Could This Be A Good Idea?

[FearThisDeere]

I was at my Uncle's tonight and he was telling me about selling his established LCO business. Of course my ears perked up! What is boiled down to is that for $22,000 (this price is for me only!) he would sell me his 2004 Chevy 3500 Easterner dump dually, Cargomate enclosed trailer, mowers, trimmers, everything and all of his accounts which includes a cemetery that pays well to say the least. This would be a no brainier for me. I could almost get the $22,000 easily and pay it off just as easily, but I am going to college in 6 months and just don't think that it is the right time to take on all this right now. College is my main priority, but this is just too good of a deal for me to brush off. The dump and the trailer would come in handy at the farm, so they would work twice as well for me. I just don't think it is the right time right now, so I will probably not buy it. Is this a bad idea? Any suggestions?

[out4now]

Only you can answer that. If you feel you could use the equpment and the price sounds good then maybe yes, would you be doing the exact same business as him and in school? Probably not. If the tools work for you then yes but as a business you may not be privy to all the ins and outs he knows from experience. If nothing else you could hold the equip and liquidate for extra cash for school if you had to I guess. Up to you really.

[leadarrows]

College can wait a year or two...will this deal wait? Do you have any one that can run your business during college time? Can you go to a college near your home? Go to college part time until the equipment is paid for?

There's always options. What I'M saying is dose it really have to be one or the other or can you find a way to do both.

[sildoc]

your young. Goto college first. Get educated and then make your decision on what you would like to do. Give yourself options not just a job. Take advantage of being young and the parents. If anything else the experience will help you later in life.

[howardsells2000]

your young. Goto college first. Get educated and then make your decision on what you would like to do. Give yourself options not just a job. Take advantage of being young and the parents. If anything else the experience will help you later in life.

I agree, go to college.

It looks like a good deal though.

Good Luck

[J Hisch]

I see it like this, I am a business man, and the equipment alone would move me enough to buy. Even if you lost some of his accounts you still would come out okay just on selling off assest if it came to that.

However back to the issue at hand. College or Business? Well in todays job market almost every job out there wants a college degree or say it's a plus. I know the toyota facotry plant looks at workers with a degree before no degree. Main reason is it shows they can commit to something. Can you commit to the business? If so then go for it.. But be ready to commit to it, if your not sure if you would like or dislike this line of work then stay in school... BY all means.... Either way you or somebody is going to be in dent either with college bills/business bills....

P.S. Every good business man knows when to go for it and when to back off.

[garth1967]

good deals come along all the time.go to college i say

when in doubt go without


aussieflag

[Roger]

The discussion quickly migrated to college, or no college, as many other threads on LS have discussed over the years.

Go to college, no matter how enticing the offer may seem. Sildoc and J Hisch have said it well.

The idea suggested earlier about waiting for college for a year or two, then keep the business going while going to college -- not a good idea at all. For somebody your age, college needs to be a full-time effort, putting yourself into the task at hand, not just making it a side matter while pursuing other things. Making it a side matter for a young person will, most likely, yield the smallest of results and have little impact on a career. I've have seen it over and over again. And, then the former student says, "See, it didn't do me any good to go to college." In some instances, it may work out fine, but in most cases, the time/money has been spent unwisely.

[TURFLORD]

Depends on what you're going to learn in college. If it's a 2yr buis degree, you've already lost. If it's a hort. degree, it would serve you best to try to do both. My point is that if you go to college to augment your buis skills, giving up an opportunity such as your uncles would be a waste. If your going to learn how to be a brain surgeon, screw everything else.

[FearThisDeere]

I am going to be going to college part time 25 minutes from home and living at home until i can afoord an apartment. Right now he works 45 hours a week plus landscaping, so I could probably match his work hours. I just think that this is not the right time to do this. College worries first, then expand the business later on.

[Jpocket]

I would buy his business, and go to school at night if You mUST go to school. From whatg I see there isn't much out here wether your educated or not educated. Some ppl. are just meant to be succesful, whether they pay $100,000 to go to school or spend $100,000 growing a bus.

I see ppl. I know ALL the time went off to school blah blah blah.....They end up being a manager at walmart:rolleyes: .

On top of that you would be Delaying your life...If you bought your uncles bus. and worked it...in 3 -5 years you'd be doing very well. If you go away to college your already set back 4 years, by the time you find a decent gig your 30. Stay with tthe business, by the time your 30 you should be able to do WHATEVER you want finnacially and have a home etc. Most college gradeuates do get settled in until there mid 30's. Being a business owner they will be doing what you did 10 years earlier.

JMHO.

[Jpocket]

So what have you decided I mean The ONE truck is worth $22,000, he would be giving you the rest of the stuff.

[dcondon]

I would buy his business, and go to school at night if You bust go to school. From whatg I see there isn't much out here wether your educated or not educated. Some ppl. are just meant to be succesful, whether they pay $100,000 to go to school or spend $100,000 growing a bus.

I see ppl. I know ALL the time went off to school blah blah blah.....They end up being a manager at walmart:rolleyes: .

On top of that you would be Delaying your life...If you bought your uncles bus. and worked it...in 3 -5 years you'd be doing very well. If you go away to college your already set back 4 years, by the time you find a decent gig your 30. Stay with tthe business, by the time your 30 you should be able to do WHATEVER you want finnacially and have a home etc. Most college gradeuates do get settled in until there mid 30's. Being a business owner they will be doing what you did 10 years earlier.

JMHO.


I have to agree with you. I see so many people go to college and then end up doing something else other then there Degree.If you want to be out in the nice sun and see all the hot chicks that's your choice. If it was me I would buy the business and go to college nights or part time. JMO

[topsites]

Whatever happened to not doing business with family, friends, or neighbors?
But nevermind that for a second...

Let me get this straight... You've never been in business before and you intend on borrowing 22 thousand dollars?
Which bank do you really think is going to just loan out this amount of money to a very young adult with no meaningful employment?
No man, I mean you need a full-time job which has been paying you enough to make the payments for at least 2 years prior...
And if you are in this position, they still will not be excited to hear that you will quit this job to go out on a limb.
I would suggest, if you think I am wrong, go ahead and walk in a few of these banks and see who will do it first. If you get to the point where your parents have to put up their house as collateral, I think you'll be approaching my line of thinking.

The main reason most banks won't fork out that kind of money is because over half of all new businesses FAIL in the first 2 years, while I suspect the actual number who go out in the first 5 years is closer to 90% of businesses that never make it.

Now you can sign the truck over, but even that the bank will be leery about... More often than not, when a bank approves a loan on collateral such as this, the loan is based not on the collateral itself but on your current income and I am sorry but 'starting a new business' will likely not excite a banker nearly the same way it excites the new owner (see the above failure %'s).
Of course the truck is a piece of assurance for the bank that you will pay the loan, but the bank does not want your truck because if you default, there is nothing the bank can do with the truck but sell it off at an auction and take a big loss, so they really want their money and not the truck.

Stark reality versus a wild hare, which one wins?

[FearThisDeere]

Topsites, thanks for the post. You really show everything that goes into this. I do a decent amount of lawns and some light landscaping, but I would never consider myself being full-in the business. I have enough cash saved up that would make a very decent down payment. The rest my Uncle said that he would be willing to take monthly payments on. Like you said, never deal with family. This is a really good deal to me, but the time is just not right. I'll keep doing what I am doing for a while. I love operating with no major overhead. All my equipment is paid off, everything. All I pay for is gas and maintenance, the rest is just pure profit. I like my little set up right now and that is what I think that I'll keep for the time being. Thanks again, that was a great post!