Foreclosure Cleanup - 5 Things You Must Know When Starting This Business

Foreclosure cleanup is one of the best businesses to start according to the "USA Today" article, 'Trash-out' firms clean up in foreclosure biz. It states: "Entrepreneur Magazine included a foreclosure cleanup business - Cyprexx Services of Brandon, Fla. - in its 2008 "Hot 100 Fastest Growing Businesses" list."

If you want to start a foreclosure cleanup business, following are five things you need to know going in.

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1. Get Licensed, Bonded and Insured: Banks and real estate companies will expect you to be licensed and insured if you own a foreclosure cleanup business. If you're not, you won't get work from them. And, as they hold the bulk of properties that need your services, you will want to make sure that you are.

How much insurance should you get? Most require a million liability policy, along with workmen's compensation. Your insurance agent will be able to advise you on exactly what you need.

2. Consult with Various Contractors: In the foreclosure cleanup business, you will need the services of various contractors, eg, electricians, painters, plumbers, etc. Before you start, line up a few in each niche. Even if you're skilled in these areas, it's easy to get so busy that you will need to outsource work.

Contractor Tip: Subcontract to contractors who are licensed as well. For example, if you have to hire an electrician, the bank may ask for the electrician's certification to ensure that wiring was done correctly.

3. Expect the Unexpected: In the foreclosure cleanup business, you never know what you're going to get when you enter a house. There could be feces on the walls (more common than you may think), animals left behind (eg, an angry Doberman who rushes you as you enter the premises), or angry tenants who haven't left yet.

So, prepare to expect the unexpected with your foreclosure clean out business. For example, never enter a property for the first time alone, knock on doors and rattle fences to see if an animal or person is present, etc.

4. Quick Turnaround: In the foreclosure cleanup business, banks and agents expect quick turnaround. Usually, they want you to start as soon as possible after your bid is accepted. Hence, as you're preparing your estimate, keep this in mind.

Think about the various contractors you may have to hire and what their schedules are like. For example, if you can handle the painting, but you need someone to hang the sheetrock but your contractor can't do it for three days, you will have to build this into your timeline.

Logistics can be a nightmare in this business when dealing with subcontractors. That's why you want to try to work with the same ones all the time. The more work your foreclosure cleanup business throws their way, the more likely they are to give your jobs priority over others.

5. Hire a Reliable Receptionist: Many think of a receptionist as a lowly paid employee and don't give much thought to who they put in this position. But, particularly in the foreclosure cleanup business, the person who answers the phone can mean landing a ,000 job, or not.

Why is this? When banks and real estate agencies are calling companies for foreclosure clean up jobs, they are usually going through the phone book or surfing the internet looking for companies. If someone doesn't pick up the phone, they're off to the next listing - usually they don't leave a message.

So, hire someone who is personable, reliable and professional. And, pay them well. For they are the front line of your foreclosure cleanup business.

To learn everything you need on how to start a foreclosure clean out business, log on to Start-a-Foreclosure-Cleanup-Business dot com.

Foreclosure Cleanup - 5 Things You Must Know When Starting This Business

May be reprinted with the following, in full: To learn everything you need on how to start a foreclosure cleanup business, log on to Start-a-Foreclosure-Cleanup-Business.com for 200 pages of first-hand information from the owner of a leading foreclosure cleanup company in Atlanta, GA. View the news video featuring the company here as well.

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Painting Business - How to Get Confidence and Credibility Quickly

First of all, when you walk up to someone's door, you want to look like you own your own painting business. You want to have your painters pants on and even your estimating tools. It's also good business to be clean shaven and neat in appearance.

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Also having your own painting vehicle helps but it is not necessary when first starting out. When I first started painting I worked out of my beater Oldsmobile that was a big old boat. A 1979 98 Regency. People didn't seem to care or even notice what I drove. They just wanted painting done and my prices back then were cheaper which they loved.

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That's all you really have to do to get established is to look like you're ready to do some painting with your painter's pants on and some basic painting tools to get started with. You don't need any specialize literature or forms.

In time you'll have your own painting truck and and the most important part of all you will have some good quality referrals from satisfied customers. This is what will get you a lot of work plus instant credibility. Don't forget that you'll also get repeat business from your existing customers.

Some will like you to think that you need a lot of special paper work or forms to run a painting business. I basically use one special form and that is for estimating. I use this form to do commercial and residential painting. I like to keep it all simple.

Painting is just like any other small service business. You learn as you go. There are speed tips and tricks to the trade just like any other trade. There are painters that shouldn't be painters because their work is really bad.

One secret to a successful painting business is to develop a reliable painting business partnership and then do quality work for people together. You can work alone but there are many advantages to having a partner of two like turning your jobs faster.

If you enjoy your work you'll never work a day in your life. I remember looking forward to Monday mornings sitting in Sunday school before church. I could hardly wait to get started on Monday morning on that new project I just got a down payment on.

I love to paint I love doing restoration work and every day goes by super fast because I love what I do. There's is nothing that beats being self-employed. You don't have to worry about being laid off, you can make as much money as you dare to dream and there is no boundaries or ceilings on your abilities or opportunities.

There are a lot of great additional service to add to a painting business also like faux painting, window washing, drywall repair, bathtub refinishing, light carpentry work, etc. These can all be added on a little bit at a time if need be.

Again you'll instantly have credibility if you just look like you are a painter. You don't need a fancy paint truck in the beginning although it does help tool-wise. It will all fit together in time. Just a few basic tools and a desire to own your own business is the big issue here.

When I first started painting I did not know how to estimate. My first commercial job scared me to death and it was a simple job. One thing that really helps you to gain instant credibility is to have your confidence up. You can do this by knowing how to estimate your painting jobs.

I can go in and estimate an interior or exterior job in a relatively short period of time and I look like I know what I am doing. And when I walk away I have confidence and I know that I did a good painting estimate and that I will make money.

Getting all the techniques and tricks of the trade down is something you learn a little bit from each job. In time you will be able to master things like drywall repair, the fastest ways to get your prep work done, your own quick system for painting a room, painting windows and doors, etc.

Many people make starting a painting business look difficult because they get a case of what is called "detail-itis" (the failures disease). When a project comes along and I am uncertain how I am going to get it done I don't worry about it because the answers fall in place as I do the work.

Painting Business - How to Get Confidence and Credibility Quickly

Lee Cusano has operated his own successful painting business since 1991. He has also helped many others to start their own painting business with his "Paint Like a Pro Estimating and Advertising CD-ROM". Lee has a new site where you can get a lot of free tips and advice plus his painting course is available on almost every page. Please go here: http://www.betterpaintingtips.com

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Evaluating Your Business For Sale

What is the value of your business? Ask three expert evaluators to come up with a value and there is a good chance they will come up with three numbers that are not close to one another. What is an owner to do when faced with this dilemma?

How did the experts determine the value and why did their final number vary from one another. The reason is simple enough. There are subjective elements to every business evaluation. Each of these experts put a value on the subjective elements that goes along with their personal experience with the business that is being evaluated. This will account for their differences in value. Most business people if they really did get three appraisals would take the highest one and be done with it.

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What is needed to make an evaluation

What do the evaluators need in order to come up with a business evaluation? They need access to all of the financial records of the company. They need an inventory list and value based on whatever method is used to get this number. It is usually first in first out prices or last in last out prices. Both are valid means to value an inventory. Projected sales figures and profit can be used to add some value for the future to a present day value. They will also speak to employees, suppliers and competitors to see how they think the company is doing. They will look at what similar businesses have sold for in the last couple of years and at the state of the present economy. These evaluations will always be based on old information and with an ingredient of future prospects. It is this amalgamation of the old and the possible that causes the range of values from different experts.

Every evaluation needs to be heavily weighted to with future numbers or the price will be set to low. It has to take into consideration the prospects for the company and its future business.

With all of these numbers, the professional will use different methods to come up with a price After this is done, the numbers are looked at and a judgment is made as to what one seems to be the most correct. Again this is a subjective decision.

Comparisons of prior sales in the industry

What have other businesses in the same industry sold for and how do they compare with the business that the evaluation is being done on. This information is very helpful and should make the evaluation a little more realistic. These sales comps will set the tone for how other businesses were rated as to their sales and the selling price It should help in setting an asking price that represents the current value of the company.

Where will the company be in three years

Looking at the growth curve of the business and assuming a similar rate of growth in the future, one could come up with where the company will be in three years. If the growth has been stable for a number of years, there is every reason to think it will continue at a similar rate if no drastic changes are made and the customer base continues to grow. With this in mind, the price of the business should take this future outlook into account.

When this is explained to the buyer, then it must be validated with facts and figures that his advisors can peruse. A well-documented presentation will go along way in alleviating doubts and questions about how you came up with your numbers and the asking price.

Intangible factors to be considered

There are some factors that enter into the evaluation of a business that cannot be reduced to shear numbers and accounting sheets. If the business being evaluated has a significant standing in the industry then this is worth something in the price. If they get a large percentage of the available business that is a plus factor for the business. If its reputation is impeccable then that is another factor that is difficult to put into accounting terms. All of these intangibles when added together make the company more valuable than it would seem to be from just the financials. This is why it is important to investigate and questions others about the company. If the business is the result of one strong individual who will not be there when it is sold, then that could present a problem that could be difficult to overcome. Be very careful about this kind of business.

Intangible assets such as these are hard to put a number on unlike the hard assets of the company. Equipment can be valued at a depreciated value, which could then be used to set a foundation for the final price.

Is there going to be an ongoing need for your business

This one question when answered will help with the question of should you buy the business. A plumbing company will always be needed in our civilization. As will an electrical company. A drywall company will probably always be able to find work. Is the business you are thinking of buying a company like one of these or could its business be done away with without any harm. If the business will always be in demand that is a very strong reason to consider its purchase.

Are there high tech innovations that are going to change the business and you have the expertise to make the change. If this were the case, then you would have a leg up on other businesses like yours. These are considerations with profound affects upon whether you should become the owner of not. If you are able to bring the business into the modern age and take advantage of the new technology then you could make the business grow far beyond what it is today. This is the kind of opportunity that every buyer is looking for and few find.

Conclusions

It is highly suggested that a seller bring in a certified business broker to help with the evaluation, the presentation materials and the finding of prospective buyers for the business. Since this is their business then this is something they usually can do far better than a seller can do it. The broker can help a great deal in the negotiations and the final stages of the sale. They have a vested interest in seeing the business sale go through. The most important thing that they can help with is developing the asking price. After helping to set the price they can come up with justification that will stand the eagle eye of the buyers financial experts. This creditable price is the basis for all other negotiations.

The expert business broker can smooth things along and keep the ball rolling in the move to make the sale. Their knowledge and experience can stop delays from happening and their damaging effects. When negotiations stall, then the sale is in jeopardy. This should be avoided if at all possible.

Bringing in the pro solves so many problems and can lead to a successful sale that is completed quickly and at a decent price. Their value cannot be overstated in a business sale.

Evaluating Your Business For Sale

And now I would like to offer you free access to information on a powerful integrated system of marketing, sales & advertising so you can thrive instead of survive in today's economic environment.

Henthorn is president of Spiral Marketers, a marketing firm which includes a number of partnerships that range from cutting-edge software development, business and personal improvement coaching, online e-commerce businesses, and more.

He was formerly was president and principal broker of a resort / commercial real estate brokerage in Honolulu which specialized in representing sellers in transactions up to MM.

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