Owners want to stay involved

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by a searcher
in United States

8mos ago

Owners want to stay involved

How would you approach making an offer if the 3 owners all want to sell but 2 of them want to stay involved? My understanding is they want to take chips off the table but need income because they’re in their 50s. Would you structure it with them involved still or only buy if they’re not involved?

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reply by a searcher 7mos ago
from Erasmus University Rotterdam in Araçatuba, State of São Paulo, Brazil

Having the owners staying in the business can have some advantages (easier transitions, lower businesses risk) but can add a lot of other risks - how will your relationship with the former owners be? Are they clear on what their role (and yours) in the new company will be? Are they open (and willing) to see you as their boss? Will their encourage the rest of the company to do the same? What will happen when you disagree on how to run the business? To answer all of these, I think you need to have enough time to create a relationship with the owners - which is often time that you don't have during a search. In any case, I believe you need some good exit clauses in case the relationship doesn't work for any reason down the road.

reply by a searcher 7mos ago
in Phoenix, AZ, USA

It would depend on their value. If it’s a make or break for them and you still really want the business, hiring them in an advisory position on retainer for a fair salary would be best case. But the terms of that position would have to favor me if I were buying it.