Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Evans.
Hi Tyler, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
After graduating from Harvard I knew the standard track wasn’t for me. My friends all went into banking and consulting and I came back to San Diego to work with small business owners. I grew up in a very entrepreneurial family where my father owned his own business, my mom owned her business, and my sister and I were always encouraged to be involved.
Working in a corporate environment never felt like a fit for me, so I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps and represent business owners in the sale of their businesses. This has been extremely rewarding because I get to act as a guide for business owners in navigating one of the most complex transactions that they will likely face in their lifetime.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Every day is a challenge, but that is what makes the work so rewarding. My typical client is someone that has never sold a business before and has no idea what the process looks like. My typical buyer is inexperienced as well, so there are a lot of challenges keeping everybody heading in the right direction and staying collaborative.
One of the challenges that I have faced is that I look young and I typically interact with people over the age of 65.
Most of the brokers in my industry are semi-retired and fit right into this group. I have been able to use this to my advantage by staying innovative and emphasizing technology in the marketing and sale of businesses.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about So-Cal Business Brokers?
We are a local firm connecting retiring business owners to the next generation of business owners. We specialize in selling businesses that generate over $300,000 in SDE (If you own a business and don’t know what your SDE is, please give me a call for a free business valuation).
The business is built on education. Over 90% of business owners have an idea of what their business is worth but they know that it makes up a substantial part of their net worth. I have personally done thousands of valuations for small businesses and set them on a path to maximize the sale price of their business when they are ready to retire.
One of my favorite stories is about how I was able to provide guidance to a local business and help them triple the value of their business in 2 years and help them reach their retirement goal.
We specialize in the sale of businesses with a sale price between $1 million and $30 million, however, we have worked with larger and smaller clients in the past. The 2 best pieces of advice that I can give to small business owners are 1) set a goal for where you want to go and 2) figure out where you are now. For my clients, this usually means figuring out how much they need in order to retire and then understanding what their business is worth so they can see how much work is ahead of them.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
Keep cash reserves, Diversify your income, and Pivot early.
I have a unique view of a lot of businesses across many different sectors and these are the three traits that helped businesses survive when many others went under. If you run out of money in your business, it is game over. Simple as that. You never know when you are going to need it but also keep a solid cash reserve for emergencies. Breweries were not able to open and serve beer in their tasting rooms, so many diversified their income by making hand sanitizer and cleaning products. If you are reliant on one vendor, one customer, or one person to survive in your business, you are one emergency away from going out of business. Quick-service restaurants pivoted to take-out and delivery only and many were extremely successful while those that were slow to pivot or never pivoted went out of business.
These characteristics can be applied in your personal life too.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.so-calbusinessbrokers.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoCal_BB
