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American Business Brokers & Advisors Founder & President MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS BUSINESS VALUATIONS
DECEMBER 2023
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A Story of How I Got the Opportunity to Sell 2 Chains of Convenience Stores
It was five years ago that a friend of mine said I may want to talk to Bob, who owned some convenience stores and was possibly thinking about exiting the business. Bob was a third-generation owner of the oil company and had built the company up to operating 10 retail convenience stores, a wholesale fuel distribution, and transportation business. When I first approached him, he said there was no way he would ever consider selling and exiting the convenience store industry because he had grown up in the business, and it was his family business. We said we understood, but we asked if he would mind if we shared some information with him about what was going on in the industry and how he may benefit from our information. As we like to say in our business, “We can never get anyone to change their mind, but what we can do is offer them additional information and they can make a new decision.” Well, that is what happened. After talking with Bob for a few months, he decided, after assessing where he was in his life, that the convenience store industry was consolidating with larger convenience store operators buying smaller operators, and they were paying a good price for convenience stores, so he would exit the industry. But Bob only wanted to exit the retail side of the business and sell his convenience stores and keep the fuel wholesale and transportation business because he said he needed something to do after selling the stores. (This is something we hear quite often, but we will revisit this issue later.)
stores, and he was out of the retail business. Happy ending for all parties.
Even though Paul wasn’t engaged with me anymore, we still kept him on our newsletter list, and Bob, who introduced Paul to us, was sharing with Paul how his life had changed without the hassles of operating convenience stores and the multitude of employee issues that come with owning convenience stores. Fast forward to 2022, approximately three years later, I got a call from Paul. He didn’t say, “Hi, Terry, how are you doing?” Instead, he said, “Terry, I am ready to exit the convenience store, fuel wholesale, and transportation business. When can we meet?” You see, Paul is not abnormal. Instead, he is quite normal in the fact he was thinking for three years — since we had first talked and gotten more information — about what was going on his life and the industry, and realized that for him and his family, things were not going to change in the industry. Paul had a great business, but he was not happy with the business because, as we all know, the convenience store business is a reactionary business. Every day you are reacting to events and situations that arise from the business, from your employees, customers, or vendors. And this does not take into consideration things like a pandemic, employees not wanting to show up for work, new government policies that hamstring employers’ rights, or government policies imposed on the industry itself. The moral of this story is that at American Business Brokers & Advisors, we truly are in the Continued on Page 3 ...
Now, here is the rest of the story. During the tail end of the process of selling the convenience stores, I asked Bob if he had any friends or acquaintances in the convenience store industry, who may be thinking about exiting the business, and introduce us since referrals are a big part of our business. Happy clients refer us to other individuals in the industry who may be of the same mindset about exiting the industry. Bob said yes, he knew of an individual who was of the same mindset as him, and he gave me their contact information. Now, this was in 2019 when I contacted Paul who, like Bob, also owned a number of convenience stores and a wholesale fuel and transportation business. I introduced myself and asked if he had an interest in exiting the business and if I could share some information about what was going on in our industry. Paul was really excited to talk to me and tell me about his stores and his other businesses and said he was seriously thinking about exiting the industry, too, just like Bob did. We had several conversations, and Paul was engaged about wanting to exit the industry. Then, all of a sudden, Paul disappeared. He went silent and didn’t return phone calls or any communication. Believe it or not, this is not unusual because, as we all know, life is about timing, and for Paul, the time was not right for him to sell his business and exit the industry. He was struggling internally on pulling the trigger, which is something I talk about in detail in my book, “Hidden Wealth: The Secret to Getting Top Dollar for Your Business.”
So, we did our assessment of the stores and sold Bob’s stores. He got a great price for his
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Your Flight Delay Backup Plan:
HOW TO SECURE A REFUND
The holiday season is supposed to be a time of cheer and goodwill, but keeping that spirit alive when you’re stuck at an airport is challenging. If you’re traveling to see family this year, we hope your flight is on time and uneventful. But with large-scale airline delays repeatedly making the news since the pandemic began, it’s wise to have a backup plan. Before you pack your bags, know how to get a refund if the worst happens and you end up stuck at home. Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) requires airlines to provide consumers with a cash refund when a flight is canceled or experiences a preventable delay or schedule change. Any refund should include baggage or service fees. The airline may offer a voucher or new tickets instead of a refund, but you can refuse these offers. Receiving a refund for a canceled flight is pretty straightforward. Speaking with a representative in person or over the phone
“preventable” by the airline. So, you should receive a refund if workers fall behind or there’s a maintenance issue. But if a tropical storm rolls through town or a security threat grounds flights, a refund is at the airline’s discretion. Most airlines will provide a meal voucher for passengers waiting three hours or more due to a delay. For a particularly long or overnight delay, most also pay for a passenger’s unforeseen hotel stay. However, check your airline’s policy before you book. While most airlines commit to these benefits as a matter of customer service, no law legally compels them. If you believe an airline legally owes you a refund, but it refuses, you can file a complaint with Transportation.gov . However, many travelers prefer to utilize travel insurance for situations that fall into a gray area. Many credit cards offer this service to cardholders for free, and frequent fliers should keep one ready in their wallets.
will usually solve the problem. However, delays can be trickier. Unfortunately, USDOT does not explicitly define a significant reschedule or delay and decides the matter on a case-by- case basis if a consumer files a complaint.
Regulations also only require airlines to issue refunds for delays if the matter was
A PERSPECTIVE ON 2024 AND BEYOND
He increased his meat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. He finally got his son home from college to help him out. But then, something happened. His son said, “Father, haven’t you been listening to the radio? Haven’t you been reading the newspapers? There’s a great depression. The European situation is terrible. And the domestic situation is even worse.” Whereupon the father thought, “Well, my son’s been to college, he reads the papers and he listens to the radio, and he ought to know.” So, the father cut down on his meat and bun orders, took down his advertising signs, and no longer bothered to stand out on the highway to sell his hot dogs. And his hot dog sales fell almost overnight. “You’re right, son,” the father said to the boy. “We are certainly in a great depression.”
If you are old enough, you may recall that in the late 1970s, we had high inflation rates, high gas prices, and high unemployment. The government was saying that our standard of living was on the decline. Interest rates for a loan went to a high of 21 % . I remember once getting a loan for 11% and thinking that I was getting a great deal. And I was. There was a lot of doom and gloom then. Sound familiar? One day during the late ’70s, I walked into the real estate office where I worked, and there was a note on the bulletin board containing a short story. It was written by an anonymous author and posted by an anonymous source. No one ever took the time to explain the note or the story, but the lesson I learned that day is one I still remember. I’d like to share that story with you. It was a story about a man who sold hot dogs. I think you may find some similarities between the mindset and outlook of people’s thoughts in 2023 and what 2024
may bring. My point is that we don’t have much, if any, control over what goes on in the world, but we do have control over our mindset and outlook on life. If we have “stinking thinking” about life, we will get “stinking thinking” results. Garbage in equals garbage out. With that said, I would like to share with you a story I have shared before but is still as relevant in today’s world as it was in the 1970s. Enjoy. THE MAN WHO SOLD HOT DOGS There was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He was hard of hearing, so he had no radio. He had trouble with his eyes, so he read no newspapers. But he sold good hot dogs. He put up signs on the highway telling how good they were. He stood on the side of the road and cried, “Buy a hot dog, mister?” And people bought.
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SUDOKU (SOLUTION ON PG. 4) Take a Break!
"HIDDEN WEALTH" The Secret to Getting Top Dollar for Your Business
► 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.
... continued from Cover information business, with a focus on helping owners of privately owned businesses navigate the process of exiting the convenience store industry when THEY are ready. We don’t try to convince anyone to sell, but we do provide knowledge and experience about what is happening in the marketplace, which a business owner generally doesn’t know because they are too busy operating their business. By the way, we did sell Paul’s business in 2023, and now he is in the process of joining Bob as an ex-convenience store operator. And remember Bob, who kept his wholesale and transportation business because he wanted something to do? Well, he will be closing on the sale of that business in early 2024. TERRY’S QUOTE OF THE DAY “Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenge, wish for more wisdom.” –Jim Rohn “Life’s tragedy is that we get old too soon and become wise too late.” –Benjamin Franklin “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t … you’re right.” –Henry Ford
WORD SEARCH
CHIMNEY CHRISTMAS
MISTLETOE ORNAMENT PARKA REINDEER
SLEIGH SNOWMAN WREATH YULETIDE
–Terry Monroe
GIFTS IGLOO
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INSIDE 7824 Estero Blvd., 3rd Floor Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931 1 2 Here’s How I Got to Sell 2 Chains of Convenience Stores Your Holiday Guide to Flight Refunds
Sudoku Solution
A Perspective on 2024 and Beyond Thinking About Selling Your Business in 2023? Your Essential Digital Marketing Resource Guide for Small Businesses
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receive an officially recognized digital marketing certificate from Google. You can find the course by Googling “Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google Digital Garage.” RESOURCE NO. 2: DIGITAL MARKETING TRAINING BY NEIL PATEL If you haven’t heard of Neil Patel, you should know he’s one of the leading voices in digital marketing today. He’s wildly successful and offers to teach others what he’s learned over the years for free. You can learn more about SEO, conversion optimization, YouTube, and more using his courses and the worksheets he provides. To access Neil’s library, visit NeilPatel.com/training and use the “What do you want to learn?” table of contents on the left of the page to choose what you’d like to learn about. RESOURCE NO. 3: ANSWER THE PUBLIC One of a business’s biggest struggles when growing an online presence is creating content that results in profitable engagement. The best way to discover what matters to people is to ask them! That’s essentially what Answer the Public does FOR you. It pulls the most popular internet searches regarding any topic you type into the site so you can see what people want to know about your niche.
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