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Why You Won't Sell Your Business

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Colorado white-water rafting company
Issue: March 1991

Price: $350,000; inquiries: More than 130

Status: Still for sale

This business drew a response second only to the interest in the Maine model-ship company; 25 or so parties flew to Aspen for a peek. Many prospective buyers, who were primarily young families with children, were nervous about raising their kids in the racy Aspen lifestyle. Two groups are waiting till the end of the current season (October) before making a decision.

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Napa Valley winery
Issue: April 1991

Price: $5.9 million; inquiries: 15

Status: Still for sale

A current hillside ordinance and a tightening of no-growth sentiment have made this a tough sell. There is legislation pending that will affect building and expansion. Among the inquiries was one from the Culinary Institute of America, which sought a West Coast site in epicurean Napa.

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Hawaiian flower farm
Issue: May 1991

Price: $1.2 million; inquiries: 30

Status: Still for sale

Inquiries have come mostly from mainlanders who say they'll have a look when they're on the island. Nothing sounds serious yet.

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Idaho up-country ranch
Issue: June 1991

Price: $2.5 million; inquiries: 10

Status: Still for sale

The most avid inquiry so far came from a woman looking for a site for an Arabian-horse-breeding farm. She visited the ranch but thought it a little too rugged. She has an aversion to heights, says the owner, and found some of the trails too steep and narrow. But she did fall in love with the property; had it been a little flatter, she'd have bought it. Inquiries keep coming in, nine months after publication.

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Small-town weekly
Issue: July 1991

Price: $950,000; inquiries: 30

Status: Pulled off market

The broker has received calls from several types of parties: other brokers (which doesn't thrill him); a few individuals who wanted to purchase the paper and return it to the employees through an employee stock ownership plan (the owner isn't interested in that); and a few legitimate candidates. The problem, according to the broker, is that the seller is sticking to his price -- which is too high, given the current sour newspaper climate. The poor economy puts the paper in a catch-22: potential buyers want to pay rock-bottom prices (and cite credit tightening and falling ads as justification), while the seller, remembering the newspaper boom days of yore, thinks his paper will fetch more. Newspapers aren't the only businesses that aren't moving: this broker currently has an all-time career high of listings on the market.

Seattle bookstore
Issue: August 1991

Price: $62,000; inquiries: 30

Status: Still for sale

Inc.'s page generated several visits to the store by prospective buyers. Not one response, though, came from someone with bookstore experience -- inquiries were all made by entrepreneurs and managers who tended to get scared when they saw what this business is really all about. "That's what's dangerous about a dream business," says owner John Marshall. "The emphasis is always on the dream." The word is out in the trade, and Marshall thinks that's the way his store will ultimately sell. He'll hang in there until that happens. A father-son duo are strongly interested; they originally called and said they'd take it in three days, then disappeared for a few months (doing industry research, presumably). They now say they're still considering it. Wealthy father would be buying it for his son; son has "the right instincts," but virtually no experience. "At this point it would be difficult for someone with no experience to step in and expect to improve the business," Marshall says.

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Family-run child-care center
Issue: September 1991

Price: $940,000; inquiries: 0

Status: Still for sale

Not one inquiry! That may be attributable in part to the fact that the owners listed a post-office box in lieu of a phone number for contact. They even sent letters to themselves to make sure their box was in working order. Alas, it was.