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Selling my Ecommerce Business

Scot

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Awesome news!

Oban 18 is good but not "sell your business good". Get a bottle of Glenmorangie Signet.
 
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Greg R

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Anyone got any recommendations for a fine bottles of scotch and/or whiskey? The kind worth getting to celebrate the sale of a business, aging another decade, and seeing a best friend soon to be married?

I'm partial to Japanese Whiskey.

Yamazaki 18 Year

OR

Hibiki 21 Year
 

mom

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Amazon (Internet business in general) scare me a bit. To buy i mean.

Things change so fast on the net i'd be a bit worried about it carrying on in the future. With Amazon aren't you giving up a lot of control? I have heard horror stories of them banning businesses etc...

Good luck...are we talking high six figures here? Life changing or a good start?
 

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Honestly, I didn't expect it but that was some of the best whiskey I've ever had.

The novelty of being a Japanese whiskey on top of it being a world class whiskey in and of itself makes this a winner IMHO.

Also - while this isn't a "top shelf" recommendation by any means, I personally think it takes like it: Redbreast 12 Year Irish Whiskey.
The "toffee" that comes through is insane. I could live in the nose of this stuff. Amazing taste. A buddy of mine actually gifted me a bottle of the 18 year stuff which was significantly more expensive and I honestly preferred the 12.

Redbreast is my whiskey of choice at literally any price range.

If you want to try something a bit different from the typical Whiskey recommendations, I'd also HIGHLY recommend a Don Julio 1942 Tequila. This stuff is the bomb. Good tequila is NOTHING like bar rail swill. It might as well be called a different beverage for how night and day different they are.

People who hate tequila usually think of shooting the stuff with a lemon at a dive bar and waking up with a hangover to end all hangovers. Good tequila is every bit as sippable and complex as a good whiskey. It's a VERY nice, surprising treat to break out instead of the classic whiskey.
 

Greg R

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Good tequila is every bit as sippable and complex as a good whiskey.

Completely agree. I've been getting into higher-end Mescal Tequila lately. Chicago is going Mescal crazy right now.

Sorry @amp0193 for the thread hijack. Maybe we should start a high-end liquor thread just like the boys did with the cigar thread.
 

ZeroTo100

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One more side note:

My 30th birthday is on the 16th. Also that weekend is my life-long friend's bachelor party.

It would be wonderful to go into that weekend with the ink dry on the contract and the escrow funds being transferred to my account.

We'll see if it plays out that way.


Anyone got any recommendations for a fine bottles of scotch and/or whiskey? The kind worth getting to celebrate the sale of a business, aging another decade, and seeing a best friend soon to be married?

Yes! Glen 18, 21, 25...I have had mac 25, blue, all of the above but for some reason I just love Glenlivet.

Now if you want even finer wines, I'm your guy!

I'm 33 and although not an alcoholic just yet haha I have had some of the best tasting beverages on my palate. Did a lot of celebrating lol
 
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amp0193

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Amazon (Internet business in general) scare me a bit. To buy i mean.

Things change so fast on the net i'd be a bit worried about it carrying on in the future. With Amazon aren't you giving up a lot of control? I have heard horror stories of them banning businesses etc...

Exactly. That's why the multiples for Amazon businesses are so low. The sale price is only 2x annual profit.

That's also why businesses with a history sell better than ones that don't. 2 years old is generally the minimum that a buyer wants to see. Mine has been very consistently growing for almost 3.

For every horror story you hear about selling on Amazon, there are many people who have had no issues ever.

Good luck...are we talking high six figures here? Life changing or a good start?

Not going to throw out a dollar amount, but for what my goals are in the next 10 years... it's a good start.

However, it's also life-changing in that I'll be able to pay off all personal debt, put a large down payment on a house, have 6-12 months of expenses in the bank, and bankroll a much bigger business that I've started. I'll be in a very good position to handle whatever comes at me in the next 5-10 years.

2 years ago I was a middle school teacher and it would have taken me a couple of decades to save this much money... assuming I was a complete tightwad and had no luxuries in my life. Then again, with raising kids, I probably would have never saved this much money ever. Like most people living the American dream.
 

amp0193

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Completely agree. I've been getting into higher-end Mescal Tequila lately. Chicago is going Mescal crazy right now.

Sorry @amp0193 for the thread hijack. Maybe we should start a high-end liquor thread just like the boys did with the cigar thread.

No apologies needed. You guys came in clutch... lots of good suggestions!

But yeah.. someone start a thread!

I nominate @JAJT
 

amp0193

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amp0193

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Call went well today.

It was mostly just questions like "why do you do this this way?", "Why are you using this 3pl?", "Why are you using this packaging supplier?"

In the discussion, we actually figured out a way to cut $1500/mo in postage expenses right off the bat, and it's something that was right under my nose, and pretty easy to implement. It was having the 3PL takeover all of the website shipments, where I've been previously using Amazon 3rd-party fulfillment... just because that's what I've always used.

The only question that was kind of a "gotcha" was "why don't you have insurance?".

Yeah, I didn't really have a good answer for that.

I guess because I'm a idiot?

The truth is I just never took the time to figure it out, or there was always something more urgent to be working on. It just wasn't a priority for me.


However, I know that's not necessarily the most believable answer to that question. They might be thinking "maybe this guy couldn't get any insurance because of the nature of the products".


But then, after the call, they emailed me with more details for the post-sale training... so maybe they are just going to do a little extra research into getting the insurance figured out before they commit, and it wasn't a deal breaker.


They are meeting with me in person in 6 days. It's getting real now.
 
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amp0193

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Well, I thought we were all good, but then they reviewed the August books and started freaking out.

What triggered the concerns was seeing a decrease in Amazon sales for the month. This was caused by my lowest ppc spend ever (the reducing of the ppc spend has been an ongoing strategy to increase the bottom line). However, the profit for the month was the 2nd best ever (after last month).

They are placing too much importance on sales and product BSRs. Both of which don't really matter nearly as much as search rank and profit, and those are doing great.

I had very good answers to all of their concerns, so hopefully that satisfies them.

The funny thing is, if my BSRs were great, and my Amazon sales were super high, they would be getting after me for having such high ppc costs.


I think they are tense as due diligence is wrapping up and decision time is coming soon.


It's definitely tense on my side. I had to get out of the house for the entire day. I took my daughter to go watch planes at DFW Airport.


Time is passing super slowly.
 

hughjasle

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2 years ago I was a middle school teacher and it would have taken me a couple of decades to save this much money... assuming I was a complete tightwad and had no luxuries in my life. Then again, with raising kids, I probably would have never saved this much money ever. Like most people living the American dream.
This is my favorite part of all this. Congrats man. Even better that you are already making waves in the next business. Keep killing it.
 
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Philip Marlowe

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This is a great thread. I've gotten way ahead of myself and just read 'Built to Sell', which I'd recommend to anyone on this forum (although you've now experienced it all first hand).

Best of luck on this.

EDIT - Second on McCallan 25. Excellent single-malt. If you like peaty/smokey though, give Laphroaig 10 a try.
 
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amp0193

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This is a great thread. I've gotten way ahead of myself and just read 'Built to Sell', which I'd recommend to anyone on this forum (although you've now experienced it all first hand).

You're not getting ahead of yourself.

The #1 lesson I've taken away from all of this is always have the end in mind.

There are decisions I make this month in my new business, that will in one way or another affect how the sale of this business goes 5 years from now. Everything needs to be built with the exit in mind.

I just ordered Built to Sell on Amazon yesterday, I think because of your recommendation in another thread.
 

amp0193

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The buyers flew in to meet with me today. We did a 2-hour session at a coffee shop, where after a bit of small talk and pleasantries, they went through question after question they had for me.

Most of it was process stuff on the mechanics of running the business. Most of it we had gone over before, but we went more in depth today, and they got to look over my shoulder as I went through some things on Amazon.

There were no surprise questions out of left field. I had a good answer for just about everything.

Then we took a break for lunch for some unbelievable Texas Bar-B-Que. Maybe the best I've had in my whole life.

With full tummies and the out-of-towners impressed with the meal, we went back at it.

It was another 2 hours of questioning me about every little thing... mainly on ways I would grow the business if I had unlimited resources and was going to continue to run the company.


After which... they seemed fairly satisfied. We ended on a good note, with a laundry list of things I need to compile for them over the next couple of days, and a statement of:

"we'll send over the signed contract tomorrow"


!!!!!

Here's to hoping they do.


This is just my gut feeling... but I say the odds are 2 out of 3 that the signed contract comes with a slightly lower modification to the offer. We'll see. It's just a thought, as I think I may have come across as more eager to sell today than I had intended. I'm not sure if they picked up on that.
 
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Aaron T

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I am super excited for you! I hope you get that contract and there are no surprises! This has been a great thread to read so far.

Also the Japanese Whiskeys by far are my favorites now. But I enjoy a lot of whiskey and everything mentioned so far has been a good choice.
 

amp0193

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I'm working on the compiling the laundry list of docs, and keep hitting refresh on my email like it's going to make an email appear.

I didn't think I would be this anxious.


My broker was right: Buyers always think the process is going too fast, and always want more time to learn more about the business. Sellers get progressively anxious and think the due diligence process is taking too long!
 

Philip Marlowe

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This is excellent news. Fingers crossed.

I know you said the sale will ideally float your next business and possibly pay-off a few things. Will your 9-5 change at all, or is that the purpose of the follow-on venture?
 
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amp0193

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This is excellent news. Fingers crossed.

I know you said the sale will ideally float your next business and possibly pay-off a few things. Will your 9-5 change at all, or is that the purpose of the follow-on venture?

I haven't had a 9-5 in 16 months.
 

amp0193

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Just a placeholder email from them today about the stuff I sent over.

"we'll review and let you know if we have more questions".


I could rip my hair out.


Close date still isn't technically until 9/22. So I figure one way or the other, this will be wrapped up in a week.
 

CareCPA

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Just a placeholder email from them today about the stuff I sent over.

"we'll review and let you know if we have more questions".


I could rip my hair out.


Close date still isn't technically until 9/22. So I figure one way or the other, this will be wrapped up in a week.
Frustrating.

I can't imagine spending all this time and energy on the due diligence - this isn't the type of transaction you make if you're new to the industry, and an experienced person shouldn't have so many step-by-step process questions.
 
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ddzc

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Just a placeholder email from them today about the stuff I sent over.

"we'll review and let you know if we have more questions".


I could rip my hair out.


Close date still isn't technically until 9/22. So I figure one way or the other, this will be wrapped up in a week.

Fingers crossed. Best of luck!
 

amp0193

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Frustrating.

I can't imagine spending all this time and energy on the due diligence - this isn't the type of transaction you make if you're new to the industry, and an experienced person shouldn't have so many step-by-step process questions.

My overall impression, is that they are just trying to figure out if it's a business that suits them, and if they've got a plan to take it somewhere.

And actually, I think a lot of good number of buyers in this price range are probably new to the industry and buying a business for the first time. They are asking step-by-step questions to really understand how everything works. But when I'm being asked some of the same questions 3 weeks in a row... it starts to wear me down!

When you get into the multi-millions, then you're talking professional business buyers.
 

amp0193

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Boom, in my inbox this morning.

f7c5dc362ea0dc2ed0482552cf485848_copy.jpg



My lawyer and I are reviewing the document now, and will make any changes if necessary, then send it back to the buyers and their lawyer for review. This process will repeat until both sides are happy... then we'll sign on the dotted line, money gets transferred into escrow, and I transfer over the assets of the business.

The end is in sight.

And thankfully, there was no change in their offer price from what we settled on a month ago.

I think I'll thoroughly enjoy my Woodford Reserve this weekend:

File_Sep_15_10_32_18_AM.jpg
 
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TheSmokey1

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Boom, in my inbox this morning.

f7c5dc362ea0dc2ed0482552cf485848_copy.jpg



My lawyer and I are reviewing the document now, and will make any changes if necessary, then send it back to the buyers and their lawyer for review. This process will repeat until both sides are happy... then we'll sign on the dotted line, money gets transferred into escrow, and I transfer over the assets of the business.

The end is in sight.

And thankfully, there was no change in their offer price from what we settled on a month ago.

I think I'll thoroughly enjoy my Woodford Reserve this weekend:

Excellent, I'm really happy for you. Thanks for taking the time to share the details with us.
 

JAJT

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This will likely be the go-to reference thread for people looking to sell their business for years man. Great job with all this.

Can't wait to see you close this off :)
 

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