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American Business Brokers & Advisors Founder & President MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS BUSINESS VALUATIONS
JUNE 2023
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Terry Monroe & American Business Brokers Celebrates 24 Years of Selling Businesses
We all have either heard or said how fast time flies when you are having fun, and I can say I am living proof of this. I started owning businesses and buying and selling businesses in 1982, but 24 years ago, I sold my businesses and focused on selling businesses full time. It was then I decided to move to Florida and become a business broker and create American Business Brokers. It was a bold move because I moved to an area I knew nothing about other than I liked the weather, and it was a growing area of the U.S. And what a fantastic journey it has been. Over the past 24 years, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the most wonderful people in the world, business owners like me. We all had something in common, which was owning a business and, at a certain time in our lives, deciding to sell our business, and we wanted to do it without a lot of hassle and get the most money we could for our business. I have tried over the years to count how many businesses I have sold. I know there are more than 1,000 businesses of which over 700 were convenience stores. I can’t even begin to count the number of buyers and sellers I have talked to over the years, which go into the thousands. The reason I share this with you is that since becoming a business broker and creating American Business Brokers & Advisors, this is the only business I have owned for a long time, and it is the best business I have ever owned, too, because of all the wonderful people I have had the opportunity to work with. I hope and pray I will be able to continue to help many more business owners in the future as I have in the past, who allow me to be part of the process of selling their business. I know I can’t thank all the business owners I have worked with enough, but listed below are a few of the businesses that represent the convenience store industry I have had the pleasure to work with and sell their businesses. Maybe you will recognize some of them and want to join them. To all the business owners I have worked with, I say a big THANK YOU! You have helped make the last 24 years of selling businesses one of the most satisfying and fulfilling enterprises I have ever been involved in. All the best to you and may the journey continue. –Terry Monroe
LIST OF CONVENIENCE STORES SOLD
Wied Oil Company
Frawley Oil Company Thoele Oil Company
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Fast Break Food Mart, Inc. Quality Oil Company Clark Retail Brands Freedom Oil Company McQuaid Mini Marts
Warrenton Oil Francois Oil
Casey’s General Stores Stop-N-Go Convenience Stores Travel Centers of America Mad Max Convenience Stores Marshall’s Convenience Stores
C & N Company
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Speedway SuperAmerica Huck’s Convenience Stores
Strohn Oil Company Green Oil Company McDaniel Trucking & C-Stores
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Ray Oil Company Jiffy Mini Marts Etna Oil Company Abel Oil Company
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Hy-Way Oil
Meier Oil Company
Colonial Pantry Convenience Stores
Buchanan Oil Company
Van Zeeland Oil Co.
Huot Oil Company
Usselton Oil
Gromann Service, Inc.
Lions Mart Stores Titletown Oil Co. Lotter Oil Company D2 Management Anderson Oil Company Johnson Oil Company Loeder Oil Company Severson Oil Company True North Energy Manlius Oil Company
MKM Oil
Quality State Oil
Valley Dairy
PetroService USA
Jiffy Stop Convenience Stores Blue Moose Convenience Stores Mother Hubbard Stores 7-2-11 Convenience Stores Jetz Convenience Stores
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Growmark
Baltus Oil
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Riiser Energy
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Special Needs Trust Creates Options
FOR LOVED ONES WITH DISABILITIES
We create estate plans to protect our loved ones, and family members with disabilities are often most susceptible to financial difficulty. But safeguarding their futures is not always as simple as leaving a lump sum behind. An improperly structured estate can ultimately harm your loved one more than it helps, but a special needs trust will support and improve their lives. Many people with disabilities in the U.S. receive government assistance. But programs like Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Medicaid have strict eligibility requirements. For example, an SSI recipient cannot own more than $2,000 in assets. Therefore, even relatively small gifts can affect their qualification for benefits. A special needs trust holds funds for your loved one without impacting their eligibility for government programs. A person can fund the trust with as many or as few cash or property assets as they’d like. A special needs trust will grant your family member additional resources without restricting their access to otherwise costly support services, medical care, or housing.
Under a special needs trust, your loved one with a disability is a beneficiary, and they will not have direct access to the trust. You must also designate a trustee, a third party who controls and distributes the funds. Depending on your situation and preferences, the trustee can be a trusted family member or a third-party paid administrator. The trustee cannot give cash directly to the beneficiary but can use the assets to purchase items and services to improve their quality of life. Many people use special needs trusts for out-of-pocket medical expenses, a home, bills, or recreation. A special needs trust can even fund a vacation for your loved one! Ultimately, the trustee has fiduciary responsibility and is legally obligated to act in the beneficiary’s best interests. Special needs trusts can be complicated, and people making their estate plans have options between multiple types of trusts. A mistake can cost a loved one dearly, so it’s always wise to speak to an experienced estate planning attorney to understand your options. They can confirm a special needs trust fits your goals and will draft all necessary documents correctly to ensure your wishes are fulfilled.
WHY I CAN’T SELL YOUR BUSINESS
Recently, when I was at the NAG Conference in Austin, Texas, where many convenience store owners had gathered to share stories and experiences of what works and what does not work in their stores (which was very insightful with all the experienced operators at the conference), I was asked what I do for a living. My normal response to that question is to give them the short answer and say, “Oh, I sell convenience stores around the country,” which is a nice and simple answer. But the truth of the matter is I really don’t sell convenience stores. It is very rare that I get the opportunity to sell a convenience store. You see, the only person who can sell a convenience store is the owner of the convenience store. It has to start inside the mind of the owner before anything can happen. When we were updating our website, a video production company interviewed me and asked a lot of questions about the process of selling a business, some of the things a business owner should do before selling, and how the selling process works. One of the questions was about the hardest business I had ever sold. I immediately gave a two- minute video presentation stating that the hardest business I ever sold was my own. (To watch this video, go to TerryMonroe.com/
videos ) Even though I have owned more than 40 different businesses, there was one business I had started from scratch and grew it into a thriving business with 155 locations in 27 states and Canada with hundreds of employees. I thought the business was my baby, as a lot of business owners think. I thought my employees loved me and I loved them. So, the thought of selling the business was gut-wrenching. It made me sick thinking about all my employees and how my selling the business would affect their lives. I struggled with the decision to sell the business. But finally, after I looked at all the facts, I made the decision to sell: It was the right time because not only would I get top dollar for my business, but my employees were going to be better off with the new owner because they could offer them more benefits and security than I knew I could. Now, as they say, the rest is history. I did sell at the right time, I was able to get top dollar for my business, and my employees did just fine. I also found out that my employees didn’t love me as much as I thought they did because right after I sold, they seemed to love the new owner better than me. But that was okay, too, because I found out I didn’t love them
as much as I thought I did, either, and I went on to open more businesses and hire more employees I liked better than the last ones. My point in sharing this story is that when it comes to selling a business, it all begins in the owner’s mind. I talk about this in my book, “Hidden Wealth: The Secret to Getting Top Dollar for Your Business.” There are several chapters on how hard a decision it is to make when it comes to selling your business and how other business owners have dealt with the same situation. Ultimately, what I really am is a matchmaker. My goal is to get top dollar for my seller’s business by matching them with the right buyer. When I say the right buyer, I am referring to the kind of buyer who has the financial ability to complete the purchase, doesn’t try to do a bait and switch on the stores we are selling, isn’t interested in trying to cherry-pick my seller with only wanting their best stores, and understands they are acquiring an established business. So, maybe I should change the title on my business card to “Mr. Matchmaker: Putting Business Sellers With Financially Capable Buyers Who Pay Top Dollar & Get the Deal Closed.” Why not? It has been working that way for a lot of years.
–Terry Monroe
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SUDOKU (SOLUTION ON PG. 4) Take a Break!
"HIDDEN WEALTH" The Secret to Getting Top Dollar for Your Business
TERRY’S QUOTE FOR THE DAY “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” –attributed to Seneca, Roman philosopher RIDDLE FOR THE DAY: Question: What goes up and never goes down? Answer: Your Age ► What is the value of what you are selling? ► Want to make sure the sale is confidential? ► Want to sell everything together & fast? Terry has sold over 857 businesses. His book tells you what to do and more importantly what NOT to do when selling one's business. GET YOUR FREE COPY TODAY! Email Terry@TerryMonroe.com Put FREE COPY in the subject line for your free copy of "Hidden Wealth", a ForbesBooks publication.
WORD SEARCH
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Stamart of North Dakota
Brock Oil Company Site Oil Company Atlantis Oil Company Central Ohio Energy
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Pilot Oil Company Ney Oil Company Beck Oil Company Illico of Illinois Fanning Oil Co.
MacDonald Oil
Agland FS Services Willi Oil Company
Qik-n-EZ
BEACH BURGERS CYCLING FATHER
JUNETEENTH MUSIC PEARL PRIDE
REFUGEE SAILING SOLSTICE WATERSKI
Carlson Oil
Combined Oil
Motto Mart Stores Mansfield Oil CO.
Keller Oil Company Wortman Stores Lester Enterprises
Mother Hubbard’s Stores
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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
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INSIDE 7824 Estero Blvd., 3rd Floor Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931 1 We’re Celebrating 24 Years of Selling Businesses!
Sudoku Solution
Safeguard Assets for Family Members With Disabilities
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Why I Can’t Sell Your Business
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Thinking About Selling Your Business in 2023?
Short-Form Video: More Than Just a Fad
Short-Form Video Marketing Is Taking Over LIGHTS! CAMERA! SALES!
Any business incorporating the best marketing practices has been using videos to connect with its customers for years. But with the advent of TikTok and Instagram Reels, people want bite-sized clips to deliver information without fluff. Businesses looking to keep audiences engaged must begin incorporating short-form content into their marketing strategy. Most experts define short-form video as lasting 60 seconds or less, and Influencer Marketing Hub reports that 73% of internet users prefer them to longer videos. Social media has conditioned people to enjoy brief content that quickly gets to the point, and TikTok purposely shows users video after video. The format is also taking over other platforms, and users find loosely scripted, on-the-fly content more relatable than meticulously produced videos.
static images. These are low-budget videos, so many marketers believe they have a higher return on investment (ROI) than traditional videos and are more likely to result in a viral hit. Best of all, the shorter the video, the more likely someone will watch until the end and absorb your entire message. But if your video doesn’t quickly grab a viewer’s attention, they know another potentially more interesting one will immediately follow. So, your videos should incorporate an instant hook to get users engaged. You might try a provocative question in the text over the video, an attention- grabbing song, or striking initial imagery. Many people new to short-form video don’t know where to start, so it’s crucial to note that it’s about more than making briefer versions of your existing content. Encourage user-generated content from people using your product, show behind-the-scenes clips
that might interest your audience, or quickly answer a frequently asked question.
If you want to stay relevant, your marketing team should remain on top of the latest trends. We don’t recommend jumping on the bandwagon for every “challenge” that appears on your feed, but you should watch for trends that fit your brand and will resonate with your audience. Finally, remember that authenticity is the point. Short-form videos should be playful and spontaneous and talk directly to your audience. Users won’t connect and share if it looks like a TV commercial; they’ll see it as just another ad and keep scrolling.
Fortunately, research indicates that short- form videos attract more engagement than
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