Wedding in 10 weeks and suddenly offered a business!!

Bandara · 26-09-2017 7:47am

I'm at a loss why your going ahead with this.

You come here for advice and pretty much every single person (of which most of us are business owners and experienced) says it's a bad move and to walk away

Except you'd made your mind up obviously before you even posted here

Honestly this is a crazy idea. You'll either be just paying staff wages and losing money or else you yourself will work all the hours god sends and make far less than the minimum wage.

Seriously. This is a bad idea. Your all excited and your head is gone. Friends and family are nodding their heads and saying to go for it, you can do it etc etc.

Good luck with the wedding though !

Digital_Guy · 26-09-2017 10:08am

This thread should have been over on page 1! Nobody sells a business for 5k unless it's worth....you guessed it - nothing!!

If it was worth something he'd be keeping it, or selling it for way more. Because he knows himself it's worthless, he'll be happy to get anything for it - let alone 5k!

Is 'feeling isolated mentally' where you should be coming up to what should be the happiest day of your life?! Over a 5 grand 'business'?

Take a break and enjoy the run up to your big day. Once that's over and done then go back and carefully assess the market, and decide whether you want to get into this business. If you can get into it for 5 grand you can do it from scratch yourself!

stingray555 · 26-09-2017 10:51pm

Oh dear, cannot believe you are going ahead with this so called business. Paying 5k for a failed business is beyond the comprehension of this taximan!!

pedroeibar1 · 27-09-2017 11:49am

If the OP is not a troll this thread boils down to vanity and the inability to accept that this project is imprudent and senseless.
Reading the OP's post content, it’s about the ego of a person who believes he knows best, one who has ignored guidance from regulars here who have a history of posting credible advice. The OP appears to be too lazy to check out past threads on acquisitions/valuing a company. No mention of warranties, no mention of indemnities, of a share or asset purchase agreement, no mention of cashflow, restrictive covenants (e.g. non-compete), etc. Clueless.
I really feel sorry for the bride-to-be and even wonder how long this marriage will last if one side of it is so self-centred and stubborn.

Axwell · 30-09-2017 4:03pm

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

I really feel sorry for the bride-to-be and even wonder how long this marriage will last if one side of it is so self-centred and stubborn.

No need for the personal remarks

whitesheep · 03-10-2017 12:38pm

any update??

Don't do it. If this business fails you will be liable for redundancy payments to long serving employees if it fails. Just be careful losing €5k not a big deal but redundancy bills can be massive!!

I joined up especially to give you that pearl of wisdom!!

bucketybuck · 09-10-2017 10:28am

Darocketeer wrote: »

New drivers n city drivers I know are d exception to this though.

Where will this taxi business be based? Can we assume from this that it isn't in a city?

I'd second the point that it doesn't matter whether the drivers like the Apps, what matters is whether the customers are using them or not. For example I'm not much of an App person myself but damn sure I don't bother keeping taxi numbers any more.

BofaDeezNuhtz · 09-10-2017 5:49pm

whitesheep wrote: »

If this business fails you will be liable for redundancy payments to long serving employees if it fails. Just be careful losing €5k not a big deal but redundancy bills can be massive!!

This is a very good point.
The seller could be selling just off offload his responsibilities to long term employees
instead of closing it down himself etc

I'm not sure OP is listening to anything here tho :rolleyes:

Darocketeer · 24-10-2017 5:02am

Well I know I'm gonna piss a lot of people off here but I went ahead with it. It's going really well so far. 2 new drivers already n account contracts with 2 local health clinics. Should be able to hire another driver after the wedding n honeymoon with that additional work. Staff have all signed new contracts and seem delighted with new management. I am working lots of hours but have so far done well for it.

I completely understand why so many of u were advising against it (even if 1 of u took it too far with your bride-to-be comment) because there really isn't much in the way of assets but likewise there is very little liability. In any case I am pretty much insured against all outcomes now anyway.

I'm continuing to receive some excellent advise and preparing for tough times ahead. Now that it's done, any constructive advise will be very much appreciated.

Bandara · 24-10-2017 12:52pm

Darocketeer wrote: »

Well I know I'm gonna piss a lot of people off here but I went ahead with it. It's going really well so far. 2 new drivers already n account contracts with 2 local health clinics. Should be able to hire another driver after the wedding n honeymoon with that additional work. Staff have all signed new contracts and seem delighted with new management. I am working lots of hours but have so far done well for it.

I completely understand why so many of u were advising against it (even if 1 of u took it too far with your bride-to-be comment) because there really isn't much in the way of assets but likewise there is very little liability. In any case I am pretty much insured against all outcomes now anyway.

I'm continuing to receive some excellent advise and preparing for tough times ahead. Now that it's done, any constructive advise will be very much appreciated.

Best of luck with it

No one here is ever being personal.

Work your ass off and you’ll make a go of it

If it fails but you’ve given it everything then you hold your head high and move on to your next venture !

Respect.

zig · 24-10-2017 2:17pm

Bandara wrote: »

Best of luck with it

No one here is ever being personal.

Someone wrote...

“Clueless.
I really feel sorry for the bride-to-be and even wonder how long this marriage will last if one side of it is so self-centred and stubborn.”

Pretty personal to me !!!!

Good luck OP, perhaps there was more to this opportunity than you made out. Or maybe you’re just a canny business man, either way , we’ll done I hope it works out

minikin · 25-10-2017 5:38pm

Best of luck with it and the wedding, would your wife kill you if you crowbarred a taxi into some of your wedding photographs - would be great PR!

whitesheep · 30-10-2017 11:37pm

good luck with it. keep us posted I hope everyone else was wrong!!

enjoy the wedding I'm married 10 years now it was the best decision I ever made!

Darocketeer · 07-12-2017 5:24am

Thanks so much for all the kind posts. Yeh delighted to be married.

There wasn't much I held back from this thread regarding the business details. I just found it difficult to express my vision for this, as from most almost every angle it looked like a dead loss. However, I'm slowly but surely getting it to where I want it.

I would like to ask any mods out there about policies on seeking new drivers for my business on boards?

Graham · 07-12-2017 11:28am

Darocketeer wrote: »

I would like to ask any mods out there about policies on seeking new drivers for my business on boards?

I think there's one thread in the work & jobs forum you can post in, otherwise
adverts.ie has a jobs section

BofaDeezNuhtz · 10-12-2017 2:39pm

Darocketeer wrote: »

Thanks so much for all the kind posts. Yeh delighted to be married.

There wasn't much I held back from this thread regarding the business details. I just found it difficult to express my vision for this, as from most almost every angle it looked like a dead loss. However, I'm slowly but surely getting it to where I want it.

I would like to ask any mods out there about policies on seeking new drivers for my business on boards?

I hope it goes well for you.
I almost bought the same business years ago that was making a fortune.

Don't forget to use your own drivers to help you recruit too.
Taxi drivers know lots of other taxi drivers and talk to lots they just meet etc.
Maybe use an incentive like a weeks free base for every driver they bring in
who stays on after a weeks trial.

After all it's in their own interest to have low driver numbers to keep more
work for themselves etc.

Darocketeer · 12-12-2017 3:58am

[Deleted User] wrote: »

The business will pay for itself in 20 weeks! I'll take it.

OP, if it is kosher, find a way.

Thanks mate

Darocketeer · 05-02-2021 7:24pm

First time on Boards in years! Going through my old posts and thought I'd add an update (and closure) to this for anyone who was interested.

I ran the business for 18 months. There was some really good months and some REALLY bad months (Storm Emma included). Overall I mostly ended up taking home a modest salary which was relevant to the amount of work involved.

However, despite the increase in business the inevitable happened (as pointed out by some). Many drivers jumped ship to work the apps entirely. Some came back but were never as committed to providing the level of service the customers deserved, and were accustomed to. Despite my best efforts this eventually led to a downturn in business because people got p*ssed off waiting for their taxi.

So the last 6 weeks were very tough. In fact, I made absolutely zero for 3 of those. Clearly it was time to get out.

I managed to sell the business to a competitor for €7000 so that made up for the recent loss of earnings and gave me my initial investment back.

It was a great experience and I firmly believe has helped me in my career, not just to secure a decent job that I'm really happy in, but also to know myself better (what I'm good and bad at).

Thank you to every single one of you who took the time to post. I'm sorry again that I went against most of your advise!!

antoinolachtnai · 05-02-2021 9:05pm

Cheaper than an MBA from Harvard Business School!

Bandara · 05-02-2021 9:10pm

Well done. Hat off to you. To keep a business going for 18 months without experience is a great achievement.

Good luck with whatever you are doing now !

Gloomtastic! · 06-02-2021 10:03am

I think we should make it compulsory for all OP's to return after a period of time and let us know how they got on.

Well done OP. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

:)

Darocketeer · 07-02-2021 5:22pm

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

I think we should make it compulsory for all OP's to return after a period of time and let us know how they got on.

Well done OP. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. :)

I second this motion!! Cheers

minikin · 18-02-2021 2:07pm

Darocketeer wrote: »

I second this motion!! Cheers

Fair play, onwards and upwards!

Wedding in 10 weeks and suddenly offered a business!!

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