I need help selling my business.

[Steve knight]

I was going to let knight-toolworks die off. I pretty much was burned out and sales were low enough it was more of a hassle then anything else. This is no ones fault but my own I never did any marketing and I am not a great businessman.
I don't have much in the way of assets to sell with it. Mainly my knight toolworks stamp and angle stamps and a word stamp with all the letters. Some jigs and a few irons. What I do have is the webpage the reputation and the knowledge.
I have one offer but it is dirt low. I can see giving lessons on tuning and making planes and such and that won't be free.
He wants me to cut kit parts on my cnc and I am ok with that charging by the hour. But the time it may take to redesign and all would end up extra.
I would like to see my planes live on there are planes like the sliding dovetail plane that no one else makes.
But I don't want to have to ship a plane here a plane there. So doing wholesale would be good for me.

[Frank Guerin]

Steve.
This is difficult to approach. Are you loosing money as is. Do you have a great deal of money invested. What can you do to make your business more profitalble to attract buyers. I look at a minimum of six months before any investment. Often we turn one page in our lives reluctantly to find something better. Good luck and a deep breath in letting go and in future works.

[Dave Lehnert]

Wonder if a place like "Tools for Working Wood" or the like would be interested. An established woodworking tool business but not yet a house brand of hand planes?????

Just a thought.

[Steve knight]

I am talking to the fellow about maybe a partnership so he can learn and see if it works for him.
I have another fellow interested too.

[Robert McGowen]

I have looked into selling a web-based business a couple of times. Without knowing any specifics about your case, the general theme was the business would be worth about 3x the last 12 months net profit before taxes. In other words, if you sold $50,000 worth of product in the past 12 months and it cost you $40,000 to produce it, your business would be worth $30,000 plus any major machinery or inventory.

I don't really see what "the webpage the reputation and the knowledge" would bring to any sale unless you stayed directly involved in the company, which means that there would not be much point in selling it. YMMV

[Steve knight]

rep is everything with tools. handtools it's even more. hand planes it's critical. I mean will you go and buy some random never heard brand of tool off the net with just a webpage?
Making hand planes is not something you just do and do well with little effort. it took me years to really do it well make my own irons tuen them and so forth. thats what I am passing on and my rep.

[Lee Schierer]

rep is everything with tools. handtools it's even more. hand planes it's critical. I mean will you go and buy some random never heard brand of tool off the net with just a webpage?
Making hand planes is not something you just do and do well with little effort. it took me years to really do it well make my own irons tuen them and so forth. thats what I am passing on and my rep.

Your rep is certainly good with me. I still have the secret Santa plane like the one in your avatar you made and it is a joy to work with.

[Robert McGowen]

....... will you go and buy some random never heard brand of tool off the net with just a webpage?
........it took me years to really do it well make my own irons tuen them and so forth.

If your post was directed at me, then I guess that you missed the point I stated above - "unless you stayed directly involved in the company"

I WOULD buy a plane off of the Steve Knight website that was made by Steve Knight.

I would NOT buy a plane from the guy that purchased the Steve Knight website and the plane was made by someone else, because that has absolutely nothing to do with you, your reputation, or your experience. It doesn't really make sense that I would buy a plane made by "Tom Smith" from website owner "Bill Smith" just because you once owned the website.

If you are going to still be involved, make and design planes, etc., I just didn't understand the point in selling the business and being told what to make, how many to make, etc., and do all that at a lesser pay rate. YMMV

[David Weaver]

I think if you can get an hourly rate to cut parts and he wants to finish them and he does a job that doesn't embarrass you and make you look bad, that's about as good as the situation is going to be (and I think that's a good outcome if you like the work and the income, and don't want to deal with putting planes in boxes and fielding calls from people who have goofy questions or who want to shoot the breeze for an hour about what they should get).