Profile: A white, successful, and elderly couple inherited a business with no debt 50 years ago.
The sale will net a mid-seven figure number for their family.
The business has great metrics, but the seller is chafing with the levels of accountability required now that the buyer has a credit commitment from a lender.
The responsive relationship curdled into the seller maligning everyone involved, including the buyers, who happen to be Hispanic immigrants using an SBA loan to buy the business.
The buyers are a great fit and will run the business better than the current owner.
They’ll increase revenues by 30-40% in the first 12-18 months regardless of the rising rate environment.
The seller’s dialogue deluded into criticism of immigrants getting ‘freebies’ from the government illegally, how all service providers (like me, the bank, accountants, and attorneys) are out to ‘get theirs,’ and how he misses ‘murica’s’ good ole days.
The buyers are US citizens, own multiple businesses, and have been in the country for more than 30 years.
In the meantime, the seller has not been able to produce basic financial reports without weeks of delay.
Even though the client shat on me and everyone else at the table, I:
- Kept a detailed paper trail,
- Ignored the personal attacks,
- Killed him with kindness,
- Continued to offer my help,
- Pushed back reminding him the deal had not closed by pointing at the list of pending items instead of him.
The seller produced the last item late last night.
We will close before the end of October.
