September 2000
The Director - Features
Reentering the Game
Thinking of repurchasing your business? Here are some questions you should ask
The recent spate of divestitures by consolidators, and the prospect of more to come, raises the possibility of a unique situation for many former owners. Can (or should) they buy back the business? For many owners, the sale of their business was a bittersweet event. Many were caught up in the potential of instant profits, sky-high prices and the perception that life-after-sale promised a new nirvana not attainable through ownership and operation. For some, this dream came true; for others, the realities of non-ownership were not to be enjoyed. Some openly lamented that they wished they had not sold and, for them, the possibility of repurchase has raised an unexpected opportunity.
Before seizing that opportunity, however, former owners should ask themselves some questions. The answers to those questions may hold the solution to the "Should I buy it back?" puzzle. Reentering the Game, by Dale L. Rollings, poses and discusses several of those questions.
Rollings is president of Rollings & Associates, P.C., a firm that has offered consulting services for mergers and acquisitions of funeral homes, appraisals and succession planning for more than 25 years. Rollings will also present a workshop on reacquiring a funeral home on October 9, 2000, at this year¹s NFDA Convention in Baltimore, MD.
