Justin, Sorry the people you know had some bad experiences. To give you counterfactuals from my own experience, I sold 2 of my 3 businesses "on contract," so to speak. One of the sales did go bad and I used liens that we included in the agreement language we negotiated to actually take the business back. With that seller, we had negotiated a clause that required an immediate return of the business upon the default of certain covenants with a forfeiture of amounts paid to that point. The seller defaulted 3 months after sale. I got full control of the business back in 2 days, and I turned around and sold it again to someone who paid 50% cash, 50% "on contract" over a period of time. I didn't have to litigate, but even if I had gone to court to get an injunction, the expense would have been minimal and taken no more time than it did to do it without going to court.
You can and should build in mechanisms that will protect you. Did either of your friends have liens on the business assets that allowed them to immediately repossess the business? Personal guarantees? Insurance policies? Structured payment annuities purchased by the buyer? Just a few ideas. That's not to say I'm right and you're wrong. There's LOTS that can go wrong. You have to understand what your risk tolerance is in a seller-financed deal, do some extra due diligence on your buyer, and then get some good advice on how to structure the deal. If your purchase agreements leave you handing over the keys at closing with nothing to show for it and no protection against a default, you're getting bad advice. I'm not saying that you should take risks you're not comfortable taking, just that there are more ways to skin this cat successfully than "100% cash." If you refuse all deals that aren't 100% cash, you'll risk leaving money on the table, and you won't necessarily get any security against a buyer that defaults shortly after the sale. Doug From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Justin Wilson Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 3:51 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP Having been a part of a deal gone bad I recommend cash up front. Once you hand over the keys it's pretty hard to get it back. If you have to go to Litigation you are going to be spending money out of pocket for attorneys. I agree with Cameron. Cash at closing. If you don't do 100% cash at closing you should be prepared to not see another dime if you do anything else. I know ISPs who sold, got some money at closing, and then ended up spending twice that money on attorney fees and still ended up with nothing. Selling a business should be like selling a high dollar item. If I was going to sell a car I sure wouldn't sell it on contract. Too many things can go wrong. If I had 100% ownership in an ISP today and wanted to sell I would take a hit on the overall price. If then user couldn't afford it and I really needed to sell for whatever reason I would simply take a lower price. Less stress that way. Justin -- Justin Wilson <j...@mtin.net> MTCNA - CCNA - MTCRE - MTCWE - COMTRAIN Aol & Yahoo IM: j2sw http://www.mtin.net/blog - xISP News http://www.zigwireless.com - High Speed Internet Options http://www.thebrotherswisp.com - The Brothers Wisp From: "Hass, Douglas A." <d...@franczek.com<mailto:d...@franczek.com>> Reply-To: WISPA General List <wireless@wispa.org<mailto:wireless@wispa.org>> Date: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 at 3:08 PM To: WISPA General List <wireless@wispa.org<mailto:wireless@wispa.org>> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP Cameron- There's lots of ways to structure the deal so that you're protected, even if the buyer is a complete imbecile and even if the buyer doesn't have cash up front. If you want to sell or if you want to buy, don't let the all-cash restriction prevent you from making a deal. If you end up in court chasing payments from the buyer, then you likely didn't draft your agreement carefully enough given your tolerance for risk (of course, your due diligence should be telling you whether the buyer is an imbecile, and that information should inform what kind of deal you're willing to accept). To categorically reject buyers who don't have 100% cash to hand you at closing might mean leaving money on the table or more flexible terms from someone who can put together a more attractive end package. In that sense, it works like selling real estate. The all-cash offer isn't always your best one. To Randy's point--Jab has undergone a major shakeup at the top. Many of the senior executive staff have departed in the last few months. That might account for some of the quietness. I don't have any inside information, just what I learned trying to round up potential panelists and speakers for WISPAmerica. Doug From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org<mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org> [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Cameron Crum Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 1:45 PM To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP The seller is not a bank. Why should they take on all the risk? What happens if the buyer is a complete imbecile and runs the network into the ground and defaults on payments? Now you are in court suing for money you will most likely never see, and even if you retake possession of the network, it may be in shambles or most of your customers have left. We walked away from a couple of buyers who would not pony up the cash. I'd say as one who sold a wisp, if the buyer can't afford it, or can't arrange their own financing, you don't want to sell. On Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 1:39 PM, Mike Hammett <wispawirel...@ics-il.net<mailto:wispawirel...@ics-il.net>> wrote: There's many more buyers out there. ----- Mike Hammett Intelligent Computing Solutions http://www.ics-il.com ________________________________ From: "Randy Cosby" <dco...@infowest.com<mailto:dco...@infowest.com>> To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org<mailto:wireless@wispa.org>> Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 11:00:34 AM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP Is anyone actually buying right now? I haven't heard much about the big buyer (Jab) lately. On 3/19/2014 9:49 AM, CBB - Jay Fuller wrote: The going rate, we've seen (and has been discussed here many times), is about 1.5x annual revenue Douglas A. Hass Associate 312.786.6502 d...@franczek.com<mailto:d...@franczek.com> Franczek Radelet P.C. Celebrating 20 Years | 1994-2014<http://www.franczek.com/20thAnniversary/> 300 South Wacker Drive Suite 3400 Chicago, IL 60606 312.986.0300 - Main 312.986.9192 - Fax www.franczek.com<http://www.franczek.com/> Franczek Radelet is committed to sustainability - please consider the environment before printing this email ________________________________ Circular 230 Disclosure: Under requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Service, we inform you that, unless specifically stated otherwise, any federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purposes of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or tax-related matter herein. ________________________________ For more information about Franczek Radelet P.C., please visit franczek.com. The information contained in this e-mail message or any attachment may be confidential and/or privileged, and is intended only for the use of the named recipient. If you are not the named recipient of this message, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message or any attachment thereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender and delete all copies. ________________________________ ----- Original Message ----- From:Eagle One Wireless<mailto:e...@e1w.com> To:'WISPA General List'<mailto:wireless@wispa.org> Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 10:33 AM Subject: Re: [WISPA] Selling ISP We priced ours at 2.5x gross revenue. We had about 10 companies contact us. I would say 5 were serious but they wanted us to finance it so we decided not to sell. Thanks, Kevin Melson Eagle One Wireless 1505 Hwy 72 E Corinth, MS 38834 662-287-1722<tel:662-287-1722> e...@e1w.com<mailto:e...@e1w.com> www.e1w.com<http://www.e1w.com> -----Original Message----- From: wireless-boun...@wispa.org<mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org> [mailto:wireless-boun...@wispa.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Morgan Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 10:30 AM To: wireless@wispa.org<mailto:wireless@wispa.org> Subject: [WISPA] Selling ISP What is the current rate for selling your ISP! I would like to sell, for health reasons. Thanks for your help! Jean _______________________________________________ Wireless mailing list Wireless@wispa.org<mailto:Wireless@wispa.org> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com> Version: 2014.0.4336 / Virus Database: 3722/7216 - Release Date: 03/19/14 ----- No virus found in this message. 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