ago

It's worth a shot to contact the company and see what the situation is. They may have creditors and a bankruptcy trustee that may have a claim on the assets. They may want to work w/ someone to generate some additional income for creditors.

The franchisees may want to partner with you to create websites for them and do some IM to generate leads. Depending on the product, they are probably scrambling for alternate suppliers and will be going independent. Time is of the essence so they may be motivated to work with you.

Good luck!!

Thanks

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In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing. ~ Theodore Roosevelt

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Dustin Lyle

11 years ago

Originally Posted by biggoogle

After searching for a long, long time, I finally found what I think is a small goldmine.

A company who sells something in the thousands of dollar range with many locations
called it quits.

All the locations that I've checked come up no.1 on Google Places (a few are in the
top three). They may be doing YellowPages advertising also.

I want to get control over all those telephone numbers and forward the calls to their
competitors (I'll negotiate a lead-generation agreement with them.)

From what I understand, the other locations are franchises. Who should I contact?
The president and CEO (same person) or each franchisee?

Since I don't want to pay for the site and numbers, I was thinking of offering the
president a cut of the action. What would you suggest as to the %?

The website says that the company is now closed. I am afraid they will lose their
rankings now that the content has been changed and there is only one page online.
Thoughts?

Also, since they abruptly closed and clients are pissed off, should I wait a bit after
getting control of the phone numbers for the dust to settle? I don't want the new
businesses receiving the calls to be yelled at.

I will need the president (or franchisees) to put the numbers into my name, am I
right? Then once that is done, I can port them to a service like Kall8 to track the calls?
What if I am not in the same country as this company? Can they still put the numbers
in my name? Or will someone in that country have to do it?

This is my first time doing this, and I feel a bit confused as to what to do and when...
so any help and advice would be truly appreciated.

Thanks!

BigG

Seems like a whole lot of theory here... So, someone that isn't even in the same country is going to swoop in, in front of all the "franchisees" and get control of the communications network. Then sell the leads to the competitors... I see a couple of problems here. (in the US anyway)

1. A franchisee will ALWAYS have "first right of refusal" on ANY opportunity after a corporate collapse/closure.

2. The "President/CEO" that you plan to offer a % of the "action"-- That guy, well, he has a fiduciary obligation to his distributors/franchisees. Any "side deals" that aren't in the best interest of the franchisees, would be a conflict of contractual interest, which is a violation of civil contract law and could quite possibly be criminal.

3. If the company is defunct/bankrupt, as stated by NewParadigm, there is probably a trustee or court appointed receiver which will undoubtedly not let ANYONE near ANYTHING of POSSIBLE value, just based on their personal risk and responsibility for ensuring creditors get most all of whats owed... FMV of ALL assets. including intellectual property and access portals (phone numbers, domains, etc)

just my .02

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biggoogle

11 years ago

Originally Posted by NewParadigm

The franchisees may want to partner with you to create websites for them and do some IM to generate leads. Depending on the product, they are probably scrambling for alternate suppliers and will be going independent. Time is of the essence so they may be motivated to work with you.

Good luck!!

ALL locations have closed down. Thanks for your reply!!! **Edit** I think I get what you mean. These franchisees would want to stay in business and start over with a new identity?

Originally Posted by Dustin Lyle

2. The "President/CEO" that you plan to offer a % of the "action"-- That guy, well, he has a fiduciary obligation to his distributors/franchisees. Any "side deals" that aren't in the best interest of the franchisees, would be a conflict of contractual interest, which is a violation of civil contract law and could quite possibly be criminal.

Thanks for pointing that out. Then if I do go ahead with this, I'd be working with the franchisees. In that case, would I (or we) need the green light from the president?

Originally Posted by Dustin Lyle

3. If the company is defunct/bankrupt, as stated by NewParadigm, there is probably a trustee or court appointed receiver which will undoubtedly not let ANYONE near ANYTHING of POSSIBLE value, just based on their personal risk and responsibility for ensuring creditors get most all of whats owed... FMV of ALL assets. including intellectual property and access portals (phone numbers, domains, etc)
just my .02

I wasn't aware that phone numbers would be seen as an asset by creditors/trustees. I had the impression that intangible assets such as numbers and client lists were often overlooked. The ownership of these assets can and have been transferred to other people, who then leveraged them into revenue streams. Someone on this forum made 7.5K a month in passive revenue from two phone numbers he bought from defunct businesses. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to go about it...

Thanks for your feedback!

And if anyone else wants to give their two cents, you are more than welcome to do so!

Cheers!

BigG

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NewParadigm 11 years ago

[QUOTE=biggoogle;7684013]ALL locations have closed down. Thanks for your reply!!! **Edit** I think I get what you mean. These franchisees would want to stay in business and start over with a new identity?

You know those franchisees have a significant investment, they aren't just going to fold up and wait around for the court to settle things.

In the cases of bankruptcy trustee, they have the decisionmaking power, but the former Pres/owner/manager could have lots of free input for you. Doesn't hurt to talk to them or the franchisees to see what the situation is.

I agree, in many cases, probably smaller size businesses the web/customer list/phone assets pretty much just wither away and customers find alternatives on their own. Not many 'customer lists' are sold to competitors for much in these cases but the list could be valuable to IM/lead gen. Think solo ads to an existing tried n true list.

Keep us posted, could be a nice little niche w/ more and more brick n mortar biz going belly up in this vibrant fantastic economy!
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In a moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
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Dustin Lyle

11 years ago

Concerning the phone numbers...

I'm going to use a couple famous, over exaggerated examples for this...

1-800-got-junk
1-800-flowers

See, I know these names are specifically special and known to most everyone, BUT, it took a significant amount of capital to get them there. Noone looking for flowers on short notice would ever think out of the blue to call 1-800-flowers, had there not been MASSIVE marketing of the name/number.. With that said, even if the numbers are not vanity numbers, just having used them in yellow pages, google, manta etc.. has givin the numbers a certain amount of equitable value. Which will be decided by the trustee and an appraisal firm.

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Dustin Lyle

11 years ago

After having left and thought about the situation, I do see a great deal of potential here though, with the limited knowledge I have of the specifics...

If the company had employees, a distribution network, franchisees etc...
You might be looking at it from a small-time point of view without realizing there is A LOT MORE to be made.

I'm only going to say a few things about this that I know to be fact about corporate bankruptcies...

1. The company is worth more to the community it is in, if it stays intact...
psst.. get the government on your side.

2. Franchisees as well as creditors are willing to do WHATEVER it takes to not lose their investment..
ie renegotiate their franchise agreement or cosign a commercial loan.. creditors will renegotiate loan terms..

Just saying, bankruptcies are rife with 3rd party opportunity much, much, much greater than phone number lead generation.

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biggoogle 11 years ago

Thank you so much Dustin for all your help and advice!

I don't think it is possible for this company to keep their doors open. Times are changing.

I think I may let this one go to focus on simpler (yet similar) deals. If you want to run with it, PM me and I will give you all the info. You have a lot more knowledge and experience than I do Dustin, and I feel that you could do some good with this if you have the time and energy.

I have the owner's name and home address. A FedEx letter could do the trick. (He disconnected his phone to avoid dealing with disgruntled clients.)

Let me know. If you don't want it, I'll give the info to someone else.

Have a great weekend!

BigG
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langdon0555

11 years ago

Great idea! I read about this idea years ago in one of Jay Abrahams books. Also to go along with the taking over their phone number would be to, get the database of customers. Once you have that, take it to competitors to do maybe a customer activation campaign or JV. Take a cut for yourself and then give the business owner going out of business a cut as well since it was his asset in the first place.

Hard to turn that down because otherwise they wouldnt be making any money off it anymore. This way they are still squeezing some profits out of the list (that asset) before all is said and done.

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Tsnyder

11 years ago

Has anyone actually done any home work on this topic?

This defunct company doesn't own the phone numbers any more
than any of you own the phone numbers that happen to ring at your
cell or land lines.

You're only renting it. There' s nothing to see here. The OP would have
track down the actual owners/carriers and have the numbers assigned to
him/her and pay the monthly fees.

And... by the way... if it's a corporation none of the assets belong to
the CEO. Giving him a cut of anything could land you in criminal court.

The OP seriously needs a better idea.

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biggoogle

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

You're only renting it. There' s nothing to see here. The OP would have track down the actual owners/carriers and have the numbers assigned to him/her and pay the monthly fees.

Absolutely. And I'd be renting it because it is an asset.

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

And... by the way... if it's a corporation none of the assets belong to the CEO. Giving him a cut of anything could land you in criminal court.

Thanks for sharing that. They're an LLC. The CEO is also the president and sole founder.

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

The OP seriously needs a better idea.

It's an excellent idea, although I realize that this specific opportunity is not ideal or doable. Jay Abraham and other marketing consultants have succeeded with this very idea. MrRomeo from this forum made 7.5K a month in passive revenue from just two numbers (from small businesses who went under).

Have a great day!

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consult4u

11 years ago

i would not give up so fast.
At least contact the owner

You have identified a couple
of revue streams so why not
give it a shot and see what you
can put together?

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Tsnyder

11 years ago

biggoogle... be serious... nothing you rent is an asset.

The fact that the CEO is the President and Founder
doesn't mean much here. The corporation is a legal
person and owns the assets. Giving him something of
value in exchange for a corporate asset would mean
trouble for both of you if caught... and I see no way
to not get caught.

Good luck with this idea...

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biggoogle

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

biggoogle... be serious... nothing you rent is an asset.

If it puts money in my pockets, why wouldn't it be an asset? Asset to me means it is worth something and can bring a return when leveraged.

Assets put money in your pockets, while liabilities take money from your pockets.
-Robert Kiyosaki

Originally Posted by Tsnyder

The fact that the CEO is the President and Founder
doesn't mean much here. The corporation is a legal
person and owns the assets. Giving him something of
value in exchange for a corporate asset would mean
trouble for both of you if caught... and I see no way
to not get caught.

Good luck with this idea...

Thanks again for bringing that point up. I wasn't aware of that.

Have a great day!

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SashaLee

11 years ago

Hi there,

You can contact the owners, but it might be a long shot due to receivership.

We have a client in America that is in a niche where companies are shutting down left and right. They do everything they can to buy the defunct company's phone numbers, and have only been successful in doing it in about 5 out of 40 cases. It's not as easy as it looks.

Best,

Sasha.

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Tsnyder

11 years ago

Your definition blurs the line between asset and cash flow almost
beyond recognition. If you're renting something it is a revenue producing
asset for someone else... the person collecting your rent. You might call it
a tool but it is certainly not an asset to you.

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Eddie Spangler

11 years ago

Here is an article related to this topic. Its about how some companies acquired the website rights to dead retailers.

The Zombie Websites Of Dead Retailers - Business Insider

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Kevinhoss

11 years ago

Very interesting points indeed. Definitely something I also would like to look into.

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NewParadigm

11 years ago

network and target bankruptcy attorneys, auctioneers/liquidators etc...they have the connections. Many small/med businesses just let their customer list/website go. Most focus just on the tangible goods like inventory/parts/finished goods etc...Get on a waiting list for the domain in case those businesses or trustees do not renew it. The value of the sites are going to be very early in the process, so networking w/ those that have that knowledge is the best.

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biggoogle 11 years ago

Thanks again everyone!

Gabriel
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Gold mine found. Company has closed and there's $$$ to be made. How to get a piece of the action?

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