llALTONHILLgOUTLOOK Saturday April IMS Page Outlook on Business iOING INTO BUSINESS The sevenyear itch By DOUG Like the proverbial seven year itch businesses also go through a seven year cycle and this is one or the signposts to look for when buying a business Of all the businesses 1 vc sold during the past 12 years there has not been one individual who I owned his business a multiple of seven years plus or minus a year If a man comes to and has been in business 10 years then I know something else is troubling him Its an unnatural point in his seven year cycle Many limes it an problem where the business has grown beyond the manager ability to operate it successfully perhaps a financial problem or some other challenge he can t deal with When this happens the owners response is to sell the business When I gel involved in this kind many umes we tell that person he or she needs consulung expertise in a particular area and will introduce them to someone who can provide that service If someone comes to and has had a business for years arc good he or she really not What is your financial goal Are you achieving it I want be a millionaire he Wonderful 1 replied along the way are you towards mat goal Oh he responded once I get my car paid for I mgoingtoiian saving an amount equal lo my car payments every I saw him a few yean later and he was hen driving another new car embarrass him by asking him if he had started on his way lo becoming a mil Are mosi of us flippant about our financial future Do we also want lo become a millionaire but is all it ever amounts to adreamedofwant All of no mailer where we are in life shouldseigoals In fact we should divide them short term goals medium term goals and long term goals Short term goals might be a vacation this year or the purchase of a new or different car Medium term goals might be selling monies aside for children lion or the purchase of a new house Long term goals might be the build mgofo family Long long means we think about today But because arc long term andor planning for Who is the important in building wealth As we vc staled many il TIME Sure rale of a ITS YOUR MONEY Paul J l plus of important hut neither of ihesc two equate the value of lime How do we wcWe make a dcti to save a pan of dial pay cheque every payday If you decide I I0ofwhailcaro and you cam per week S10 per hour hours per week you would save per If you started doing that at age and did so for the forty years to age saving in mutual funds that average per year you would be worth over 14 million dollars If it only curried 10 you would be worth SI million You would have saved a local of Now somebody else started making long range goals at and decided lo save 80 per week as much In the next years a total of 583 200 would be saved but at value would be That s million lew dollars long term savers saved the same amount and earned the All of us can justify the I goals enmes twenty years later and despne fact we saved twice as much per week same amount as the younger person we ended up wilh S3 million less dollars Time made all difference The person first per week worked for 40ycars the it for years and weeks The person who sinned years later saving weekly aw ihe firsi working for only ihcnclSHOfor 19ycirs and weeks etc No mailer what your age when read in this column make plans to do Ihtcc Dungs Stan saving a pan you earn NOW 2 finaiRi for your retire YOU want to rente 1 Seek best rate of you can for your savings Paul J author Ihe book Why I Invest In Mutual Fund and President Regal Capital Planners Ltd For a free table on what mu- fundi have done the past 10 years for ID table and MBA Capital Ltd ID agin Drive Georgetown If You Meet by Accident CALL US WELL GET THE JOB DONE RIGHT UPTOWN COLLISION GEORGETOWN ready to sell but merely looking at selling as an alternative lo another problem Generally these problems are financial Bui financial problems arc like a thermometer They only identify another problem Usually a shift in market The product has matured and people no longer want to buy what his or her company makes or there a product on the market thai docs it better or in the case of a retailer thai the community is moving and the downtown core is dilapidated and firm s business is slipping as a result Nine out of 10 businesses 1 sell are businesses where the owner is retiring That the ideal situation You want that person to be avail You may know more about the industry but older people also know a great deal especially about the way their business has operated for two or three decades A few years ago my wife pur chased a flower shop She con tracicd the vendors to work for her full Tor four months be avail able Over busy periods as well as from time tune for advice and counsel For ihis she paid a month ly It paid off during the eighth year Christmas thai year fell on a day and she was in a quandary of whether she should stay open on Sunday the day before Christmas and usually ihe busiest day of the year The answer came from the people she bought the business from years and told her they always opened on Sundays the past and recommended that she do the same and not miss the busiest and most profitable day of the year When buying an existing busi s wise lo retain your own lawyer and accountant to quantify vebeen told by the vendor REGULAR 1 TIME CLEANING SILVER POLISHING CLOSETS CUPBOARDS LAUNDRY WIN00WS ETC REFERENCES We Our Services To Suit Your FREE BONDED 8771724 Isnt aGREATDEALl on a new 1988 car worth a drive to Milton NISSAN MICRA 6 YEARS 100000 KM 3 YEAR 60000 KM BU1U FDR THE HUMAN RACE NORTH END NISSAN I MARTIN ST Infill 1 MILTON 8784137