electric mist

wanna watch my head explode?

I have to ramble here. I can't quite wrap my mind around this yet.

After a weekend of another headache, I started feeling a little more human today. And then I found out that the business partner mentioned in that linked entry had indeed gotten his attorneys and business people all involved in weighing and measuring the value of the national business and they were making an offer to just buy out the other people.

A $7 million offer.

They think I am going to be in charge of this new business. Certainly, it is already established, there are a lot of support personnel in place, but the problem is, first, they have already alienated their biggest client (and we will be getting that client back since we'd be the new owners), and secondly, we don't think that part of their business should be done the former way it's being done. What worries me is the sort of cowboy way this partner is throwing out this money. Oh, he has it. And I'm sure the aforementioned attorneys and business managers have crunched all of the little nickels and have determined that yes indeedy, their assets and the national contract is worth that sort of investment... the way they currently are doing business. But the way the other business owners are currently doing business has ticked off their biggest client who is looking for this to be changed, and if we do that like Carl and I believe we should, it will change the income flow. We had discussed this with the partner, just prior to him going in for the major heart surgery. What I don't know is, did that information get accurately translated to the business people assessing the value of the business-to-be-purchased.

On the one hand, I know this is how this guy does business. He buys things, lets other people run them, makes a profit, sells it (if he's sole owner) or sells it to the partner. I know he has always trusted these business people in the past. The thing is, and the only reason I'd be right for this company, is that Carl and I have already been dealing with these same clients for another type of thing they need... for the last ten years. We know them, know their needs, their culture, their priorities and what they won't like. That's the key -- and the company the partner is buying unfortunately has as one of its main money making components a service that the clients don't like having forced on them with the other parts of their contract. We think that should be eliminated. We don't know if the business people / attorneys took that into account when they valued this business.

Does this all sound completely insane? It does to me. If anyone had told me even a year ago that this guy would buy a $7 million business and, on top of that, want me and Carl to run it (mostly me)... I would have suggested a change in medication. So tomorrow, I am asking for all of the paperwork done by the attorneys and the business people and I'm going to see how they valued the company and why they made that kind of offer and if we eliminate the annoying part of the company, will it still make enough revenue to not only service the debt, but actually turn a profit.

The partner said he thought it would take the other company a whole month before they respond. And we sort of figure that with their ego (and that is huge), they'll counter with some sort of outrageous amount even over that. I'm hoping this is true only because it buys me time, and I need to get up to speed on what makes them think this will work.

You know, I look at who I am and what I've accomplished and on the one hand, this is just plain insane. On the other hand, I get this particular business on a cellular level, and so does Carl, and we know how to handle the people and the particular service they want, which few people know how to do. So there's the up side -- we are weirdly perfect for it. But holy turbo charged jesus on a pogo stick, batman, this is still nuts.

On top of thinking about that, in our construction business, we're bidding more and more of the bigger jobs like we had last month, and there are a lot of things coming down the pike for us to do, which is a very good thing, unless we get that other business, and then I have no earthly clue what we'll do then, because we cannot clone ourselves. And there's the potential indie film for the romantic comedy, and I had talked with that producer about me producing other things if this one works out and she was very receptive to that. And there's this book I'm writing with someone waiting for it so she can show it to her NY agent. And... and... :::kaboom::: exploding head.

Posted by toni at September 6, 2004 10:56 PM