HELP!! Need Info on Selling Commercial Accounts?

[luvdogz]

Hi Everyone,

My husband passed away on January 5, 2010. We have a commercial cleaning business that was downsized due to his illness the last four years. I'm trying to decide which route I should take with the accounts we now have but have no idea what I'm doing!! I have two questions I'm hoping someone will answer or provide information on where I can get the answers.

My first question is: "If I were to give the existing accounts to a family member, what percentage would I be able to collect from the monthly income?" It would be nice to give these accounts to my niece but I would definitely need income from them.

My second question is: "If I were to sell our existing commercial accounts, how do I figure the selling price? Do I sell it at what it brings in yearly/gross or profit? I've heard in the past that an account can sell for 2-3 times what it makes in a year. I have no idea if this is true but I have no idea how to price it either.

Thank you, in advance, for any help/info/advice anyone would give to me!!!! I'm not sure what my final decision will be but I need to know how to figure all of this out so I can weigh my options. Unfortunately, my husband was in the middle of figuring this all out when he died unexpectedly.

Thanks, again, for any help/info/advice you'd send along to me!!!!

[logan5127]

First of all, I am sorry to hear of your loss. I know it must be hard for you to take on the buisness. I admire you for trying.
Not sure on what % to charge for commissions but if it were me I would ask for 5 to 10%. Selling is hard to do. I have heard some say that one year income from buisness is about right . You will here all kinds of things.
If you have a need to discuss things more one on one than feel free to contact me. I am sure there are several on here that will try their best to help you out .

[ECBS Clean Team]

2-4X the monthly billing. A $ 1000 per month contract sells $2000 - $ 4000

[luvdogz]

Thanks, ECBS, for the info!! I do appreciate it!! To make a decision on a selling price, I have just two questions:

1) What makes an account worth 2 times its amount or 4 times
its amount?

2) Is the figure you came up with, $1000 x 3 = $3000, the TOTAL
price for selling the account or do you figure it for 12 months?

Please forgive me for more questions. I really do not know what I'm doing here and I want to do the right thing if I decide to sell!! If anyone can help me out here, it would be GREATLY appreciated!! I don't want to be a pain in the butt, I'm just looking for real answers from real experts!! I posted on this board because after reading 100's of posts, I knew the people on here know their stuff!!!!!

Thanks for any help with my questions anyone would give!!!!

[ECBS Clean Team]

If someone pays total up front or you finance a portion, that would determine how much they pay. I have not done much of this but, just hearing numbers throughout the years, I know the figures I posted are accurate