Related Smog Shops Blogs & Discussions

A business plan is a living document that should serve several purposes for your business. When you are buying a small business, a business plan will assist you in obtaining business purchase financing by showing lenders and investors how you plan to repay their loan by running a profitable company.

Owners often ask agents to sell business offerings for them. It's usually more difficult than selling houses when working to find a buyer for a business, to satisfy contingencies and close escrow. Business sales intermediaries either agents or brokers may want large fees, but often are worth it.

Knowing how to advertise a business for sale without revealing too much is an important skill for anyone who wants to find a buyer for a small or mid-sized California business at a good price. One caution about giving too much detail is that it might identify the company and ruin confidentiality.

A problem owners encounter when offering a California business for sale is that not all so-called buyers are qualified to make the purchase. It's frustrating and costly to waste time showing non-qualified buyers the business. Here are ways to identify time wasters so the focus is on real buyers.

Lee Petsas, a Southern California business broker addresses how he handles potential business buyers when they request information on a business for sale listing. He gives his strategies and tips for handling and directing business buyer inquiries.

Selling a business online, while often effective for finding the right buyer, is a strategy sellers need to execute correctly in order to be successful. That means avoiding the six common mistakes made by sellers. Peter Siegel, BizBen Founder talks about what it takes to effectively sell a business.

When selling a California business, owners should use our salability checklist to determine whether the effort will be successful. Ten factors must be considered to properly prepare a business for sale. Three of the factors account for more than 50% probability of achieving success in selling!

Determining the right time to sell a private business is as much an art as a science, because there are so many factors at play and each business is unique. The timing of a business sale is critical. Christina Lazuric, CBI, Orange County Business Broker discusses this topic on this BizBen Blog post.

There are a handful of key asset categories in allocating or breaking down the purchase price allocation of a business sale. The allocation is required to complete the transaction. Lee Petsas, a Southern California business broker reviews this topic in detail for buyers and sellers of businesses.

Peter Siegel, MBA Founder of BizBen and the BizBen ProBuy, ProSell Programs discusses interpreting reported earnings from sellers through tax returns, financial statements and other means when buying a small to mid-sized California small business.

If you are looking at California smog shops with the idea of buying one in order to have your own business, you'll be pleased to know this type of company can be quite profitable if operated properly. To get the best return on your investment in this business, plan to work as the test technician.

Selling or buying a small to mid-sized business is serious business so BizBen took a recent survey about three groups important to the process of buying/selling a business: small business owners/sellers, business buyers, and business brokers & agents.

Peter Siegel, MBA - BizBen.com & SBALoanAdvisors.com Founder discusses the difference between a hands on owner and an absentee owner. It covers why someone would want to be an absentee owner and then goes on to discuss the pros and cons of buying an absentee run small to mid-sized business.

Ensuring your vehicle undergoes regular smog check services is not only a personal responsibility but also contributes significantly to environmental protection. Recognizing the importance of smog check services opens up potential business opportunities in the thriving smog check industry.

A huge part of any exit strategy is properly planning for that moment in time when employees find out the business is for sale or, preferably, has been sold. Your workers have been kept in the dark for as long as possible. Some won't be a bit surprised. Others may be devastated.

Was just asked the question from a business owner what the "typical commission" amount is for a broker and if upfront fees are common? Thought this might be a great Discussion topic on BizBen for both business owner/sellers and potentially for business buyers (buyer representation).

I often get asked by owners who are looking to sell their business about what type of buyers they should expect to encounter during the sales process. The answer depends on the type of business being sold, but in general there are several different types of buyers that could be encountered.

Many business buyers complain to me about business intermediaries not getting any financial information about the business they may be interested in purchasing. There are multiple reasons for this but I agree that financial information should be readily be available to interested buyers upfront.

Can a seller of a small business back out of an ongoing escrow? Probably, yes, it all depends how far along the escrow is, which will dictate how messy things will get for both owner & buyer. Joe Ranieri (Southern California Business Broker) gives his feedback with others on this BizBen Discussion.

What are the Pros & Cons of selling a business yourself? I get asked this question all the time and would like to share with other Intermediaries on BizBen all the angles of business owners taking the initiative and selling their own business.

A buyer who I have been consulting with on the BizBen ProBuy Program is looking to buy a liquor store (and possible other "cash" oriented businesses). They asked me how they should verify cash being generated by the business and how to go about conducting due diligence etc.

Many factors determine whether inventory is included in the asking price. Among them are: the standard for that particular industry or type of business, the quality and age of the inventory, whether the inventory levels are cyclical, whether the inventory is the normal amount, etc. BizBen Discussion

When purchasing a small to mid-szied business, there are a multitude of things to evaluate. One area that is often overlooked is the business's culture. Peter Siegel, MBA with BizBen discusses with potential buyers the importance of understanding how the business runs on a day-to-day basis.

We're hearing more and more about "crowd funding" through sites like gofundme and kickstarter as a possible way to raise the cash needed to buy a small business. This method of collecting funds has proven successful in other kinds of situations. Could this strategy work when buying a small business?

Buying a business with a partner/partners, family members can make one think twice about ever doing it twice! However in this BizBen Discussion Post I chat with others about identifying roles, defining goals, attorney visits, and other relating issues.

Changing hands of business ownership can seem both exciting and daunting to all parties involved, but it's important that a smooth transition occurs to maintain or achieve success of the business. Here are some tips I recommend ensuring things go smoothly when buying a California small business.

Just had a discussion with a owner/seller about non-disclosure agreements and confidentiality agreements when selling a business. Here was her question: "I am selling my business and I have heard I should have potential buyers sign a NDA. What items of information should I have on my NDA?"

Applying for a business acquisition loan can be challenging for someone who hasn't been through that process in the past. If one has a mortgage one knows that the value of the property being pledged has to at least equal the amount of the loan, SBA loans to buy a small business are very different.