[Simon Payne]

Hi everyone. We run a business me and my business partner who is my Mum she has been diagnosed with cancer. She now would like me to buy her shares of the business - I am struggling to find a figure of what is a fair price. We have a good business and it runs well it is expanding also.

Anyone got experience of this please email me on simonpayne17@yahoo.co.uk

Bit of an emotional time so please no brokers needed just honest advice 

[Soupy]

Sorry to hear about your mum Simon.

I say it time and time again on here, if it were me I'd speak to an accountant and get the business valued - in fact speak to 2 or 3 and go with an average. Got to be the fairest way I reckon.

[jasonl]

I just put mine up with an agent ,   they said its worth 2.5-3 years annual profits .

You need to speak to a tax specialist if it is you mother ,as there will definately be ways to mitigate taxes should the worst happen and she passed on , all to do with the amount of years she survives , inheritance tax , capital gains tax etc .

[PoleKing]

I just put mine up with an agent ,   they said its worth 2.5-3 years annual profits .

You need to speak to a tax specialist if it is you mother ,as there will definately be ways to mitigate taxes should the worst happen and she passed on , all to do with the amount of years she survives , inheritance tax , capital gains tax etc .

3 years books? You're joking surely.

[Denise l]

Its about 3 times profit

[Paul Clapham]

There are no rules on how to value a business, its only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it, and what you are willing to sell it for.

[dmckellar]

I just put mine up with an agent ,   they said its worth 2.5-3 years annual profits .

You need to speak to a tax specialist if it is you mother ,as there will definately be ways to mitigate taxes should the worst happen and she passed on , all to do with the amount of years she survives , inheritance tax , capital gains tax etc .

3 years books? You're joking surely.

thats not what he said is it? 3 years books and 3 years profit are 2 different entities altogether.

it sounds about right to me. Look at other companies that sell for vast sums of money, even window cleaning rounds are 4x the price of the monthly clean

[simonmnickson]

Simon sorry to hear about your mum thats terrible news,

dmckellar  - Window cleaning is contracted income /repeat work far more valuable then waiting for the phone to ring - as a general rule of thumb the majority of carpet cleaning business's are worth little more than equipment value.

The worst valuers of a business are Accountants followed closely by business agents,

3 x net as a general rule is a joke ! IT DEPENDS ON THE BUSINESS , MODEL AND WHETHER INCOME IS REPEAT/RESIDUAL.
But sometimes 6 x net and above is a bargain!

If you work cleaning carpets as a one man band and net £15,000 you dont have a business to sell its worth NEXT TO nothing! - your just self employed.
If you sit on your arse or play golf and take 6 months holiday and earn 40k net with a domestic cleaning agency or property lettings agency for example then people will snatch your hand off to pay way more than 3 x the net for obvious reasons.
If you make ONE MILLION NET PROFIT - and have a management team in place and repeat/residual income business then - its often worth more than 6 x the net.

3 x net - nonsense for most small business's Carpet Cleaning more so than most other concerns.

ACCOUNTANTS ARE THE MOST RIDICULOUS VALUERS OF A BUSINESS  - THEY SHOULD BE TAKEN OUT AT DAWN AND SHOT IN THE STREET LIKE RATS.

[jasonl]

http://www.intelligentbusinesstransfer.com/view-business/cleaning-company-1125

Log in to see all about my business for sale , will give you some idea.

[Simon Payne]

Thank you all for the reply's it is a really odd one.

I would not pay 3 x profit for my own business if I was buying one but it is a figure I have heard lots from other people

We employs 130 people on hours between 15 - 40 hours per week with only about 10% doing full time

It is a very tough thing to deal with

Keep giving your thoughts please

[Simon Payne]

Thanks for your reply it is all bang on - still a tough thing to decide on

Simon sorry to hear about your mum thats terrible news,

dmckellar  - Window cleaning is contracted income /repeat work far more valuable then waiting for the phone to ring - as a general rule of thumb the majority of carpet cleaning business's are worth little more than equipment value.

The worst valuers of a business are Accountants followed closely by business agents,

3 x net as a general rule is a joke ! IT DEPENDS ON THE BUSINESS , MODEL AND WHETHER INCOME IS REPEAT/RESIDUAL.
But sometimes 6 x net and above is a bargain!

If you work cleaning carpets as a one man band and net £15,000 you dont have a business to sell its worth NEXT TO nothing! - your just self employed.
If you sit on your arse or play golf and take 6 months holiday and earn 40k net with a domestic cleaning agency or property lettings agency for example then people will snatch your hand off to pay way more than 3 x the net for obvious reasons.
If you make ONE MILLION NET PROFIT - and have a management team in place and repeat/residual income business then - its often worth more than 6 x the net.

3 x net - nonsense for most small business's Carpet Cleaning more so than most other concerns.

ACCOUNTANTS ARE THE MOST RIDICULOUS VALUERS OF A BUSINESS  - THEY SHOULD BE TAKEN OUT AT DAWN AND SHOT IN THE STREET LIKE RATS.

[Soupy]

We employs 130 people

!  !

[Simon Payne]

Hi - to be clear we own a cleaning and janitorial company. We offer all elements of cleaning. DOC, carpets cleaning, office cleaning, one, window cleaning and janitorial supply. TO around 900k. Staff mainly PT 115. Managed and run by staff with input from me of 4 days per week sometimes five at director lever which I am trying to trim down

[PoleKing]

I just put mine up with an agent ,   they said its worth 2.5-3 years annual profits .

You need to speak to a tax specialist if it is you mother ,as there will definately be ways to mitigate taxes should the worst happen and she passed on , all to do with the amount of years she survives , inheritance tax , capital gains tax etc .

3 years books? You're joking surely.

thats not what he said is it? 3 years books and 3 years profit are 2 different entities altogether.

it sounds about right to me. Look at other companies that sell for vast sums of money, even window cleaning rounds are 4x the price of the monthly clean

It was the 'years' part i was shocked about.
Shall we put a conservative estimate at 50% profit?
So 3 years is 36 months, 50%, that is 18 times monthly profit.
A long long way from 'even' windows at 4x

[cleartech Window Cleaners]

No input on the subject re pricing but hope your mum gets well soon and you get your pricing issues sorted.