Find us elsewhere
Join Now Member Login

Advice Needed: buying a business

 
New Topic
Post Reply
Follow Topic
Page of 1
  • Author
  • Message
 
Attila

posts: 16

Aug 07, 2008 7:53 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
Points: 0   Vote
This just came a couple of days ago. I have been doing photography for a long time (about 20 years) and know quite a lot about it. My wife started recently with my guidance (2-3 years) and loves it.

We just had an offer, somebody is selling its photo-studio and wondered if we would take over. He also mentioned that the bldg itself is for sale where the business is located. Its a two story house with the second story being a home. I was wondering if I decide to  buy the shop, should I buy it together with the bldg or not. The place is in a good area,  the price is 800,000 for the bldg. I could probably pull off a loan of some sorts and if I sell my current house would have some downpayment, too (we could live upstairs).

I would prefer this over just buying the business, as it would give me something tangible, it would solve any possible problems with landlords and rent. If the business would fail, I still have the bldg. The problem is the price is quite high for my current financial situation. If I were to keep my current job and let my wife run the business we could probably pay the loan if we she doesn`t take any salary. However it would also mean I need to be careful to keep my job (it is a steady job, been at the same place for about 10 years now).

What is your opinion on it?

thanks,
Attila

Aug 14, 2008 4:31 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
Points: 0   Vote
I would personally think of the business and the real estate as two separate investments, each which needs to make sense on its own.
 
Evaluate the business`s profit and loss statement and be sure to factor in the amount of rent you would have to pay if someone else owned the building. Calculate how much time that you and your wife will have to spend running the business and determine if the business provides a reasonable rate of return on your capital investment as well as adequately compensates you and your wife for your time. If so, the business part of the deal probably makes sense.
 
Then ask yourself, would I buy the building if I were not buying the business? What other properties could I buy for the same amount (or less) that would be an equal or better investment?  If the business were to fail, could you rent the studio space to another tenant? If so, how much rent would this generate? Likewise, if you decided to rent out the upstairs to another tenant rather than live there yourself, how much rent would this generate? If these numbers suggest that the building would be a good investment on its own, then it might make sense to buy it.

 
If the value of the building is $800K, this translates out to something like $8,000 per month in rent (using the rent = 1/100 of property value rule of thumb). To me, this seems like far too much rent for a photo studio to be paying. Granted, some of the building may be used as your residence, but even so, the combined rent seems high unless you are located in a really pricey area and/or the studio is extraordinary profitable.
 
Finally, I would carefully check the zoning to be sure that everything is proper. In some cases, a property owner may use a portion of their residential property as a business without getting the proper approvals. This may have been overlooked by the building officials or grandfathered in but may not transfer to a new owner.
 
Good luck with the decision - its sounds exciting! 
SecurityProfessional8/14/2008 4:34 AM


-------------------------

Michael A. Silva
Silva Consultants

www.silvaconsultants.com
Rich

posts: 1738

Aug 14, 2008 12:09 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
Points: 0   Vote
hopefully you saw this article?
 
 
Rich


-------------------------

Rich Sloan , Co-Founder, Chief Startupologist, StartupNation
Attila

posts: 16

Aug 20, 2008 7:22 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
Points: 0   Vote
Thank you both for the replies. Rich, yes I did see that article, thanks,
As for the building and business, the rent I was told would be aournd 4,000. I am not sure how much the business would generate, yet.
We haven`t touched the money part, just yet.

At this point I got the inventory from the owner. My problem right now is that the owner created the inventory list and put down the original cost for the items.

Which in most of the cases is not valid in my opinion. If the assets I get are used the inventory should list its current value (price) and not how much it was as new.

Put it this way: my commons sense says that the inventory should equal current value not as it was new. He did get depreciation out of them, right? In fact how long until an item can be depreciated to 0?

What is your opinion?

thanks,
Attila

Page of 1
Post Reply
 
.
Advertisement

Keep the Community Clean!

  • StartupNation forums should be used as a platform to learn, educate others, share stories, tips & tricks and to provide constructive feedback.
  • Please do not use the Forums for advertising & blatant self-promotion.
  • Please be respectful to other members and refrain from personal attacks and vulgar language.
  • StartupNation reserves the right to delete any message, reply, and/or member who violates our terms of use.
Read full terms of use
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement