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Selling my Ecommerce Business

amp0193

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The wire hit Escrow around 9:30pm my time. There was some drama and lots of phone calls to Escrow from the buyer trying to get the payment accepted. We almost had to postpone this until Monday. But in the end, it all worked out.

I transferred all assets to buyer control after that.

All deposits and charges for the business will now be going to buyers. But now, they've got to go in and clean everything up, switching out my personal details and addresses on things, changing emails, etc.

Our goal tonight was just to make sure the money was coming and going from the right places.


I offered to handle the customer service over the weekend while they sort everything out. Next week, they are flying here for a 3-day boot camp with me on running the business, so after that, it'll be completely out of my hands.


So now, I'm in that awkward, and a little bit scary, period of having no money (it's in escrow), and no business. However, I feel way more calm now that things are wrapping up.
 
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Vigilante

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The wire hit Escrow around 9:30pm my time. There was some drama and lots of phone calls to Escrow from the buyer trying to get the payment accepted. We almost had to postpone this until Monday. But in the end, it all worked out.

I transferred all assets to buyer control after that.

All deposits and charges for the business will now be going to buyers. But now, they've got to go in and clean everything up, switching out my personal details and addresses on things, changing emails, etc.

Our goal tonight was just to make sure the money was coming and going from the right places.


I offered to handle the customer service over the weekend while they sort everything out. Next week, they are flying here for a 3-day boot camp with me on running the business, so after that, it'll be completely out of my hands.


So now, I'm in that awkward, and a little bit scary, period of having no money (it's in escrow), and no business. However, I feel way more calm now that things are wrapping up.


Gold

So excited for you

Congratulations
 

KLaw

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Where was this guy 3 months ago? :rofl:


I don't know man, I hate hypotheticals, especially unrealistic ones.


I got a price in the range of what the business was worth. Can't complain.
No way. That's not an answer. I'm genuinely curious as to what you, or anyone else, would do....
 

MJ DeMarco

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How on earth did I miss this thread for months?

period of having no money (it's in escrow)

Hmm, shouldn't you get the money as soon as you transfer assets? Or is there a clause that says subject to your performance in some area? This seems unusual to me and I would not have agreed to such an arrangement. As soon as asset transfer is done, I get the cash. If there is some stipulation for training or performance, only a portion of the escrow should be retained, not the entire thing.

2 years ago I was a middle school teacher and it would have taken me a couple of decades to save this much money.

Boom! Love it when we see the Fastlane in action. Congratulations brother, proud of you!
 
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Scot

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@amp0193 I'm very happy for you, been following this thread religiously.

Good things are coming in your future man. Can't wait to see what you do next.
 

MTF

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Congratulations @amp0193. This thread shows that even selling the business - not merely building it - is a difficult and relatively long process, and not an overnight event.

I sold one of my businesses and while the process wasn't even half as long as yours, it was a stressful period for me so I can't even imagine how stressful it was for you.
 
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jon.a

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What do you mean why? Because this is an educational thread. I am curious as to the ethics / thinking / logic to my hypothetical. Why do you ask why....
Because it was a stupid question and I wanted to hear the thought process behind it.
 
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CareCPA

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Super excited that this has finally gone through. And even more excited for the next venture.
 

amp0193

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No way. That's not an answer. I'm genuinely curious as to what you, or anyone else, would do....

Lol, ok, fine.

If he's got an identical contract in his hand, ready to sign, with 2x the money, I'd drop everything and take it.


Now, more realistically, if someone came out of the woodwork, with a slightly higher offer, but with no intention of signing anything until another 3-4 weeks of due diligence (not likely, because the business has been marked "pending sale" for the past month, which would turn away most people)... I wouldn't be interested. The +EV of having the sure thing now, within my price range, ready to go, vs. having to turn away the current buyers for the chance of getting a slightly higher multiple from someone who is probably just throwing a LOI at me to get me under contract so that he can then start thinking about whether or not he wants to buy the business, and then more than likely flakes out and has just wasted a ton of my time, OR from someone who's just a regular person and wants to chat with me and the broker multiple times over 2-3 weeks before thinking about maybe or maybe putting in an LOI and meanwhile the broker has already pushed out my listing to all of his lists twice in the last 3 months and probably won't do it a 3rd time, so the likelihood of getting anymore leads with this broker are not high, and so I'd have to start from square one with a new broker, who now, 6 months in the future, secures me a slightly higher offer, and I'm able to close at a slightly higher multiple than what I did yesterday, however even though the multiple was higher, the actual sales price is less, because I had no time to run the business as well as I should of and monthly income stagnated while I spent 100% of my focus on my new venture, which is also stagnating, because I had to commit so much money into holiday inventory for the business that I still haven't managed to sell yet.

In that case, I just go ahead and close out the deal I have in front of me.


Did that satisfy your curiosity?
 
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amp0193

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Hmm, shouldn't you get the money as soon as you transfer assets? Or is there a clause that says subject to your performance in some area? This seems unusual to me and I would not have agreed to such an arrangement. As soon as asset transfer is done, I get the cash. If there is some stipulation for training or performance, only a portion of the escrow should be retained, not the entire thing.

There's no performance clauses subject to anything. I'll be getting the money soon. I just meant, the couple of days before the escrow money hits my bank account (we're on the weekend). I should hopefully see the payment Monday or Tuesday next week.


Boom! Love it when we see the Fastlane in action. Congratulations brother, proud of you!

Thanks @MJ DeMarco!
 
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amp0193

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Amazing thread! Congrats @amp0193!

I was extremely anxious reading this thread, but really glad that things went smooth. Let's hope that the next exit is significantly bigger.

Thanks @AgainstAllOdds

I was extremely anxious writing it!

The next exit will be "no more work for the rest of my life" kind of money. I'm in my new venture for the long haul.

And I imagine the process for selling a business of that size will be longer and more painful.
 
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amp0193

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I've been reading this thread since it began. Congrats, @amp0193 ! Amazing info here!

Thanks brother!

Amazing avatar and username combo. It looks like you've been here longer than me. I don't know if I've seen you post before.

Where in Texas?
 

Xavier X

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@amp0193 Congrats man, I've been keeping an eye out on your progress with the sale.

Party time!

runningworm.gif
 
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biophase

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It was just an asset sale.

65% - assets
35% - goodwill

intellectual property and intangibles were divided up in there under the 65% assets.

Did you guys negotiate over that split?
 

CareCPA

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Did you guys negotiate over that split?
The "assets" aren't traditional assets, so he won't have the depreciation recapture of selling an equipment-heavy business. We looked at the tax impact before signing.
 

Aaron T

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And I imagine the process for selling a business of that size will longer and more painful.

It depends on the business I imagine, but in actuality while the process was longer than I liked and there were more lawyers and accountants involved, it was easier for my largest exit yet (a year ago Sept. 14th for me) than many of the smaller ones. Similarly it was easier raising tens millions for the company than hundreds of thousands.

I am really looking forward to this next venture of yours and seeing that Gold thread as well!
 
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amp0193

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Did you guys negotiate over that split?

We didn't negotiate.

That's how their lawyer split it up when they edited the Asset Purchase Agreement. I ran it by by @CareCPA, and he thought it was fine, and wouldn't have any negative tax implications for me, so I didn't try to change it.
 

amp0193

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It depends on the business I imagine, but in actuality while the process was longer than I liked and there were more lawyers and accountants involved, it was easier for my largest exit yet (a year ago Sept. 14th for me) than many of the smaller ones. Similarly it was easier raising tens millions for the company than hundreds of thousands.

I am really looking forward to this next venture of yours and seeing that Gold thread as well!


Interesting. I guess it really just depends on a lot of things then.

This next time around, I'm starting with the end in mind, so I hope to have everything in place to be really attractive to a buyer down the road.
 

Aaron T

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This next time around, I'm starting with the end in mind, so I hope to have everything in place to be really attractive to a buyer down the road.

Having experience going through now, and with a team of people that will help you, it will be easier than the first time. Just saying you will have the end in mind starting out, you are ahead of most.

But for now, this weekend at least, you better be celebrating!
 
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Hey amp,

Can you tell us a little bit about the early stages of the business and what that was like? I'm not asking what business you're in but what was it like starting out?

Was it a retail shop or did you go through the process of finding manufacturers and do the importing thing? If this was your first, what was it like a new importer and obviously building a brand behind those products. Did you have any doubts in regards to you're niche selection at the time and how long into the business did you start to see traction?

Love to hear stories like this and it's always great to find out about the beginning and the journey - not just the end result (which is awesome btw).

Congrats brother!
 

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Incredible thread. And congrats!

I plan to sell my ecommerce business in 1-2 years.

I know you probably don't want to disclose your selling price, but would you care to mention the multiple of monthly profit you were able to sell for?

From what I've read, 30-40X monthly profit seems to be about the starting range for similar businesses (and I assume it goes down from there).


Looking back, what are some of the easiest things you could have done to increase this multiple? The "smack yourself in the head because you didn't do it" kind of stuff that you took a hit on with the selling price.
 

amp0193

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Having experience going through now, and with a team of people that will help you, it will be easier than the first time. Just saying you will have the end in mind starting out, you are ahead of most.

But for now, this weekend at least, you better be celebrating!

You know I will be! Escrow ACH'd the money to my account today. It should hit my bank account tomorrow.


My parents are coming in town to visit this weekend. I'm going to have a $12,000 check for my mom, to pay her back for the car she bought me 6 years ago. She's not expecting it.
 
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Aaron T

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My parents coming in town to visit this weekend. I'm going to have a $12,000 check for my mom, to pay her back for the car she bought me 6 years ago. She's not expecting it.

This is the best reason for having extra money. What you can do for those you love.
 

amp0193

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Can you tell us a little bit about the early stages of the business and what that was like? I'm not asking what business you're in but what was it like starting out?

I took a 1 month maternity leave when my daughter was born. Her being born set off a switch in my brain, and I knew I needed to start a business. I had already been thinking about importing because of the threads on this forum at the time.

I did the Import Jumpstart course by startupbros (which was only... $300ish at the time) and found my first product at the end of that first month. I called my school principal and extended my maternity leave another 2 months, and did my first order. I did not tell my wife about my first order until it was almost sold out. She thought importing was a horrible idea, especially given my track record of losing $11,000 to scams in the previous year.

I launched in November 2014 (holiday season) and my first order sold out in less than a week. I was hooked.


Was it a retail shop or did you go through the process of finding manufacturers and do the importing thing? If this was your first, what was it like a new importer and obviously building a brand behind those products.
I did the importing thing. Mostly sold on Amazon. Amazon was down to 80% of my sales by the end, as the wholesale-side of the business expanded to 100 stores this year.

And yes, being a new importer was scary. It was actually much less scary for me than probably for most, as nearly all of my product comes from Eastern Europe, and not China, and so the manufacturer actually had a really nice B2B website, spoke perfect English, etc. I'm still using the same supplier that I used for that first sample order 3 years ago. Also, my products are small, and every shipment is done via DHL Express. So, for the most part I haven't had to deal with freight forwarders.

Did you have any doubts in regards to you're niche selection at the time and how long into the business did you start to see traction?

No, I had no doubts. After 40-50 hours of product research, when I came across my first product it was an instant YES. It checked all of my criteria that I had at the time including, hot niche, few competitors, tiny & light products. 6 months later the niche was flooded. I was at the top because I got in early, with good branding. You would be crazy to enter this niche now.

I got traction immediately. 20-30 sales a day for the first few days.


I actually had a progress thread running for a little bit at the very beginning. I eventually stopped updating it. If anyone's curious about what I was doing when I started out, give it a read. It's been a couple of years since I looked at this thread:

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/5-products-5-5-sales-a-day-5-countries.57132/
 
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