Fixing or flipping a small business is much easier than real estate for a variety of reasons, and in this brief article I am going to outline and touch on a few of them.
Below is a list of 5 advantages in dealing with businesses instead of real estate:
1. Very little competition: You are not competing with every Tom, Dick and Harry who watches a late night TV Infomercial guaranteeing instant overnight success in real estate.
2. Seller Financing: Sixty to ninety percent of small business sales involve seller financing. of owners will carry back some or all of the financing, so locating money for the deal is right there at your fingertips.
3. Immediate Cash Flow: If you pick the right deal you get cash flow the very next day.
4. You Control The Outcome: In a business, you control about 85% of what happens. Your results are not dictated by government housing regulations or bank loan rates.
A business is totally under Your control. You pull the strings and You control it.
You also get cash flow, tax write-offs, incentives, and a whole host of other immediate benefits.
You can’t say that about real estate market. Not in Land, Not in Houses, and not in Commercial Real Estate either.
No other investment in the world gives you so much power and control over the outcome.
In the business of business flipping you are the master of your destiny. The opportunities are everywhere.
The biggest problem when it comes to investing in businesses is this:
How-To Information is hard to come by. It is a closely guarded secret because those doing it are making so much money, they don’t want to train the competition. How To Information about real estate investing is easy to come by because many of the people selling information don’t have a clue how to make money in the real estate business and need to sell how to information to pay the bills. Every year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau:
• There are approximately 32.5 million small businesses in America
• About half of all new businesses close their doors within 5 years for one reason or another.
An estimated 51% of all US small businesses are owned by people over 55 years old, and 75% of them are expected to sell and retire, or close within the next 10 – 15 years. When you get right down to is, the numbers are staggering and opportunities are abundant. A recent report from one of the largest business for sale websites in the world says that 78% of business brokers expect more businesses to be put on the market this year than in the past.
That means an enormous amount of businesses are about to come on the market.
One of the most common mistakes a business owner does when they begin thinking of getting out is they lose interest in the business and management begins to slip. When this happens revenue begins to decrease, and the business begins in a downward spiral.
This creates an enormous opportunity for people like you and me because, when a company is established, has a customer base and is managed poorly, it can be turned around rapidly with minimal work. Business opportunities like this are all over the place. Owners working in their business who lose interest and just want out.
All you need to do is step in there, make a few changes, and increase revenue and profits. Then you get to decide if you want to keep it for cash flow, or sell it for a big payday and go get another one.
All business is the same. They all operate the same way – the only difference is the product you deliver. No matter what business it is. The only difference between a manufacturing business in Detroit, a restaurant in Florida, and a Tug Boat operation in the Gulf of Mexico is the product they produce and deliver. They all need customers, they all need marketing, they all need competent management, they all need systems, and they all need customer follow up.
All you need is a methodical process to identify the obvious and a checklist to Identify Deficiencies, Uncover Hidden Assets, Capitalize on Opportunities, and then immediately take action.
Will you get rich?
I will not promise you that you’ll make millions over night or something foolish like that.
But I do know that buying and flipping businesses delivers a much better return on your investment, can provide immediate cash flow and return, gives you more control over circumstances and outcomes, are easier to finance, much easier to come by, and there is no competition!
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Paul Forsberg is a Business Consultant and provides Intermediary services in Florida.
He is in and out of businesses all of the time. Consulting, arranging succession plans, mergers & acquisitions, business valuations, and providing intermediary services for those who want to buy or sell.
