I think your friend should get OUT of the business, but not in the way he is considering...
After 20 years, he should not be washing windows anymore. Your friend has a great opportunity to own a BUSINESS. By your brief description, it sounds like he, instead, has created a JOB for himself. All is not lost. The ideal goal of any business owner should be to work themselves OUT of a job, and let the business run itself. Then do it all over again. And yet again. This is also an ideal business because he has a customer base in place that he can easily build on to double his business. Add lawn mowing, for example. This service, which can scale up easily and run itself because it does not need skilled workers, could be an ideal candidate for great potential in several different directions - all at the same time!
He desperately needs to lay this out in a spreadsheet to see what he can net on every job he does. Then step back and RUN the business, instead of it running him. Since he has a massive customer base, go for the kill. Discount and go for quantity. Can he double his customer base in a year? Triple it? He could own the market with the right strategic moves.
I know a guy that did exactly that, but with lawn mowing. Now he not only mows residential lawns, but many commercial sites and he also does landscaping. He is a pro that is entrusted to all the golf courses, as well. He's a millionaire, and he never mows a lawn himself. He also does not NEED to run the business, as he has a team that does that too.
In the event he does actually want to sell the goose laying the golden eggs, check out this website:
How to Value a Business: The Ultimate Guide to Business Valuation
After 20 years, he should not be washing windows anymore. Your friend has a great opportunity to own a BUSINESS. By your brief description, it sounds like he, instead, has created a JOB for himself. All is not lost. The ideal goal of any business owner should be to work themselves OUT of a job, and let the business run itself. Then do it all over again. And yet again. This is also an ideal business because he has a customer base in place that he can easily build on to double his business. Add lawn mowing, for example. This service, which can scale up easily and run itself because it does not need skilled workers, could be an ideal candidate for great potential in several different directions - all at the same time!
He desperately needs to lay this out in a spreadsheet to see what he can net on every job he does. Then step back and RUN the business, instead of it running him. Since he has a massive customer base, go for the kill. Discount and go for quantity. Can he double his customer base in a year? Triple it? He could own the market with the right strategic moves.
I know a guy that did exactly that, but with lawn mowing. Now he not only mows residential lawns, but many commercial sites and he also does landscaping. He is a pro that is entrusted to all the golf courses, as well. He's a millionaire, and he never mows a lawn himself. He also does not NEED to run the business, as he has a team that does that too.
In the event he does actually want to sell the goose laying the golden eggs, check out this website:
How to Value a Business: The Ultimate Guide to Business Valuation