03 Feb Who Buys a New Mexico Business?
Buyers buy a small business for many of the same reasons that sellers sell businesses: They want to secure their futures. Our job is to recognize who is serious and who is not to save our sellers effort, time and frustration. We have put safeguards in place to help protect our clients from frivolous tire-kickers. If the buyer is not serious, the sale will never close, and the sellers’ time will have been wasted. As will ours. We don’t let it get to that stage.
Our buyer screening provides us with an overview of a prospect’s capabilities, experience and qualifications. Once we have confirmed their financial ability, secured a Non-Disclosure Agreement, and are reasonably confident about their commitment to buying a business, we invite them in to our office for a meeting or converse with them over the phone. These conversations familiarize us with their talents, strengths and motivations.
Here are just a few of the reasons that buyers considering buying a business in New Mexico and southern Colorado.
Desire to move, return or continue to reside in New Mexico or southern Colorado
- Unready to embrace full retirement
- Desire for more control over their lives
- Attracted by putting their own ideas into practice and manifesting their talents
- Desire to secure the financial future of their families
- Job dissatisfaction
Buyer Profile
While a decade ago, most who sought New Mexico businesses for sale were largely male, this has changed. Over the last several years we have seen a steady trend of more women buying businesses. More couples are also purchasing New Mexico business for sale. They want a business that they can grow together. These couples often bring a well-rounded, impressive toolkit of complementary skills to the operating and growing of a business.
Sam Goldenberg & Associates’ clients who seek to buy a business deviates from the U.S. norm, where almost 50 percent have less than $100,00 to invest in purchasing a businesses. Our buyers range from solidly working class to affluent, upper middle class. This is reflected in our portfolio of businesses for sale, which vary in price from $75,000 to $2 million and above.
Many buyers will access their 401(K) or other qualified retirement plans before they reach retirement age. Under the Federal Government’s ROBS program, they can tap these funds without any tax penalty, acquire a business debt-free, and put their savings to work.
Many of the business buyers with whom we work have high-level executive experience. Several have owned businesses in the past. Others simply come to a stage in their careers where they are ready to take this step. They may have had enough of getting lost in large corporate environments, or they are frustrated that, no matter how hard they work, they are simply not getting ahead. They want a career where they see a commensurate value for their efforts. They want to be in charge of their destinies.
Many are New Mexico residents who realize that buying a business is their best way to find a fulfilling career and secure their future. Others are from out of state who have been visiting the region for years and want to make their home here. New Mexico’s cultural landscape is as diverse as its flora and fauna. The area holds sway over outdoor enthusiasts, “Cultural Creatives,” or those seeking a strong sense of community and traditional values.
If they are just looking for a straight money-making venture with no regard to where the business is located, they typically are not a serious prospect.
People who buy a New Mexico business are action-minded, but not all would describe themselves as “entrepreneurs.” A serious buyer tends to be a prudent decision-maker who will research the opportunities and risks of a acquiring a company. After all, a business is not an impulse purchase.
There is no single primary reason why someone decides to go into business for themselves, but a willing buyer typically has the following traits:
- The desire to buy a business
- A desire to be in New Mexico or southern Colorado
- The financial resources
- The ability to make his or her own decisions
- Reasonable expectations of what business ownership can do for him or her
What Do Buyers Want to Know?
It will help a business seller’s decision-making process to understand not only who the buyer is, but what he or she will want to know in order to buy your business. Here is a sampling of the information we gather to market your business and match it with a serious, qualified buyer.
- How much money is required to buy the business?
- What is the annual increase in sales?
- What is the value of the inventory, fixtures, furniture, equipment and other leasehold improvements?
- Will the seller train and stay on for awhile?
- What makes the business different, special or unique?
- What further defines the product or service? Bid work? Repeat business?
- What are the opportunities to grow the business, either through cost-cutting, better marketing, or expansion into complimentary products and services.
- What other measures can the buyer take to add value?
- What is the profit picture in bad times as well as good?
If you would like to learn more about selling your business or to take the first step and find out what your business is worth, we welcome your call to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation. You can reach us at (505)820-0163, toll-free at 844-GO-NM-BIZ, or through email at info@samgoldenberg.com.