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Where To Advertise Sale Of Business


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Backstory: I own a Paint Your Own Pottery Studio that also does clay, wheel lessons, etc. The landlord has decided to not renew my lease so she can renovate this location and rent it out for more money. (Yay Portland!) I've decided this is a good opportunity to transition to a home clay studio to focus on my own work, start doing more local sales, ect. So I'm trying to sell the PYOP portion of the store. I had a customer who wanted to buy the store contents and was going move everything to a nearby location. This was perfect as my clientele would still have somewhere to go. However, that person has suddenly stopped responding to all attempts at communication. I'd rather find someone to buy a working, turn key business because that would be more profitable than selling each chair and kiln and glaze bottle off piece by piece.

 

Question: I'm at a loss of how to find more interested parties and was wondering if anyone here had any ideas. I currently have a flier up at the ceramic supplier in town, but that has yielded no interest thus far. Portland, OR is growing fast and I know there are people out there who would love a creative business, I just need to find them! Landlord *ideally* wants me out this summer. Thanks!

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Think of it as any business for sale not just ceramics people of interest.

Craigslist would be one

Paint your owns fell by hard times in many areas but yours has survived

It seems once your lease runs out the pieces is all you will have

I like your best customer as old lady said above

Make them an offer they cannot refuse before all you have is just some stuff in a garage

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I would also look up all of the other PYOP shops within a few hundred miles, and contact them directly. Your equipment and supplies are geared towards them. Who knows, someone might be trying to open a second location. 

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Been thinking about your post for the past day, before I decided to respond. It is very hard to realistically look at a business that you are emotionally attached to. While the inventory has value: what is the value less depreciation? Kilns and other studio equipment lose more value than driving a new car off the lot. The pottery biz is highly labor oriented: and profit margins are based more on the hours the owner/s put in. So are you setting the price as gross annual revenue times X percent, or net annual profit times X percent? A PYOP business would be classified as "service" based: which means an established list of repeat clientele would be the primary value added asset. Can you look back through your annual business reports and identify specific growth patterns, or has the business remained flat? Flat meaning the same basic annual revenue for three consecutive years? All tough and unpleasant questions to answer: but need to be answered in order to set a realistic asking price.

One way to sweeten the pot is by offering terms. So much down, and the balance due in 1-3 years on a monthly basis. Your buyer will need to be a cash buyer without you extending terms: doubt any bank would offer financing unless the buyer has a fair amount of equity. Before advertising, check to make sure the inventory and annual income reports justify the asking price. I get the emotional attachment, like having a baby that never leaves the nest. Just remember, how a potential buyer views your business, and how you view it are polar opposite.

Nerd

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I will say I once knew the owners of a paint your own shop.

They tried to sell at top dollar only to eventually sell the few assets for a song and donate most of the rest to a non profit clay center.

The bisque ware was land filled.

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Selling a business that has to move to a new location is usually very difficult.   Having to move to a new location devalues the "good will" of the business. 

If I were a buyer, I wouldn't pay more than the cash value of the equipment and supplies.  And that wouldn't be replacement cost.   If you are near replacement cost, most ppl just buy new.  It would start at about half of replacement cost and go downward.

 

Exactly what are you selling?  Do you have income tax returns that show profit?  Do you have a customer list?

 

There are small brokers around.   You could contact one but again, selling without the location, I'm not sure how interested they would be.   If you don't get a buyer, put everything for sale while you still have customers coming in.    Mark it down at least a month before closing.     Try to liquidate everything.  If it were me, I would start that sale right now.

 

Sharon Grimes

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If the yearly net is a livable wage and you have been in business for a few years to show it has been and should remain consistent, then it might be worth it to lease and move to a new spot close by, list and run the business until it sells. Someone wanting to buy it should be willing to pay about 18 months net under those conditions.

 

I think that would be the best way to keep the current value of your customers and if it does not pay for you to spend a few grand to get the equipment to the new digs and your customers coming over to the new location then it will not likely pay for anyone else to do it.

 

Best of luck,

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I would also liquidate through your costumers as much as possible. Pick a closing day and start discounting. Remember that all your prices were originally bases on having to restock. Now it is just saving you time clearing out. And creating goodwill to start your next chapter.

 

At the same time, advertise the business for sale in the newspaper. If the name and location change, the connection with a closing sale will have no negative impact on the new owners.

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I got a visit from the landlord today. August will be my last month.

 

Thank you for all the advice! I posted in the Potter's Attic today. I wish I knew about that when I was looking for a wheel! I've tried craigslist with little success but will try again.

 

Once I get the official paperwork from the landlord I'll start notifying customers and perhaps one of them will be willing to take over.

 

I'm not trying to profit from the sale. I'll be happy if it pays off the debt I still owe. And I'll be okay if it doesn't.

 

To answer some questions:

~Sales have remained consistent, but this year *was* looking to have higher sales than usual

~I do have a list of every customer's name and telephone number that has come in over the past year

~My asking price is just my business debt. Which adds up to be the actual cost of every item plus about $10k. But I don't know if the value of 20 years of customers and 'good will' is worth that much? (I'm the 2nd owner of the business)

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If you tell all your customers you are closing in August that will lessen their value as it will encourage folks to come up with alternatives.

 

... only you know if its worth saving. I am assuming your landlord is returning deposits and august is lots of notice so actual cost of moving is probably under 5 grand, right? With that comes some updating and over all sprucing up. Now you have a 20 year business that you can maybe sell for 12-18 months revenue, especially if you offer some financing and training. This might take a year or so and you can help build the number by really doing a push and showing what a renewed effort would do for the business. If its barely breaking even then a small increase goes right to the bottom line.

 

Good luck!

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