Automotive repair facility in UT

[Aaron Porter]

Investment Info:

Industrial other investment.

Purchase price: $350,000
Sale price: $405,000

Operational automotive repair facility that worked on all makes, models, and types of vehicles. I did not learn my lesson the 1st or the 50th time as I purchased this from my father he stayed on and we worked together. The business was started by my father. When I moved back to the USA I stepped in. My fathers health didn't allow him to properly run the business. I bought him out and ran the business for a year before we decided to sell and move into new projects

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I have worked in the automotive field most of my life. From the time I was in diapers I was greasy. When I moved back to the USA it made sense for me to step in and take over from my father who is a full time school teacher and no longer capable of doing the required work to run the business. It also gave me something to focus on as I was going through a divorce.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

It was a family business that I have worked in all of my growing up years. I negotiated directly with my father for him to exit the business, and to let me take over the operations of the business and managing the property.

How did you finance this deal?

100% vendor financing. $0 down. $1500 a month in interest. I operated the business and took home a salary the whole time.

How did you add value to the deal?

I came in with a new face and the ability to bring life back into a failing business through management changes, and physical labor of actually being the guy in the shop doing the work that was requested by the customers.
about 1 year into the business I was facing a decision, either go full scale and rebuild the business to increase revenue or sell. I decided the best move forward was to sell. It was difficult to let go emotionally as it was a family business but it was the correct choice.

What was the outcome?

I walked away from the business getting my time back as I was focusing 80-100 hours per week on operating the business to make sure that all the bill were getting paid. I also got just shy of $40k for my time and energy investment. The outcome was extremely beneficial overall. for my family they were all able to mentally start moving on and for my father he is still emotionally tied to the business but it was the best thing for him as it was a huge drain on him and his resources.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

I reinforced my belief that you shouldn't mix business and family. I learned that I was ready to move into a new level of business and career. Instead of working solely with my body just pushing my physical limits. I decided to work with my mind and be smarter and build something that I can do remotely.
Some of the Challenges were finding a good balance of time in making sure that the business ran properly, all the work was getting done in an orderly manner and I had a personal life.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

When I sold the property we used Tim Lebaron a commercial real estate agent in St. George, UT.