There comes a time in every business owner's life when he or she should seriously consider their exit strategy options.

The tough question is: when is that time?

The old cliché was simple: the best time to sell a business is when you don't have to. However in today's complex world, the answer is much more complex and must be based on a number of personal, business and financial factors. The types of questions to ask yourself may include these:

¨ Over the next 12 to 24 months, will your income tax rates go up or down?

¨ Over the next 12 to 24 months, will interest rates go up or down?

¨ Will the costs of providing health care for your employees go up? How much under the new proposed plan?

¨ Is your league lineage likely to increase in the next year or two?

¨ Do age, health or other personal factors make it unwise for you to continue to operate your business?

¨ Will your facility require investment of additional capital to keep it fully competitive?

¨ Can you keep up with the changes in the bowling industry and the need to create new promotions and new marketing programs?

¨ Are you able to get enough good help?

¨ Are you still having fun operating your center?

For the past several years, we have seen a number of proprietors who, after reviewing questions like these, said they wanted to sell their centers but put it off because they hoped that "things will get better." Unfortunately, for most of them, things did not get better; as the years rolled on, their league lineage declined, their revenues and profitability decreased, they didn't bother to train employees, and physically their centers fell behind the competition because they did not make capital improvements. As a result, their centers declined in value.

As we look ahead to the next millenium, most experts anticipate that taxes, interest rates and inflation all will go up and the costs of doing business, particularly health care benefits, also will increase substantially. In addition, no data has yet emerged to indicate that the downward trend in real estate values is reversing in most areas of the country.

Furthermore, as far as the bowling industry is concerned, there is no evidence in sight that league bowling, which has been trending downward for more than 10 years, is about to turn around. We also can anticipate continued pressure on pricing.

The critical question is this: will your center be worth more in 12 or 24 months? The answer is yes--if you invest money and effort to increase revenues and profitability enough to overcome the expected higher costs of operating and the increased taxes triggered by a sale. In fact, we often advise proprietors to delay selling if they take firm action to improve their center. On the other hand, for many proprietors merely passively waiting for "things to get better" will not be the wisest course of action.

If you want a frank and knowledgeable analysis of your situation--on a completely confidential basis--call us.

The procedure to get started is simple. We will ask you to submit to us some brief data about your center, together with financial statements and a league schedule. We will analyze that material thoroughly and then call you to discuss what price and what terms your center likely would bring in today's market. At that point, you can decide whether to proceed. There is no obligation on your part.