Buying a Business in New York City
Owning a business, especially in a place as busy as New York City, can take a toll on your mental health. Sometimes, even successful entrepreneurs need to take a long break, touch grass, or ultimately retire from the strenuous routine of managing and overlooking an entire operation from Monday to Monday.
Whenever you feel you’re spending too much on your medical bill due to stress, perhaps it’s time to call it quits and find someone else to take the burden. Many newcomers in the business field are opting for buying a business in New York City rather than doing their own startups.
These are the tried-and-true methods for finding a suitable buyer.
1. HIRE A BROKER
Believe it or not, selling a business is not as easy as placing a price tag on a wall. Someone looking to buy a business (New York City-based especially) is going to make sure that the company you’re selling is legit and that the pricing is accurate.
Another thing to be mindful of is the increasing amount of regulation that exists on the matter and the enormous task of trying to make sense of it all, both for selling as well as for buying a business (in New York City and virtually every other major city in the US).
Business firms are theoretically staffed with the right personnel to deal with these hot topics. Also, they have the tools to find buyers with the correct criteria that would be highly interested in your trade. They’re also well-versed in how to handle proper business valuation, a task that involves much more than just looking around the premises and going by gut feeling.
2. WORK WITH A PRIVATE EQUITY FIRM
While it might be more profitable to find people who are looking to buy a business New York City private equity firms might just be an option when no other buyer is on sight.
But, there are some things you won’t be able to sidestep, such as the demand on the part of some PE firms to keep the previous owner around to run operations in exchange for some earn-outs as compensation. PE firms may also “fire you” if you don’t deliver satisfactory results that can be reflected on paper, which can be a bit frustrating.
In short, if you opt for a PE firm thinking that it’s the quicker route, tread carefully!
3. LIST YOUR BUSINESS
Do you want to do it on your own? Consider websites such as BizBuySell.com for listing your business.
People interested in buying a business in New York City should be able to find you easily, but you’ll probably need to pay a fee in order to appear among the first results of a search, to be featured on the first page of the portal or to simply have your company listed. Yet, it’s very probable that you will spend less on these fees than on hiring a broker, though, which is a plus.
Keep in mind that you’ll be in charge of filtering potential buyers and setting up meetings with inquirers and potential buyers, among many other responsibilities.
4. FIND A RELATIVE, PARTNER, OR ACQUAINTANCE.
Instead of trying to find anonymous people looking to buy a business (New York City can be a tricky place to secure safe deals with strangers), you could instead spread the word around your family circles in search of potential buyers that are trustworthy and probably won’t be as picky.
Nevertheless, while the idea of keeping your business in the family could sound enticing, be prepared for a discounted sale. Consider it as part of the fee you’ll have to pay to speed the process up.
Another option is to sell your portion of the company to your partners, provided that they’re interested.
Finally, one of your employees may be experiencing a lucky streak and potentially would be interested in buying a business in New York City. Perhaps he/she could buy yours!
