Buying a Business in The Woodlands, TX – What are the steps?

 

You are thinking of buying a business in The Woodlands, TX, now what? Well… first we have to find someone that is interested in selling a business.

Most businesses are sold very privately… business owners do not want it known that a business is for sale as it could affect current business performance…. clients could start looking at other competitors, employees could start looking for other opportunities and the owner does not usually feel like being questioned about the reason why he/she is selling.

Usually nobody even knows that a business was for sale until they suddenly see a new owner operating the place! “Wow! When did that happen?!” is usually the response.

So, how can we help you find the right business to buy?

1. We know people!

David Matos, my CPA partner, and myself are very well networked in The Woodlands and surrounding areas. We know many business owners, attorneys, bankers, loan brokers, financial advisers, etc. They in turn know that we operate a business brokerage. So, when they hear of a business owner thinking of selling, they tell us.

2. We contact business owners.

Besides being referred businesses to sell, we actively reach out to existing business owners to see if they’re interested in selling. Let me show you an example of this… I recently purchased a frozen yogurt franchise for my wife called “TCBY” in the Panther Creek shopping center. So, let’s say I want to buy another one… here’s what I would do. I would go to my commercial real estate software & search out the category of business I’m interested in:

Buying a business in The Woodlands, TX

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I would search for “Yogurt” and also “ice cream” to see what “NAICS” categories crop up for those two categories. “NAICS” codes are the “North American Industry Classification System” codes used by the USA to classify all businesses:

How to buy a business in The Woodlands, TX

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In the next screen on my system I will specify the cities in which I’m looking. In this case, “The Woodlands” and “Spring” (see above image).

How to buy a business in The Woodlands, TX

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So, the system gives me a list of businesses and their addresses as well as other information (not shown) like contact name, phone number, number of employees, range of sales, etc. Very useful information to say the least!

Using this information I can now put together a quick project to get in touch with all these owners to see whether they are interested in selling. The communication is private which is exactly what they want. We can also help them with an unbiased business valuation that helps both parties negotiate a fair deal.

So, if you know someone interested in buying a business, please refer them to myself & David Matos, my CPA partner. Together we make a great team that can help you find the kind of business that you are looking for and help prevent some expensive mistakes you might make. If you’re a business owner, let us help you value your business accurately and help you find the right kind of buyer.

Lance Langenhoven, CCIM

832-483 8655