When contemplating the sale of your FedEx Linehaul business, seller financing is often presented as a strategic option. However, it's crucial to evaluate whether this approach is truly necessary or beneficial for your specific situation. This analysis aims to provide a perspective on why seller financing might be an unnecessary complication in the sale of your business.
Understanding Seller Financing
Seller financing, where the business owner extends a loan to the buyer, can add complexity to the transaction. While it offers certain advantages, these benefits need to be weighed against the potential drawbacks and the availability of alternative, simpler methods of sale. Seller financing will attract a larger range of buyers to your sale.
Buyers who do not have enough cash to close on your sale now have an opportunity to leverage their capital to afford the sale. However, seller financing does come with risks, and many times we have to ask ourselves, “Is it necessary”.
Evaluating the Need for Seller Financing
Potential Complications:
Extended Involvement: Seller financing binds you to the business longer than necessary, as you remain financially invested until the buyer completes their payments.
Increased Risk: There is a substantial risk of the buyer defaulting on payments, which could lead to complicated legal processes and financial losses.
Delayed Financial Returns: The immediate liquidity benefit of a straight sale is lost, as payments are spread over several years, potentially hindering your future investment plans.
Legal and Financial Complexities: Structuring a seller-financed deal requires intricate legal and financial arrangements, adding to the transaction's complexity.
FedEx Linehaul in 2024
There are many types of deals, and never are 2 businesses the same, so there certainly cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach to selling your FedEx routes. At Linehaul Solutions, we delicately choose which deals we offer to our clients, many deals that cross my desk will never make it into the inbox of our buyers. Our business model is designed to pair prepared, informed buyers with decent margins, easier to own businesses at a reasonable price. We aren’t going to offer your 3-run U/A Team Deal to our clients because we have found running trams to be challenging for any contractor, much less a brand-new one.
For our attractive deals, under $1.5 million, we have found there is absolutely zero need for a seller to offer any type of financing, as there are many cash buyers who are excited about the prospects of getting into the Linehaul world. If a seller must offer financing to get a deal done, there is a reason a cash buyer does not want to purchase that business, and instead is waiting for a better opportunity. Typically, there are owned trucks included in the deal, so we highly recommend reaching out to Emily Blair at AP Equipment Financing to secure financing to lower the cash outlay. Other finance companies will finance semi trucks, but for a brand-new business, AP has always offered the best terms.
Note: Emily and AP Equipment Financing do not pay me to say this, I just enjoy the simplicity and speed of working with them.
In scenarios involving deals over $1.5 million, Linehaul Solutions notes the presence of cash buyers for well-valued propositions. We will advocate exhausting all alternative financing options before resorting to seller financing. The Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, despite being time-intensive and occasionally challenging, are preferred over seller financing due to their long-term implications. Linehaul Solutions’ policy is to explore SBA options, or similar financing avenues, as a preliminary step for high-priced deals. Their stance is clear: if a deal is not viable for SBA financing, it likely wouldn't be considered for their portfolio.
Preferred Sale Strategies
Direct Sale Advantages:
Immediate Payment: A direct sale ensures immediate payment, providing you with full liquidity to reinvest or utilize as needed.
Simpler Transaction: Without the complexities of financing terms, the sale process can be more straightforward and less time-consuming.
Reduced Risk: Direct sales eliminate the risk of payment default and the need for ongoing financial management of the transaction.
Clear Break: A direct sale allows for a clean and complete exit from the business, enabling you to move on to other ventures or retirement without lingering financial ties.
While seller financing is frequently touted as a beneficial strategy for business sales, it's not always necessary or advantageous. It can introduce additional risks, delay financial returns, and complicate the sale process. In many cases, a straightforward sale might be more suitable, offering immediate financial gain and a clean break from the business. It's essential to carefully consider the specific needs and circumstances of your sale before deciding if seller financing is the right approach. At Linehaul Solutions, it is our policy to only offer seller financing to a buyer in very limited instances.
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