Most people in Minneapolis don’t jump into buying a business. Instead, they take the time to research the company, find out about the future of the industry and then make an informed offer at a fair market price.
These individuals tend to use business brokerages to help identify the best businesses for sale in the city based on their interests, their budget and their personal preferences for location. Brokers offer the advantage of working just for the buyer, searching out qualified businesses on the market and then acting as a consultant and advisor throughout the purchase process.
Even with a business broker, there are questions that any potential buyer should ask about businesses for sale under consideration. In many cases, the broker will already have the information and he or she can explain what the answer means in terms of how it impacts the value of the business now as well as in the future.
Types of Customers
In any type of business from retail stores to restaurants and from manufacturing companies to B2B sales, the composition of the customer base will be important to understand.
The company may have a few customers that make up the bulk of their sales and revenue. They may also have a continual flow of individual customers that each contribute a small amount to the revenue.
This is important as a business sale can impact if customers continue doing business or move to another supplier. With lots of customers, this is less of an impact than a few big customers that make up the entire revenue stream for the company.
Company Reputation
In Minneapolis, there are very reputable, Established and Successful Businesses for Sale and there are also those that have a bad reputation for products, service or both. In some cases, the company has a good reputation with customers but a bad reputation with employees, which may result in a constant employee turnover and few trained and experienced employees on hand when you take over the businesses.
There can be issues with paying current vendors on time, which may create a problem in the future, particularly if the vendor is owed money from the past owner at the time of the sale.
This is where a business broker is a real asset. He or she will complete due diligence on the company, ensuring that there are no outstanding issues, zoning issues, compliance issues or any other problems that may negatively impact your ability to take over the company without any unpleasant surprises.
