How to Start or Buy a Telephone Answering Service: New Buyers to the Industry
By Steve and Chris Michaels Updated January, 2007 You’ve seen an ad in a newspaper or trade publication with a telephone answering service for sale and wondered what it would be like to get into this...
View ArticleHow to Start or Buy a Telephone Answering Service: Start Up
By Steve and Chris Michaels Updated January, 2007 You currently have a business that is a 24-hour operation and would like to use your current employees to increase your cash flow. There are many...
View ArticleHow to Start or Buy a Telephone Answering Service: Entry Level
By Steve and Chris Michaels Updated January, 2007 A prerequisite for starting your Telephone Answering Service (TAS) from scratch is to ask yourself three simple questions: Do I like answering...
View ArticleAnalyzing a Business: Preparing to Sell or Purchase
By Marteann Bertrand Answering services are a hot commodity in today’s market. Rarely, if ever, in the past has there been so much interest from investors outside our industry looking to jump on our...
View ArticleThe Human Side of Acquisitions
By Lisa Olson It wasn’t until sometime in 1993, after assisting in the sale and close of twenty telephone answering service offices that I realized there was a human or personal side, to acquisitions....
View ArticleDue Diligence Check List: Don’t Get Nipped in the Bud
By Lisa Olson Due diligence is the process of investigating a company you have plans to purchase. This process starts when you consider the possible purchase of the company and ends when the sale is...
View ArticleTAS Tips: Understated Call Traffic
By Steve Michaels The following is our first installment of an ongoing segment of real life transactions between buyers and sellers in the industry. Here is an example of what can happen when one buys...
View ArticleDealing With Change
By Steve Michaels As I’m sitting here writing my article for Connections Magazine, a redheaded woodpecker is not five feet from me on the windowsill, just peering in. Outside my office we used to have...
View ArticleTAS Tips: Lien Searches
By Steve Michaels The following is an ongoing segment focusing on real-life transactions between buyers and sellers in the industry. Here are some examples of what can happen when buying or selling a...
View ArticleTAS Tips: Getting Your Business Ready to Sell
By Steve Michaels The following is part of an ongoing segment detailing real life transactions between buyers and sellers in the telemessaging industry. This month we’ll tackle the following question:...
View ArticleTAS Tips: Valuation Fallacies
By Steve Michaels The following is an ongoing segment featuring real life telemessaging industry transactions. This month’s installment comes in response to a question on how a business was valued. I...
View ArticleTAS Tips: Non-Compete Agreements
By Steve Michaels The following is an ongoing segment featuring real life telemessaging industry transactions. This month’s installment explores what can happen when your employees haven’t signed...
View ArticleTAS Tips: Buyer-Seller Communication
By Steve Michaels The following is an ongoing look at real life transactions in the TAS industry. These are two documented cases where either too much or not enough information was presented to a...
View ArticleTAS Tips: Buying the Client List
By Steve Michaels Telemessaging businesses often expand by purchasing client lists. This growth strategy is successful for some businesses and expensive for others. The four real-life acquisitions...
View ArticleTAS Tips – Selling Options
By Steve Michaels I was doing some work for a client who had signed an agreement with me to find sellers in his area. In my search, I learned that potential sellers did not share similar attitudes and...
View ArticleTAS Tips: The Acquisition Letter
By Steve Michaels As with any telemessaging company acquisition, both the buyer and seller want the transition to go as smoothly as possible, and the least amount of change, the better. It is in the...
View ArticleTAS Tips: Buyer Beware
By Steve Michaels It is unfortunate, but for several years now many owners of telemessaging services have been duped into selling their business or equipment and not getting paid. Others have sent in...
View ArticleService Industry Now Top Seller
By Steve Michaels Right now the service industry, including outsourcing call centers and telemessaging services, is the hottest selling business sector, according to an article entitled, “What’s Your...
View ArticleGoing Once! Going Twice! The Art of Selling Your Business
By Jeff Lever Underestimating the importance of the preliminary planning process can cause major headaches down the road for individuals who take initial preparations for granted. The...
View ArticleSelling Your Business: The Negotiation Process
By Jeff Lever Offers are coming in to purchase your business. The range of offers coming in vary from borderline insulting to above asking price. Most sellers don’t realize that when you place an...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Selling for Cash
By Steve Michaels Question: I have been told that most telemessaging services are currently receiving cash for the sale of their business. Is there ever a time when a seller wouldn’t want cash? Answer:...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Valuation Methods
By Steve Michaels Question: How can I determine what my telemessaging business is worth? Answer: There are four basic ways to valuate a business: 1) a multiple of revenue; 2) a multiple of EBITDA; 3)...
View ArticleMind Your Business: The Percent of Revenues Method
BySteve Michaels Question: I have been approached by a larger competitor wanting to purchase my business. They offered me a nominal amount down with a percentage of the revenues over a specific time....
View ArticleMind Your Business: Ensuring a Smooth Sales Process
By Steve Michaels Question: I am thinking of selling my telemessaging call center. In addition to having my financials updated and my paperwork in order, what else could slow down the process? Answer:...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Performing Due Diligence
By Steve Michaels Question: Mr. Michaels, I own a small telemessaging service, and I have been approached by a large conglomerate wanting to purchase my accounts only. The following is a list of...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Selling a Commingled Business
By Steve Michaels Q. I have put an offer in to purchase a telemessaging service. The problem is that the owner also has paging and alarm monitoring in the same location, and everything is commingled...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Adjusting the Sales Price
By Steve Michaels Q. We have signed a Letter of Intent and have agreed upon a closing date for the sale of a telemessaging call center. The seller asked me, “If I sign up another few accounts before...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Retaining Staff During an Acquisition
By Christine Michaels Q. I am purchasing a telemessaging call center and will be retaining the existing staff. Since the purchase has not yet closed, what should I be aware of in terms of my...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Staffing Issues During an Acquisition
By Steve Michaels Q. I am purchasing an answering service and would like to interview and possibly hire some of the existing employees. The seller does not want me to talk to them until after the close...
View ArticleTen Reasons to Hire a Pro to Sell Your Business
By Steve Michaels Selling your business is a daunting task that is full of potential blunders for a novice. Here’s why you should consider a broker for this important transaction. 1. Employ an expert:...
View ArticleMind Your Business: The Distressed Sale
By Steve Michaels Q. I recently picked up some accounts from a competitor who just shut his doors and walked away. I know he had many more accounts. Even in a distressed sale, don’t these accounts have...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Satisfaction of Due Diligence
By Steve Michaels Q. I am selling my accounts only, and I am having a problem with the buyer. I would like to close the deal and then hand over my account list to the buyer. But he wants a … Continue...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Why Should I Pay a Broker?
By Steve Michaels Q. I want to sell my business myself. Why should I pay a broker? A. The old adage from Abe Lincoln states: “A man who represents himself has a fool for a client.” This is also true …...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Retention Clauses
By Steve Michaels Question: I am in the process of purchasing an answering service and want to put a retention clause in place. How does a retention clause work? Answer: A retention clause states that...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Asset Allocations
By Christine Michaels Question: While purchasing a telemessaging company, the seller’s attorney asked me to complete the allocation of the purchase price section in the purchase agreement. What is...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Dealing with Large Accounts During an Acquisition
By Steve Michaels Q. I am purchasing a telemessaging service for ten times the monthly billing amount. It is a good solid business, but they have one client that represents 27 percent of their revenue....
View ArticleMind Your Business: The Difference of One
By Steve Michaels Q. I have been trying to acquire some call center accounts and have been told that I should not offer anything over ten times monthly billing, but I keep losing out. Can you help me?...
View ArticleThe Sliding Scale of Power Strategy
By Steve Michaels Question: I am thinking of selling my teleservice company myself, but I’ve heard horror stories about being taken advantage of. How can I protect myself? Answer: Unfortunately, some...
View ArticleMind Your Business: Asset Sale or Stock Sale
By Steve Michaels Question: What’s the difference between an asset sale and a stock sale? Why does it matter? Answer: An asset sale is the purchase of the assets of a business, which normally consists...
View ArticleMind Your Business: The Value of Representation
By Steve Michaels Q: My wife and I are considering selling our call center. I feel that I am capable of selling the business myself, while my wife feels we should get an intermediary or broker. What...
View ArticleWhen to Walk Away
By Steve Michaels Q: I’m trying to purchase a business, but the seller keeps asking for more. When do I say, “Enough is enough”? A: Once, my wife and I were trying to purchase a house in Northern...
View ArticleMind Your Business: What Is a UCC-1 and Why Should I File One?
By Christine Michaels I sold my telemessaging service and hold a promissory note from the buyer. Should I also file a UCC-1 form? UCC-1 stands for Uniform Commercial Code financing statement. In...
View ArticleHow to Determine the Right Buyer for Your Business
By Steve Michaels Q: I am trying to sell my business myself and have two offers. I really like one gentleman, but another has put in a higher-priced offer. Do I go with my gut and accept the lower...
View ArticleIs There a Set Formula for Purchasing a Business?
By Steve Michaels Question: “I have self-listed to sell my business, and a prospective buyer has come to the table with an offer, stating that the following is a standard formula for purchasing a...
View ArticleEscrow Deposits and the Asset Purchase Agreement
By Steve Michaels Question: I am buying a business. In the letter of intent (LOI), the seller and I have agreed on a due diligence date with an escrow deposit. To what extent is my escrow at risk, and...
View ArticleMind Your Business: The Due Diligence Process
By Steve Michaels Question: I’m selling my business, and the buyer has asked me for a long list of information. What am I supposed to give him to complete his due diligence? Answer: Everyone has his or...
View ArticleSuccessfully Purchasing Accounts
By Steve Michaels Question: I am in charge of account acquisition, but every time I try to buy some accounts, someone beats me to it. What am I doing wrong? Answer: In today’s challenging economy,...
View Article20 Essential Questions for B2B Lead Qualification
By Giuseppe D’Angelo Are you frustrated when your salespeople squander your hard-earned leads? If so, you’re not alone. Reps ignore 80 percent of the leads marketing generates. If you don’t want to...
View ArticleMaximize Results with B2B Outbound Marketing
By Ryan Apodac “What’s the secret sauce?” This is a common question new clients often ask me. But there is no simple answer. Of course, there are a multitude of variables for evaluating B2B marketing...
View ArticleIncreasing Sales Through Self-Generated Leads
By Donna West The real work of a salesperson—the work that truly increases your sales, and thus your income—happens outside of inquiry calls. Inquiry calls can come in at any time, and you are there to...
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