Greetings from Madison

[stillauwbadger]

Hi everyone,

I find it fascinating how we discover places in the web spaces that seem meant for us. Experienced-people appears to be just that.

I'm intent on buying a web site to gain more control over how I spend my time. My wife and I have a 1 year old son - Soren - and it's come down to simply wanting to spend more time with him and maintain the freedom to follow our own path.

I've been on the web since 2006. However, nothing much commercially. But I'm to the point now where I realize that this is a path I'd like to take. My latest foray which has been going for 6 months - istartanonprofit.org.

I've decided the best way is to engage with a business broker(s) to find a good fit. Here are my priorities:

1 - start and build a network of brokers
2- find a broker I trust
3 - develop a list of criteria for a business to purchase and start to refine
4 - start a list of potential businesses to purchase and start tracking my due diligence.

Thanks everyone, and looking forward to connecting with you.

Cheers,
Bret

[Slowdive]

Welcome to the forums...
I am going to enjoy reading over your site later, living in Africa charity is something I try an involve myself in as much as possible. I have seen the trouble people get into by starting with good intentions but no actual idea of financial and legal commitments.

Seems you have a solid plan in place and you could not have found a better forum to discuss the issues and opportunities you will doubtless uncover. Compared to some of the wise heads here I am a complete amateur particularly with regard to website sales, but you may well find folks here who have advice worth thousands and certainly will not find a better sounding board on the internet.

I'll look forward to future discussions and once again welcome to the boards.

[Thomas]

Welcome.

I'd make your step one: determine your budget

Without knowing your budget, there's not much a broker can do to help you.

How much were you planning on starting with? I'd advise at least $20k (cash) to even consider talking to a broker, ideally $50k+

[bustour]

Hi everyone,
...
I'm intent on buying a web site to gain more control over how I spend my time. My wife and I have a 1 year old son - Soren - and it's come down to simply wanting to spend more time with him and maintain the freedom to follow our own path.
...
Cheers,
Bret

Welcome to EP.

Really like your son's name. Don't happen to be a Kierkegaard fan, do you?

Ryan

[stillauwbadger]

@bustour - not a kierkegaard fan. Although I haven't read much of him, he seems too depressing...

@meathead - $50K + is where I'm at with budget. We've been looking at investing in the stock market, but I'm thinking now is a great time to invest in something where we have a bit more control.

Here's the narrative of my ideal business:

Pulling in $156,000 ($3,000 / week) in gross revenue in 2011 and forecasted $260,000 in 2012, this dropship model ecommerce store has proven to be a solid business. Profit margins of 30%. There are no costs associated to get traffic, most of its visitors come from organic search. There is really opportunity to optimize for SEO and Google's shopping results and other search engines for product related keywords. Additionally, connecting a community of buyers holds promise to generate additional revenue besides dropshipped product. This business is simple to run and requires only 1 to 2 hours a day to maintain current revenue. With additional effort of 20-30 hrs / week, you could really make this brand grow.

@slowdrive - thanks for the kind words.

[Thomas]

@meathead - $50K + is where I'm at with budget. We've been looking at investing in the stock market, but I'm thinking now is a great time to invest in something where we have a bit more control.

Here's the narrative of my ideal business:

Pulling in $156,000 ($3,000 / week) in gross revenue in 2011 and forecasted $260,000 in 2012, this dropship model ecommerce store has proven to be a solid business. Profit margins of 30%. There are no costs associated to get traffic, most of its visitors come from organic search. There is really opportunity to optimize for SEO and Google's shopping results and other search engines for product related keywords. Additionally, connecting a community of buyers holds promise to generate additional revenue besides dropshipped product. This business is simple to run and requires only 1 to 2 hours a day to maintain current revenue. With additional effort of 20-30 hrs / week, you could really make this brand grow.

That sounds like a classic Flippa sales pitch with the "free" organic traffic. However, I think you're making a wise choice investing in a site, especially with that budget. Without being biased, I'd definitely advise the broker route rather than going to a public marketplace.

For the site you're describing, you'd probably be looking at around $100k depending on a few other factors. Personally, I would look for sites with a more diverse traffic breakdown if I were going to be spending that much, especially if the niche is competitive (hence SEO would be aggressive). You have a realistic expectation, though, but I would be careful with the "extra work = extra money" as it's not always that way. You have to spend your time wisely to grow any established ecommerce site.