Southern California Deal Gets Derailed

I hear alot of interesting stories about the selling or buying small to mid-sized businesses and I like to share them with my BizBen blog readers. Chris Krikorian a business broker in Southern California emailed me this story of how a deal was "set back". If you ever wonder what it takes sometimes to close a deal ....

"Last November I got a call from a gentleman who is in the Army but has already served a tour of duty in Iraq. When he came back 2 years ago he started a janitorial company, of which he had a background in.

It was flourishing and growing at a steady pace. Last November he got a call from the Army saying they might need him to go back to Iraq in March so he better get his affairs in order. He called me and we listed his janitorial business. I had a lot of calls and I found a buyer in 1 week. We were in escrow in another week. Everything was perfect until the buyer called me 2 days before the scheduled closing and said that he his father was very sick with cancer and things looked grave.

I offered to delay the closing until things were stable he agreed. A day later he called and said his Dad was doing much better and they decided to go ahead and close the escrow. I asked him if he was sure given the circumstance and he said he was. We closed the escrow. Two days later he called me panicked and said that his Dad very sick and he and his brother were at the hospital nonstop and they couldn’t run the business, they want to sell. I said “sell!! are you kidding?” I told them to think about it overnight. The next day they called me to tell me their Dad had passed away but they still wanted to sell because their Dad was a reverend and in their religion they can’t work for a month and they have to church every day so we listed the business.

Now I’ve been working feverishly to find another buyer before the first sellers patience runs out. He has agreed to run the business as if it was never sold until we find a buyer. I just wrote a offer on the business today (after it being on the market 4 business days!) but it’s not full price so we are going to see if any other offers come in before the deadline. Stay tuned to see what happens next… "

By the way, if you have a story or experience to share about the selling or buying a business process please email me . . .  and share your story and experiences with other readers.

Posted on January 29, 2008  |   Email This Blog Post   |   Print This Blog Post   |  All Contributions From Christina Lazuric